India national cricket team
The India national cricket team known as Team India and Men in Blue, is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test, One Day International and Twenty20 International status. Although cricket was introduced to India by European merchant sailors in the 18th century, the first cricket club was established in Calcutta in 1792, India's national cricket team did not play its first Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord's, becoming the sixth team to be granted Test cricket status. In its first fifty years of international cricket, India was one of the weaker teams, winning only 35 of the first 196 Test matches it played. From 1932 India had to wait until 1952 20 years for its first Test victory; the team, gained strength in the 1970s with the emergence of players such as batsmen Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath, all-rounder Kapil Dev and the Indian spin quartet of Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Bishen Singh Bedi.
Traditionally much stronger at home than abroad, the Indian team has improved its overseas form in limited-overs cricket, since the start of the 21st century, winning Test matches in Australia and South Africa. It has won the Cricket World Cup twice – in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev and in 2011 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. After winning the 2011 World Cup, India became only the third team after West Indies and Australia to have won the World Cup more than once, the first cricket team to win the World Cup at home, it won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. It was the joint champions of 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, along with Sri Lanka; as of 19 October 2018, India is ranked first in Tests, second in ODIs and second in T20Is by the ICC. Virat Kohli is the current captain of the team across all formats, while the head coach is Ravi Shastri; the Indian cricket team has rivalries with other Test-playing nations, most notably with Pakistan, the political arch-rival of India.
However, in recent times, rivalries with nations like Australia, South Africa and England have gained prominence. The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721. In 1848, the Parsi community in Bombay formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians. After slow beginnings, the Europeans invited the Parsis to play a match in 1877. By 1912, the Parsis, Sikhs and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament with the Europeans every year. In the early 1900s, some Indians went on to play for the England cricket team; some of these, such as Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji were appreciated by the British and their names went on to be used for the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy – two major first-class tournaments in India. In 1911, an Indian team went on their first official tour of the British Isles, but only played English county teams and not the England cricket team. India was invited to The Imperial Cricket Council in 1926, made their debut as a Test playing nation in England in 1932, led by CK Nayudu, considered as the best Indian batsman at the time.
The one-off Test match between the two sides was played at Lord's in London. The team went on to lose by 158 runs. India hosted its first Test series in the year 1933. England was the visiting team that played 2 Tests in Calcutta; the visitors won the series 2-0. The Indian team continued to improve throughout the 1930s and'40s but did not achieve an international victory during this period. In the early 1940s, India didn't play any Test cricket due to the Second World War; the team's first series as an independent country was in late 1947 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles. It was the first Test series India played, not against England. Australia won the five-match series 4–0, with Bradman tormenting the Indian bowling in his final Australian summer. India subsequently played their first Test series at home not against England against the West Indies in 1948. West Indies won the 5-Test series 1–0. India recorded their first Test victory, in their 24th match, against England at Madras in 1952.
In the same year, they won their first Test series, against Pakistan. They continued their improvement throughout the early 1950s with a series win against New Zealand in 1956. However, they did not win again in the remainder of the decade and lost badly to strong Australian and English sides. On 24 August 1959, India lost by an innings in the Test to complete the only 5–0 whitewash inflicted by England; the next decade saw. They won their first Test series against England at home in 1961–62 and won a home series against New Zealand, they managed to draw another series against England. In this same period, India won its first series outside the subcontinent, against New Zealand in 1967–68; the key to India's bowling in the 1970s were the Indian spin quartet – Bishen Bedi, E. A. S. Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan; this period saw the emergence of two of India's best batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Indian pitches have had the tendency to support spin and the spin quartet exploited this to create collapses in opposing batting line-ups.
These players were responsible for the back-to-back series wins in 1971 in the West Indies and in England, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique. The capital and largest city is Harare. A country of 16 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English and Ndebele the most used. Since the 11th century, present-day Zimbabwe has been the site of several organised states and kingdoms as well as a major route for migration and trade; the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes first demarcated the present territory during the 1890s. In 1965, the conservative white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia; the state endured a 15-year guerrilla war with black nationalist forces. Zimbabwe joined the Commonwealth of Nations, from which it was suspended in 2002 for breaches of international law by its then-government, from which it withdrew in December 2003; the sovereign state is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
It was once known as the "Jewel of Africa" for its prosperity under the former Rhodesian administration. Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, when his ZANU-PF party won the elections following the end of white minority rule. Under Mugabe's authoritarian regime, the state security apparatus dominated the country and was responsible for widespread human rights violations. Mugabe maintained the revolutionary socialist rhetoric of the Cold War era, blaming Zimbabwe's economic woes on conspiring Western capitalist countries. Contemporary African political leaders were reluctant to criticise Mugabe, burnished by his anti-imperialist credentials, though Archbishop Desmond Tutu called him "a cartoon figure of an archetypal African dictator"; the country has been in economic decline since the 1990s, experiencing several crashes and hyperinflation along the way. On 15 November 2017, in the wake of over a year of protests against his government as well as Zimbabwe's declining economy, Mugabe was placed under house arrest by the country's national army in a coup d'état.
On 19 November 2017, ZANU-PF sacked Robert Mugabe as party leader and appointed former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa in his place. On 21 November 2017, Mugabe tendered his resignation prior to impeachment proceedings being completed. On 30 July 2018 Zimbabwe held its general elections, won by the ZANU-PF party led by Emmerson Mnangagwa. Nelson Chamisa, leading the main opposition party MDC Alliance contested the election results and filed a petition to the Constitution Court of Zimbabwe; the court confirmed Mnangagwa's victory. The name "Zimbabwe" stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, an ancient ruined city in the country's south-east whose remains are now a protected site. Two different theories address the origin of the word. Many sources hold that "Zimbabwe" derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as "houses of stones"; the Karanga-speaking Shona people live around Great Zimbabwe in the modern-day province of Masvingo. Archaeologist Peter Garlake claims that "Zimbabwe" represents a contracted form of dzimba-hwe, which means "venerated houses" in the Zezuru dialect of Shona and references chiefs' houses or graves.
Zimbabwe was known as Southern Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia. The first recorded use of "Zimbabwe" as a term of national reference dates from 1960 as a coinage by the black nationalist Michael Mawema, whose Zimbabwe National Party became the first to use the name in 1961; the term "Rhodesia"—derived from the surname of Cecil Rhodes, the primary instigator of British colonisation of the territory during the late 19th century—was perceived by African nationalists as inappropriate because of its colonial origin and connotations. According to Mawema, black nationalists held a meeting in 1960 to choose an alternative name for the country, proposing names such as "Matshobana" and "Monomotapa" before his suggestion, "Zimbabwe", prevailed. A further alternative, put forward by nationalists in Matabeleland, had been "Matopos", referring to the Matopos Hills to the south of Bulawayo, it was unclear how the chosen term was to be used—a letter written by Mawema in 1961 refers to "Zimbabweland" — but "Zimbabwe" was sufficiently established by 1962 to become the preferred term of the black nationalist movement.
In a 2001 interview, black nationalist Edson Zvobgo recalled that Mawema mentioned the name during a political rally, "and it caught hold, and, that". The black nationalist factions subsequently used the name during the Second Chimurenga campaigns against the Rhodesian government during the Rhodesian Bush War of 1964–1979. Major factions in this camp included the Zimbabwe African National Union, the Zimbabwe African People's Union. Archaeological records date human settlement of present-day Zimbabwe to at least 100,000 years ago; the earliest known inhabitants were San people, who left behind arrowheads and cave paintings. The first Bantu-speaking farmers arrived during the Bantu expansion around 2000 years ago. Societies speaking proto-Shona languages fir
New Zealand national cricket team
The New Zealand national cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, played their first Test in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. From 1930 New Zealand had to wait until 1956, more than 26 years, for its first Test victory, against the West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland, they played their first ODI in the 1972–73 season against Pakistan in Christchurch. The current Test, One-day and Twenty20 captain is Kane Williamson, who replaced Brendon McCullum who announced his retirement in late December 2015; the national team is organised by New Zealand Cricket. The New Zealand cricket team became known as the Black Caps in January 1998, after its sponsor at the time, Clear Communications, held a competition to choose a name for the team. Official New Zealand Cricket sources typeset the nickname as BLACKCAPS; this is one of many national team nicknames related to the All Blacks. As of 12 March 2019, New Zealand have played 1309 Internationals, winning 496, losing 594, tying 11 and drawing 165 matches while 43 matches ended yielding no result.
The team is ranked 2nd in Tests, 3rd in ODIs and 6th in T20Is by the ICC. New Zealand defeated South Africa in the semi final of Cricket World Cup 2015, their first win in the a world cup semi final and hence they made their maiden appearance in a World Cup Final; the reverend Henry Williams provided history with the first report of a game of cricket in New Zealand, when he wrote in his diary in December 1832 about boys in and around Paihia on Horotutu Beach playing cricket. In 1835, Charles Darwin and HMS Beagle called into the Bay of Islands on its epic circumnavigation of the Earth and Darwin witnessed a game of cricket played by freed Māori slaves and the son of a missionary at Waimate North. Darwin in The Voyage of the Beagle wrote: several young men redeemed by the missionaires from slavery were employed on the farm. In the evening I saw a party of them at cricket; the first recorded game of cricket in New Zealand took place in Wellington in December 1842. The Wellington Spectator reports a game on 28 December 1842 played by a "Red" team and a "Blue" team from the Wellington Club.
The first recorded match was reported by the Examiner in Nelson between the Surveyors and Nelson in March 1844. The first team to tour New Zealand was Parr's all England XI in 1863–64. Between 1864 and 1914, 22 foreign teams toured New Zealand. England sent Australia 15 and one from Fiji. On 15–17 February 1894 the first team representing New Zealand played New South Wales at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. New South Wales won by 160 runs. New South Wales returned again in 1895–96 and New Zealand won the solitary game by 142 runs, its first victory; the New Zealand Cricket Council was formed towards the end of 1894. New Zealand played its first two internationals in 1904–05 against a star-studded Australia team containing such players as Victor Trumper, Warwick Armstrong and Clem Hill. Rain saved New Zealand from a thrashing in the first match, but not the second, which New Zealand lost by an innings and 358 runs – the second largest defeat in New Zealand first-class history. In 1927 NZ toured England.
They played 26 first class matches against county sides. They managed to beat Worcestershire, Glamorgan and Derbyshire. On the strength of the performances of this tour New Zealand was granted Test status. In 1929/30 the M. C. C played 4 Tests all of 3 days in duration. New Zealand lost its first Test match but drew the next 3. In the second Test Stewie Dempster and Jackie Mills put on 276 for the first wicket; this is still the highest partnership for New Zealand against England. New Zealand first played South Africa in 1931–32 in a three match series but were unable to secure Test matches against any teams other than England before World War II ended all Test cricket for 7 years. A Test tour by Australia, planned for February and March 1940, was cancelled after the outbreak of the war. New Zealand's first Test after the war was against Australia in 1945/46; this game was not considered a "Test" at the time but it was granted Test status retrospectively by the International Cricket Council in March 1948.
The New Zealand players who appeared in this match did not appreciate this move by the ICC as New Zealand were dismissed for 42 and 54. The New Zealand Cricket Council's unwillingness to pay Australian players a decent allowance to tour New Zealand ensured that this was the only Test Australia played against New Zealand between 1929 and 1972. In 1949 New Zealand sent one of its best sides to England, it contained Martin Donnelly, John R. Reid and Jack Cowie. However, 3-day Test matches ensured. Many have regarded the 1949 tour of England among New Zealand's best touring performances. All four tests were high-scoring despite being draws and Martin Donnelly's 206 at Lord's hailed as one of the finest innings seen there. Despite being winless, New Zealand did not lose a test either. Prior to this, only the legendary 1948 Australian team, led by the great Don Bradman, had achieved this. New Zealand played its first matches against the West Indies in 1951–52, Pakistan and India in 1955/56. In 1954/55 New Zealand recorded the lowest innings total, 26 against England.
The following season New Zealand achieved its first Test victory. The first 3 Tests of a 4 Test series were won by the West Indies but New Zealand won the fourth to notch up its first Test victory, it had taken them 26 years to attain. In the next 20 years New Zealand won only seven more Tests. For most of this period New Zealand lacked a class bowler to lead their attack although they had two excellent batsmen in Bert Sutcliffe and Glenn Turner and a great all-rounder in John R. Reid. Reid capt
Bangladesh national cricket team
The Bangladesh national cricket team, is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Bangladesh is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status, it played its first Test match in November 2000 against India in Dhaka, becoming the tenth Test-playing nation. Bangladesh's first official foray into international cricket came in the 1979 ICC Trophy in England. On 31 March 1986, Bangladesh played its first ODI match, against Pakistan in the Asia Cup. For a long time, football was the most popular sport in Bangladesh, but cricket became popular – in urban areas – and by the late 1990s had surpassed football. In 1997, Bangladesh won the ICC Trophy in Malaysia and thus qualified for its first Cricket World Cup to participate in England in 1999. There, it defeated Pakistan – causing much upset – and Scotland. On 26 June 2000, Bangladesh was granted full ICC membership. Bangladesh holds the record for most consecutive losses in ODIs. After gaining full member status with the ICC, Bangladesh had to wait until 2004 for its first ODI win since the 1999 World Cup.
The team on the losing side on that occasion was Zimbabwe, who participated in Bangladesh's maiden Test victory in 2005. In 2009 Bangladesh toured the West Indies for two Tests and by winning both secured their first overseas Test series victory; as of 28 July 2018, Bangladesh has played 108 Tests. Its first victory was against team Zimbabwe, the next two came against the West Indian team. Results have improved predominantly at home with draws earned against New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa and wins against England, Sri Lanka and Australia, they played their 100th Test when they toured Sri Lanka in March 2017. The team has been more successful in ODIs, it has played 82 Twenty20 Internationals, winning 26. Bangladesh is ranked ninth in Tests, seventh in ODIs and tenth in T20Is by the ICC. Several East Pakistan-based sides played in Pakistani domestic cricket prior to Bangladesh's declaration of independence of 1971—the East Pakistan cricket team fielded three players who played ICC Trophy matches.
In 1977, Bangladesh became an Associate member of the International Cricket Council. Bangladesh was one of fifteen teams to take part in the inaugural ICC Trophy. Held in 1979, it gave non-Test playing countries the opportunity to qualify for that year's World Cup. Bangladesh, under the captaincy of Raqibul Hasan, won two matches and lost two, but failed to progress beyond the first round. Victory in the South-East Asian Cricket Conference Tournament in February 1984 ensured Bangladesh qualified for the 1986 Asia Cup. On 31 March 1986, Bangladesh played their first One Day International against a full member of the ICC, they lost their second ODI, against Sri Lanka, finishing last in the three-team tournament. Bangladesh qualified for this time hosting the tournament. Although they lost all their matches, Bangladesh's fixtures were retrospectively awarded ODI. Floods in the preceding months meant the tournament was in doubt. A charity match raised $70,000 for the flood victims. Bangladesh added a black mark in 1986 ICC Trophy with only 2 wins.
Bangladesh took part in the 1990 Austral-Asia Cup, the Asia Cup in 1990–91, 1995, 1997, several other triangular tournaments, but it was not until 1998 that they won their first ODI. Their 22-match losing streak since their first ODI was at the time a record. Bangladesh posted its first ODI win against Kenya, in India thanks to Mohammad Rafique, who contributed a fiery 77 runs and took 3 wickets. Put on 137 for the first wicket with Athar Ali Khan. Athar's own contribution was 47. In October 1998, Bangladesh hosted the first ICC KnockOut Trophy held, a knock-out ODI tournament featuring all the Test playing nations. Bangladesh took part in each of the 1979, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 editions of the ICC Trophy, won the trophy in 1997, in the process qualified for the 1999 World Cup; the General Secretary of Bangladesh Cricket Board, Aminul Huq Moni took the initiative to install Astro Turf in Abahani Cricket Ground and Bangabandhu National Stadium, so that the local players had two full seasons to prepare on the type of pitch they would playing in ICC Trophy in 1997.
Bangladesh became a regular ICC member with the right to play ODIs and started hosting bilateral and triangular ODI tournaments. Earlier, in February Dhaka hosted the final SAARC cricket tournament. Bangladesh played in its first World Cup in England in 1999 and recorded their first win in a World Cup match against Scotland. Bangladesh created an enormous upset by beating Pakistan by 62 runs in the group match at Northampton. Bangladesh made 9/223 from its full 50 overs, in reply, Pakistan could only manage 161 due to timely run-outs by wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud and some tight bowling by Khaled Mahmud, who took 3/31 from 10 overs. Mahmud was judged the man of the match. Bangladesh did not qualify for the Super Six round due to defeats in three of its five matches. However, the win over Pakistan, who finished runners-up to Australia, helped Bangladesh to gain Test playing status the following year. Bangladesh had sacked coach Gordon Greenidge, who had steered the team through the 1997 ICC Trophy and
Zimbabwe national cricket team
The Zimbabwe national cricket team is administered by Zimbabwe Cricket. Zimbabwe is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status; as of November 2018, Zimbabwe is ranked tenth in Tests, eleventh in ODIs and twelfth in Twenty20 Internationals by the ICC. Zimbabwe – known as Rhodesia until 1980 – had a national cricket team before it achieved Test status. A brief summary of key moments: Rhodesia was represented in the South African domestic cricket tournament, the Currie Cup, sporadically from 1904 to 1932, regularly from 1946 until independence. Following independence, the country began to play more international cricket. On 21 July 1981, Zimbabwe became an associate member of the ICC. Zimbabwe participated in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, as well as the 1992 events. Zimbabwe's first World Cup campaign in 1983 ended in the group stage, as they lost five of their six matches. However, they threw a surprise against Australia. Batting first, Zimbabwe reached a total of 239 for 6 in the allotted 60 overs, with skipper Duncan Fletcher top-scoring with 69 not out.
Fletcher produced career-best figures of 4 for 42 to restrict Australia to 226 for 7, thereby recording a stunning upset in cricket history. In the 1987 World Cup, Zimbabwe lost all six of their group-stage matches, though they came close to winning against New Zealand. Chasing 243 to win from 50 overs, wicketkeeper-batsman David Houghton scored 142, but Zimbabwe were all out for 239 in the final over, thus losing by three runs. In the 1992 tournament, Zimbabwe failed to progress beyond the round-robin stage, losing seven of their eight matches, though there were two notable achievements. Against Sri Lanka in their first match, Zimbabwe posted their then-highest total of 312 for 4, with wicketkeeper-batsman Andy Flower top-scoring with 115 not out. However, the Sri Lankans chased this total down with four balls to spare. In their final match, Zimbabwe faced England in an inconsequential encounter, England having made the semi-finals. Batting first, Zimbabwe were all out for 134. Eddo Brandes produced a stunning spell of 4 for 21, including dismissing Graham Gooch first ball, to help restrict England to 125 all out and thus give Zimbabwe a shock nine-run victory.
These twenty World Cup matches were Zimbabwe's only international games during this period. Zimbabwe was granted Test status by the ICC in July 1992 and played its first Test match in October that year, against India at Harare Sports Club, they became the ninth Test nation. Zimbabwe's early Test performances were weak, leading to suggestions that they had been granted Test status prematurely. Of their first 30 Test matches, they won just one, at home against Pakistan in early 1995. In the one-day arena, the team soon became competitive, if not strong. In particular, world respect was gained for their fielding ability. In spite of his team's difficulties, wicket-keeper/batsman Andy Flower was at one point rated the best batsman in world cricket. During this era, Zimbabwe produced such cricketers as Flower's brother Grant, allrounders Andy Blignaut and Heath Streak. Murray Goodwin was a world-class batsman. Another world-class batsman was David Houghton, who holds the record for the highest individual Test score for Zimbabwe of 266 against Sri Lanka in 1994/95.
Sometime captain and middle order batsman Alistair Campbell, leg-spinning all rounder Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, pace bowler/opener Neil Johnson were other important contributors for Zimbabwe on the world stage at this time. With the appearance of these quality players, a breakthrough was achieved in levels of performance in the late 1990s where the Zimbabwean team began winning Tests against other nations, which included a series win against Pakistan; the political situation in Zimbabwe declined at around the same time, which had a detrimental effect on the national team's performances. Zimbabwe excelled at the 1999 Cricket World Cup, coming in fifth place in the Super Sixes and only missing out on a semi-final place due to having an inferior net run-rate than New Zealand. In the group stage, Zimbabwe beat India by three runs, before facing their neighbours South Africa the best team in the world. Batting first, Zimbabwe made 233 for 6, with a well-fought 76 by opening batsman Neil Johnson.
In reply, South Africa collapsed to 40 for 6, before Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock scored half-centuries to reduce the margin of defeat to 48 runs. This was one of Zimbabwe's most famous wins. Neil Johnson excelled with the ball, taking three wickets and claiming the Man of the Match award. Johnson quit playing for Zimbabwe after this tournament. During this period, Zimbabwe beat all Test-playing nations regularly. Zimbabwe beat New Zealand both home and away in 2000–2001; the team reached finals of many multi-national one day tournaments. Increasing politicisation of cricket, including selectorial policy, along with the declining situation in Zimbabwe disrupted the 2003 Cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by Zimbabwe and South Africa. England forfeited a match scheduled to be played in Zimbabwe, risking their own progress through the competition, citing "security concerns" as their reason. Zimbabwean players Andy Flower and fast bowler Henry Olonga wore black armbands, for "mourning the death of democracy" in Zimbabwe.
Both were dismissed from the team and applied for political asylum overseas. This public political protest caused considerable embarrassment to the co-h
Grant Flower
Grant William Flower is a former Zimbabwean cricketer and a former ODI captain, who played Tests and ODIs. He is rated among the best Zimbabwean cricketers in history for his handy left arm spin and fine batting skills, he was a fitness fanatic who spends hours in the gym, was regarded as a brilliant fielder, seen in the gully. "Flower Power", the combination of Grant and his brother Andy Flower, was the mainstay of Zimbabwean batting for a decade. He was his team's most successful opening batsman who played the role of anchorman, with strokeplayers coming in down the order, he played a lead role in, Zimbabwe's finest Test victory, against a strong Pakistan side. He would show a liking for the Pakistani side over his career, averaging over 40 against them and scoring 3 centuries including an unbeaten 201. In July 2014, he was appointed as batting coach of the Pakistan cricket team for a period of two years, he was the first batsman to have carried his bat across 2 different formats and the only batsman to have carried out his bat in both ODIs as well as in tests.
Grant Flower was born in Salisbury and was educated along with his brother Andy at North Park School where they were the best players in their age groups. Although always an allrounder, he bowled seamers in his early days and his bowling was rated more than his batting, it was at St. George's College where he changed to spin bowling. Quite Flower is part of the famous talent production line from St George’s College, which includes England cricketers Sam and Tom Curran as well as New Zealand international Colin de Grandhomme among a plethora of other internationally capped players. In the summer of 1990/91 his elevation to a professional cricketer was confirmed when he was employed by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, his debut first-class game for Zimbabwe came against England A. In his second match he opened the innings and was rewarded with a fifty adding what would be the first of many century partnerships with his brother Andy. At just 19, Flower was part of the 1990 ICC tournament where the winner would qualify for the World Cup.
Zimbabwe would go on to win the competition with Grant Flower scoring in the early games. Had they not won the competition it is that Zimbabwe would not have made their rise to Test cricket, at least not until much later. Grant Flower missed out on the 1992 World Cup due to injury. In 1993 Grant spent a season in England with Widnes Cricket Club in the Manchester and District Cricket Association. After the World Cup Zimbabwe were promoted to Test status and Flower was unanimously selected to play against the Indians for the Inaugural Test match. On a flat pitch, he dominated in a 100 run opening stand, he would go on to score 82. Zimbabwe again met the Indians this time on their home turf and again fell just short of a maiden Test century when he fell for 96. Pakistan toured Zimbabwe in 1995 and in the 1st Test Flower scored his maiden Test century. Not content, he went on to register double hundred, he faced 523 balls as Zimbabwe scored a massive 4/544 declared. His innings would help Zimbabwe to win their first Test match as they won by a convincing Innings and 64 Runs.
He would continue to haunt the Pakistani side, scoring his second Test century at Sheikhupura Stadium in Pakistan. In 1997 Flower became the first Zimbabwean to score a century in both innings of a Test match. Playing against New Zealand in Harare, he scored 104 and 151. A year he scored his 5th Test century, an innings of 156 not out at Queens Sports Club against Pakistan, he would suffer a form slump after that innings, not scoring a 99 for 33 innings including 6 ducks. On 25 November 2000 he ended his slump with a fine 106 against India and would go on to score 4 50's in his next 6 innings. By the end of his ODI career, Flower had taken more wickets than any other Zimbabwean bowler except Heath Streak, his ODI statistics make better reading than his Test statistics. He would score 6 ODI tons and had it not been for the nervous nineties may have had many more. 9 times he was either dismissed in the 90's. One of his most memorable centuries would come in the final of a one-day triangular tournament in Bangladesh.
Playing against Kenya he smashed an 82 ball century and finished with 140, just 2 short of the national record at the time. He holds the record for taking the most catches as fielder for Zimbabawe in ODI historyFlower more was the first batsman to carry his bat right through the completed innings of an ODI, he holds the unique record for being the only batsman in ODI cricket to have carried his bat in an One Day International match in a winning cause. In 2004 he announced his retirement from international cricket; this was due to the dispute between the rebels and the Zimbabwean Cricket Union. He signed a contract with Essex as a Kolpak player. There was some grumbling amongst Essex supporters at his signing, but this appeared to die down after his first season, when he topped the Essex 2005 List-A batting averages and was third in the number of wickets taken. Following another fine season for Essex which turned out to be his last season of county cricket, Flower was handed a shock recall to the Zimbabwe team for the tour of South Africa.
He is expected to combine playing duties with his role of batting coach of the national side and was in contention to play in the 2011 Cricket World Cup held in India. He made his international return in October 2010 the first ODI of a three-match series vs South Africa. On May 2014, he was appointed as the batting coach of Pakistan cricket team. Grant
2003 Cricket World Cup
The 2003 Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organized by the International Cricket Council. It was co-hosted by South Africa and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003; this edition of the World Cup was the first to be played in Africa. The tournament featured 14 teams, the largest number in the World Cup's history at the time, playing a total of 54 matches, it followed the format introduced in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, with the teams divided into two groups, the top three in each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage. The tournament saw numerous upsets, with South Africa, West Indies and England all being eliminated at the group stage. England forfeited their match with Zimbabwe, due to the political unrest in the country, which enabled that team to reach the Super Sixes. New Zealand forfeited their match with Kenya, due to security reasons which enabled the latter to reach the semi-finals, the only non-Test playing nation to do so. Another shock wave came two days after the tournament had started, when Shane Warne, at the time one of the game's leading spinners, was sent home in disgrace after testing positive for a banned substance.
The tournament was won by Australia who won all 11 of their matches, beating India in the final played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. This was Australia’s third World Cup win, the only team to do so. Fourteen teams played in the 2003 World Cup, the largest number of teams to play in a Cricket World Cup at the time; the 10 Test playing nations automatically qualified for the tournament including the appointed member Bangladesh, while Kenya qualified automatically due to their full One Day International status. The other three spots were filled by the top three teams in the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada, which served as a qualifying tournament; these teams were the Netherlands who won the ICC Trophy and Namibia. This was Namibia's World Cup debut, while the Netherlands and Canada were both appearing in the tournament for the second time, having appeared in 1996 and 1979 respectively; the format used in the 1999 World Cup was retained, with the 14 teams divided into two groups of seven, the top three from each group qualifying for the Super Sixes stage, carrying forward the results they had achieved against other qualifiers from their group.
The top four teams in the Super Sixes qualified for the semi-finals, the winners of those matches contested the final. The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify. Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and New Zealand advanced to the Super Sixes stage. Points carried forward were calculated as follows: Four points for a win over another qualifier, one for a win over a non-qualifier, two for a tie or no result against another qualifier, 0.5 for a tie or no result against a non-qualifier. Teams that advanced to the semi-finals are highlighted in blue. On a difficult, slow pitch at Port Elizabeth, Australia struggled their way to 212 against tight Sri Lankan bowling, thanks to a great innings from Andrew Symonds, demonstrating again captain Ricky Ponting's faith in him. Chaminda Vaas, continuing his excellent tournament, took three wickets. Australia's pace attack ripped through the Sri Lankan top order, with Brett Lee taking three early wickets and Glenn McGrath taking one.
By the time rain arrived in the 39th over, continued tight bowling had squeezed Sri Lanka to 123, well behind the target given by the Duckworth–Lewis method. This is the match in which Adam Gilchrist famously "walked" despite being given not out; the fairytale ended for the Kenyan team, the only non-Test-playing nation to make a World Cup semi-final. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, batted the Kenyans out of the game as India careered to a total of 270. Under the Durban lights, the potent Indian seam attack of Zaheer Khan, the experienced Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra careered through the Kenyan top order. Kenya were bowled out for 179, with only Steve Tikolo putting up any significant resistance. India won the toss, Ganguly, elected to field, hoping to take advantage of a pitch left damp by dew and rain. On a lively Wanderers Stadium pitch, the Australian openers took advantage of wayward Indian opening bowlers to get off to a flying start. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden shared an opening partnership of 105 runs in 14 overs, forcing Ganguly to bring on the spinners unusually early.
The change of pace brought wickets with Adam Gilchrist, swinging at everything, holing out off a sweep shot from the bowling of Harbhajan Singh. Matthew Hayden, looking somewhat better than he had throughout the tournament, soon followed for 37, leaving Australia at 2/125 Captain Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn completing a partnership of 234 runs in 30.1 overs, an Australian record for one-day cricket. Ponting and Martyn started efficiently, putting away bad balls but keeping the scoring going with good running letting loose in the last ten overs, taking 109 from them. Ponting in p
