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| Saturday, 24 April 2004 |
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Marvan, Marsh keen on a full strength Zimbabwe Saadi Thawfeeq reporting from Zimbabwe BULAWAYO, Friday - Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu and Zimbabwe coach Geoff Marsh were both keen to have Zimbabwe at full strength for the rest of the one-day and the upcoming two Test series after Sri Lanka had easily won the second one-day international at Queens Sports Club here on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. "I don't want to think a few years ahead and say that we toured Zimbabwe in 2004 and this is the type of opposition we beat," said Atapattu. "I can't even remember most of their names. Beating this present side won't have the same effect as beating a full strength Zimbabwe team. We want Zimbabwe to field their strongest side against us," he said. A full strength Sri Lanka team hardly raised a sweat in beating this weak Zimbabwe outfit with the entire match lasting just 57.3 overs. The ease with which Sri Lanka thrashed the opposition brought to mind the Hot Chocolate favourite 'Going through the motions'. The opposition has been such that Atapattu said: "We have to do everything right. We can't do anything wrong playing a team like Zimbabwe. Everybody was keen and it was a collective effort altogether. We shouldn't do badly at all. We've got to guard ourselves against that first." Marsh, the former Australian cricketer who has been Zimbabwe's national coach for the past three years said: "This is the most inexperienced team that I have handled. For any coach around the world who loses 13 players from the squad of 18 and a further three after that, it is a pretty difficult job." "Ideally you'll want the best players in the country playing. But at the moment we've got a few problems. It's going to be sorted out by next week or so and hopefully we can get a good side out," said Marsh. "We are obviously under manned with a lot of the players out. The team is doing their best they possibly can. The boys are trying very hard. They are showing a lot of spirit. They are a very young and inexperienced side." "I give credit to (Tatenda) Taibu for the way he has rallied these guys. We are trying as hard as we possibly can without over trying. It is a big ask," he said. Zimbabwe lost the two back-to-back one-dayers played here by 12 runs (not six wickets as was reported earlier) and by nine wickets to trail 0-2 in the series. Sri Lanka were unaware what kind of opposition they will expect when they first played the new look Zimbabwe side and went through some anxious moments before winning under the Duckworth and Lewis rule after rain had affected the first game. But once they had sized up the opposition, Sri Lanka simply razed Zimbabwe to the ground with a comprehensive win in the second match. The manner in which the two matches have gone has raised concern from the International Cricket Council (ICC) who is playing a two-way role in trying to resolve the dispute between the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and its senior players. While the ICC has clearly stated that it does not want to get involved in internal issues like the appointment of captains and the composition of the teams, they have at the same time expressed concern of the international implications this dispute might have and its potential effect on international cricket. |
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