Henry Khaaba Olonga is a former Zimbabwean cricketer, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals for career span of 8 years. In domestic first-class cricket in Zimbabwe, Olonga played for Mashonaland and Manicaland. When he made his Test debut in January 1995, he was the first black cricketer – and the youngest person – to play for Zimbabwe. He was a regular member of the Zimbabwe team from 1998 to 2003.
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers the Zimbabwe national cricket team, organising Test tours, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals with other nations. It also organises domestic cricket, including the Castle Logan Cup, the Coca-Cola Metbank Pro50 Championship and the Stanbic Bank 20 Series in Zimbabwe.
Duncan Andrew Gwynne Fletcher is a Zimbabwean ex-cricketer and the former coach of the Indian cricket team. He was the coach of the England cricket team from 1999–2007, and is credited with the resurgence of the England team in Test cricket in the early 2000s.
Cricket in Zimbabwe suffered a crisis that lasted from 2003 to 2011 where player withdrawals such as the "Black-armband protest" by Andy Flower and Henry Olonga along with a mass loss of players in 2004 due to a general strike resulted in very poor performances by the national team. Presently Zimbabwe is in the period of rebuilding itself as the domestic structure was re-structured in 2009. Many people allege that the administration of cricket in Zimbabwe was corrupted by the influence of Robert Mugabe's government, who were widely accused of following racist, in particular anti-white, policies. Positive signs began to emerge for Zimbabwe after the 2007 Cricket World Cup especially when in the 2007 World Twenty20 Zimbabwe defeated what was arguably the strongest side in the world at the time, Australia. Along with this Zimbabwe gradually began to show encouraging signs of improvement and four years later they returned to the highest format of the game, Test Cricket. In their first match since their return in August 2011 they comprehensively defeated Bangladesh.
The Zimbabwe national cricket team toured South Africa in October and November 1999 and played one Test match against the South Africa national cricket team. They also competed in the 2000 Standard Bank Triangular Tournament in January and February, playing six One Day International (ODI) matches against South Africa and England. This was the first time that Zimbabwe's had toured to South Africa, although sides from both Zimbabwe and Rhodesia had played in South Africa as part of South African domestic cricket.
The Zimbabwe national cricket team toured Australia in the 1994-95 season and played two first-class matches versus Tasmania and Queensland.
The Zimbabwean cricket team toured Australia in the 2003–04 season. On the tour, the Zimbabweans played two unclassified matches, one First-class match, three List A matches and two Tests, as well as taking part in the 2003–04 VB Series with Australia and India – who were touring Australia for four Tests at the same time. The Zimbabweans lost all but one international match – both Tests and seven of the eight One Day Internationals – the exception being called off for rain.
This article describes the history of cricket in Zimbabwe from the 1992-93 season until the end of the country's involvement in Test cricket in 2006.
Cricket is a popular sport in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The Singer World Series was a quadrangular ODI cricket tournament held in Sri Lanka from 26 August to 7 September 1996. It featured the national cricket teams of Zimbabwe, Australia, India and the hosts, Sri Lanka. The competition was won by Sri Lanka, which defeated Australia in the final.
The Indian cricket team toured Zimbabwe between 15–25 October 1992. The series was played as a prelude for India's tour of South Africa, and included just one Test match and one One Day International (ODI).
The Zimbabwe national cricket team toured New Zealand in February and March 1998 and played a two-match Test series against the New Zealand national cricket team followed by five Limited Overs Internationals (LOI). New Zealand won both Test matches convincingly to take the series 2–0. New Zealand were captained by Stephen Fleming and Zimbabwe by Andy Flower. New Zealand won the LOI series 4–1.
The South African national cricket team toured Zimbabwe in October 1995 and played a one-match Test series against the Zimbabwean national cricket team. South Africa won the Test series 1–0. South Africa were captained by Hansie Cronje and Zimbabwe by Andy Flower. In addition, the teams played a two-match series of Limited Overs Internationals (LOI) which South Africa won 2–0.
The Zimbabwe national cricket team toured the West Indies from March to April 2000 and played a two-match Test series against the West Indies cricket team which the West Indies won 2–0. Zimbabwe were captained by Andy Flower; the West Indies by Jimmy Adams.
The Zimbabwe national cricket team toured Pakistan from November to December 1993 and played a three-match Test series against the Pakistan national cricket team. Pakistan won the Test series 2–0. Zimbabwe were captained by Andy Flower and Pakistan by Waqar Younis. In addition, the teams played a three-match Limited Overs International (LOI) series which Pakistan won 3–0.
