The Zimbabwe cricket team are back after what Saddam Hussain might have called their historic victories in Sri Lanka. `Licking their wounds' is what some may call it, but no tour can surely be so bad that good points cannot be found.

One of them is that Trevor Gripper has probably established himself as Zimbabwe's opening batsman, for the time being, at least. His 167 runs at an average of 27.83 was the best for the side, although he did have the benefit of settling in at the crease before Muttiah Muralitharan came on to bowl. His 83 in the Third Test was also Zimbabwe's best score of the series, and followed his century against Bangladesh. An interview with Trevor on the tour is included in this issue. Otherwise it was a quiet week.

The team now have about two weeks' rest before they depart for India, where they play two Test matches (strangely at the same venues, Delhi and Nagpur, as last season, although India have at least ten to choose from) and five more one-day internationals. Anything will be easier than Sri Lanka, even India, where Zimbabwe have at least managed to draw a Test match and win a one-day international against the home side.

They will have the memories of Andy Flower's wonderful batting last time round to encourage them, and also the pitches should be easier. Unless there has been a change in policy, Indian pitches are generally very placid, although naturally taking spin, and runs should not be so difficult to come by as they were in Sri Lanka. Although they will have to face Harbhajan Singh, who did not play against them last time they were in India. Hopefully also their batting will be more experienced than in Sri Lanka, if Alistair Campbell is picked and feels he still has a message to get across to the selectors. May we now hope that he will be so stung by his omission that he will now start scoring the runs of which he is capable in Test cricket?

Below we include the latest tables for the UCBSA Bowl competition, Pool B, which includes Zimbabwe, courtesy of Andrew Samson. Zimbabwe are well placed in both competitions, but the players need to be aware that they cannot always rely on declarations to get them home in the three-day game. This weekend they tackle Easterns in Benoni.

UCB Bowl Tables 2001/02
as at 24 January 2002

Pool B

Three-day            P     W     L     D    Bat  Bowl    Pts
ZIMBABWE BOARD XI    3     2     0     1   9.38     6  35.38
Northerns B          4     1     0     3  13.86     8  31.86
KwaZulu-Natal B      3     1     0     2   7.32    10  27.32
Easterns B           3     1     0     2   5.74     7  22.74
North West B         4     0     1     3  12.08     9  21.08
Gauteng B            3     0     2     1   9.52     9  18.52
Border B             4     0     2     2   5.16    11  16.16

Points deducted for slow over-rates:
None

                                                Bonus
One-day              P     W     L  Tied    NR    Pts   Pts    NRR
Border B             4     2     1     0     1      1    11  -0.10
ZIMBABWE BOARD XI    3     2     0     0     1      0    10   0.55
Easterns B           3     2     1     0     0      1     9   0.67
Northerns B          4     1     1     0     2      0     8   0.38
North West B         4     1     2     0     1      0     6  -0.17
Gauteng B            3     1     2     0     0      0     4  -0.31
KwaZulu-Natal B      3     0     2     0     1      0     2  -1.01


Supplied by Andrew Samson
Official Statistician of the United Cricket Board of South Africa

© Cricinfo