ZIMBABWE national cricket team captain Craig Ervine is looking forward to a winning start ahead of their one-day international series against Ireland at Harare Sports Club today.
The hosts will, however, be without the services of experienced all-rounder Sean Williams, who is out of the series due to injury.
Despite Williams’ absence, Ervine is confident that his team can still deliver a strong performance and atone for the defeat in the one-off Test match that was played in Bulawayo last week.
“I think it will be nice to come out on the winning side, but having said that it was quite a young side that played the Test match,” Ervine told reporters yesterday.
“A lot of credit to the guys, the way they fought, a lot of opportunities we didn’t capitalised.
“I think it’s something that we really have to look at, try to put our finger on what is causing us not to be able to capitalise and kill those moments if we get on top and keep the momentum on our side.”
Ervine admits that Williams’ absence will be felt in both departments, but he is hopeful that spinner Wellington Masakadza and returning all-rounder Tony Munyonga can provide adequate cover.
“Williams is obviously an integral part of the squad and obviously missing him leaves a bit of gap in both departments, bowling and batting. Masakadza is in the squad, so he does cover that role nicely and is very versatile,” he said.
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“Tony coming in also allows us to have a little more power I think down the bottom end of the order and then he can also contribute something with the ball as well.
“So I am really chuffed for him that he has gotten a crack, he has done really well in the Pro 50 stats, so it’s very nice to see him being rewarded for that.”
Zimbabwe’s preparations for the series have been intense, with Ervine emphasising the importance of sticking to their processes and raising the bar in terms of intensity.
“I think as a group, we are trying to stick to our process. Everybody is working hard. In training, it has been good, the intensity is high because we feel that we have to raise the bar a little bit further and try and get guys to train a lot more in a comfortable environment,” he said.
“I think that’s the only way we can be better and it does take a bit of time to transition into games, I think over the next few months, I’m sure with more tough competition to coming up.
“(The) guys are really working extremely hard. Guys feel we need a win, (we need) to win the series, we need to win more games.”
Zimbabwe are looking to bounce back from a disappointing one-off Test series defeat.
The skipper acknowledged that his team needs a win under their belt to boost their confidence and momentum.
“We need to win a lot to win the series, and we’re really working extremely hard to make that happen,” he said.
Ireland skipper Paul Stirling expects a tough challenge in the series.
“We are in no way taking the games lightly at all. In fact, I think whenever Zimbabwe put out their best side, they are on paper possibly in front of us,” he said.
“That is just a reminder to us that they have real X-Factor talent. We know that. I think that one of our strengths is our togetherness and our ability as an 11 to try and influence the games.”
He admitted that a full strength Zimbabwe side is stronger than theirs.
“There are a couple of slightly less experienced guys in our squad,” he said.
“I think first thoughts are, you come out to a country on tour and you look to win the series as best you can.
“We are hopefully going to put our front foot forward and pick teams to get results.”
