Houghton still optimistic

Don Makanyanga

A TENSE atmosphere engulfed the Chevrons dressing room. The room was charged with tension, and not a word was spoken. At last, reality had set in.

The Zimbabwe senior cricket team had missed out on qualifying for an International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup for the second time in four months. Their fate was sealed when Uganda defeated them by five wickets to end a disastrous and equally embarrassing campaign for a Test-playing nation. Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton described their state as“miserable’’.

“I think miserable is probably the right word because we were really down,’’ Houghton said. It was very hard, especially after the game against Uganda, where we realised that we had lost control of that position. We hoped that somebody would do us a favour and beat either Namibia or Uganda. It was a miserable time. I don’t really know how to describe it,” recalled Houghton.

The Chevrons went into last month’s regional T20 qualifier in Namibia seeking to redeem themselves from a disappointing failure to qualify for the ICC ODI World Cup staged in India in July.

“I thought that things couldn’t get any worse than not qualifying for the 50 overs.

“We played such good cricket and then suddenly lost a game to Scotland that we should have won. And then to have to sit back and watch Holland taking our place in that World Cup was heartbreaking.

“It’s a competition we should have either won or definitely have qualified. And we haven’t done it. So, we sit again broken-hearted because we won’t go to another World Cup,” he said.Due to the lack of experience and talent among all the teams they faced, Zimbabwe’s battle for the two spots available at the T20 World Cup next year appeared to be going according to plan.

Talent alone, however, cannot win any team games; it must be paired with hunger and determination to win. This was a difficult lesson for the Chevrons to learn as Namibia and Uganda easily won the qualification tickets. Houghton resultantly gave his assessment.

“It would be easy to pinpoint one aspect of it. We didn’t bat particularly well as a team. There were times when we didn’t bowl as well as we should have done. There are a lot of little areas.

“But the bottom line for me is, if you look at the crucial games we’ve lost over the last six months or so, it always comes down to, and it’s something I’ve talked about a lot with our players, the pressure of expectation,” he said.

He says there is need to improve the performance of Zimbabwe’s national cricket team.

“When people expect us to win, that’s when we suffer, pressure-wise. And that’s something that we have to try and put right. How do you put that right? Some guys will say you need a sports psychologist. But I think the answer to that is the cricket that we play domestically has to be stronger. It has to be more challenging . . . it must put players under pressure more often. And we have to get into these positions more often.”