Hard work watching Black Caps on the losing end

Chris Cairns

October 4, 2000

I haven't been a very good watcher while seeing the CLEAR Black Caps get beaten in the one-day series by Zimbabwe.

It is very frustrating sitting on the sideline and having no influence on the game. I don't like not being able to have a say.

I can't wait to get back on the field. On the physical side of things I am feeling really good. The one good thing about my enforced break was that it allowed the cortisone injection to really take.

Once we get to Kenya tomorrow I will have four or five days to prepare for our match with Zimbabwe. Physically I was feeling in good form before my injection so it shouldn't take too much to have a good school up and be back into it.

Losing Dion Nash has been a big blow to the side. He contributes so much both with the bat and ball and for his sheer competitiveness. He is a class cricketer and I want to wish him a speedy recovery. His injury is the same back problem he has had throughout his career.

It was typical of him that when Harry [Chris Harris] woke up ill on the morning of our second one-dayer against Zimbabwe that Dion filled in as a batsman only. For all intents and purposes Dion was on the plane to go home.

Looking at the two games at the weekend, we were knocked around when Harry was ill.

The Zimbabweans freshened up their team by adding two new younger guys and that gave them some added enthusiasm. We didn't get off to the best of bowling starts in the first game of the Bulawayo double-header.

It was good to have Geoff Allott back. But they made their start and Alistair Campbell chipped in with a good innings.

We lost a couple early on when batting. Craig Spearman and Roger Twose carried on where they had been in the first game in Harare and both played well.

Losing them consecutively put the pressure on lower down and that was where we really missed Harry. He has made a real role out of chasing runs in the last stages of games. Without him we came up short.

We went straight back to the hotel because we faced a game the next day. The boys got a bit of a rev up from Flem, [captain Stephen Fleming]. He wanted more discipline in all areas of our game.

He won the toss and batted on the same wicket we had played on the day before. They had originally mown two strips but decided to play on a used one in order to help their spin bowlers on a wearing wicket.

The guys got into a reasonable position with Twosey doing what he has done for us for the past 12 months while Craig McMillan batted really well and looked to be set for a big one. But then he was really unlucky to be given out and that cost us at least 20 or 30 runs.

When they batted Campbell played as well as I have ever seen him play to finish on 99 not out. We created some half chances but were not able to take them.

Zimbabwe's win in the series has given them the upper hand for Kenya but we had two good days up at Victoria Falls to rest up after five or six weeks of hard work. The water flow over the Falls was only light but they were still impressive. There was also some golf to play and crocodile farms to visit. It was a good break.

But I am really looking forward to playing in Kenya and we have four or five days to get in some good preparation.

It was interesting while in Johannesburg to get a bit of a feel on what we can expect when we are in South Africa after Kenya. They don't know too much about us although they say they will have to respect us.

As for me I'm just looking forward to locking horns with their three all-rounders.

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Matches

Zimbabwe v New Zealand at Bulawayo, 1 Oct 2000

Zimbabwe v New Zealand at Bulawayo, 30 Sep 2000

Players/Umpires

Chris Cairns

Series/Tournaments

New Zealand in South Africa, 2000/01

ICC KnockOut, 2000/01

New Zealand tour of Zimbabwe

Teams

New Zealand

Other

Chris Cairns' African Safari Tour 2000