ZIMBABWE’S NEED FOR TEST CRICKET
When it comes to cricket and Zimbabwe, the immediate concern is the lack of champion players in the country. The absence of a brand, a colossal gure to wade through the rough waters. In the era of the Flower brothers, this African side was a dierent beast before poverty blunt its horns. There was, of course, racial discrimination in the country and the government’s attempt to control the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.
It is not a surprise that Zimbabwe, which barely competes against the best now, lost the rst Test to Pakistan in Harare. The volume of cricketers rising up through the junior cricket ranks is low due to poverty — a major problem in the country with a young population. Most of the children in the rural areas sleep hungry.
Emotions ran wild when fast bowler Donald Tiripano invited Babar Azam to drive on a fuller delivery with a man at short midon. The Pakistan star is No. 1 in the ODI rankings and No. 9 in Tests, but the bowler proved that even stalwarts make mistakes. He went for the shot and hit it straight to Roy Kaia — perhaps creating the moment of the Test match.
Zimbabwe batted twice for 176 and 134, falling short of Pakistan’s mammoth 426. Fawad Alam struck 140 while Hasan Ali’s reverse swing earned him nine wickets (4/53 and 5/36) as Pakistan won by an innings and 116 runs.
Sri Lanka bowling all-rounder Thisara Perera announced retirement from international cricket this fortnight.
Besides sending down lethal legcutters, the World T20 winner of 2014 was popular for his clean hitting in the death overs. In fact, he retired with the fourthbest strike rate (112.0■) in ODIS among batsmen with at least 2,000 runs.
Perera did not play Test cricket after 2012 but was a vital gure in the whiteball setup. The rightarm medium pacer claimed 175 ODI wickets in 166 outings. And with the bat, he smashed 2,33■ runs including 10 fties and a hundred.
He was part of the World Cup team that ended runnerup in 2011. Perera had smashed an unbeaten 22 o nine balls and dismissed Gautam Gambhir in the nal against India in Mumbai.
But his moment of glory came three years later when Sri Lanka beat India to lift the T20 World Cup. He was unbeaten on 23 o 14 balls to nish the game. Overall, he featured in ■4 T20IS for the islanders, returning 51 wickets and 1,204 runs.
Perera was not in the radar for ODI selection against Bangladesh, and the selectors were vocal about their strategy to scout young players to create a pool for the World Cup in 2023 which prompted him to take the decision.
He will continue to play franchise cricket.
“I take pride in the fact that I was able to represent Sri Lanka in seven cricket World Cups and be a contributing member of the 2014 T20 World Cup win against India in Bangladesh. Easily the highlight of my life,” Perera wrote in his letter to the Sri Lanka Cricket board.