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The Zimbabwe national cricket team, also known as the Chevrons, represents
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
in men's international
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
and is overseen by
Zimbabwe Cricket Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously 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 th ...
(formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union). Zimbabwe has been a Full Member of the
International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...
(ICC) since 1992. As of March, 2022, Zimbabwe is currently ranked 10th in
Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
, 13th in
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...
s (ODIs) and 11th in
Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...
s (T20Is) by the ICC.


History


Before Test status

Zimbabwe – known as
Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...
until 1980 – had a national cricket team before it achieved Test status. A summary of key moments: * Rhodesia was represented in the South African domestic cricket tournament, the
Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...
, sporadically from 1904 to 1932, and then 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 The 1983 Cricket World Cup (officially the Prudential Cup '83) was the 3rd edition of the Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 to 25 June 1983 in England and Wales and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. E ...
, as well as the
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...
and
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...
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 Duncan Andrew Gwynne Fletcher (born 27 September 1948) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former cricketer, who has coached the England and Indian national teams. He was England coach between 1999 and 2007, and is credited with the resurgence ...
top-scoring with 69 not out. Fletcher then produced career-best figures of 4 for 42 to restrict Australia to 226 for 7, thereby recording
stunning upset
in cricket history. In the 1987 World Cup, Zimbabwe lost all six of their group-stage matches, though they came very close to winning against New Zealand. Chasing 243 to win from 50 overs,
wicketkeeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...
-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 Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest ...
top-scoring with 115 not out. However, the Sri Lankans chased this total down with four balls to spare, winning by three wickets. In their final match, Zimbabwe faced England in an inconsequential encounter, England having already made the semi-finals. Batting first, Zimbabwe were all out for 134.
Eddo Brandes Eddo André Brandes (born 5 March 1963) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played in 10 Tests and 59 ODIs from 1987 to 1999, spanning four World Cups. In the days when a number of Zimbabwe's players were amateurs with other full-time profess ...
then produced a stunning spell of 4 for 21, including dismissing
Graham Gooch Graham Alan Gooch, (born 23 July 1953) is a former English first-class cricketer who captained Essex and England. He was one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, and through a career spanning from 1973 until 2000, ...
the 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.


1992–1996: Early years of Test status

Zimbabwe was granted Test status by the ICC in July 1992 and played its first Test match in October that year, against
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
at
Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club is a sports club and the Harare Sports Club Ground is a cricket stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1900 and known as Salisbury Sports Club until 1982, it is mostly used for cricket matches, and has served as the primary c ...
. They became the ninth Test nation. Zimbabwe's early Test performances were consistently 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 Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
in early 1995. In the one-day arena, however, the team soon became competitive, if not particularly strong. In particular, world respect was gained for their fielding ability.


1997–2002: The golden era

Despite his team's difficulties, wicket-keeper/batsman
Andy Flower Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest ...
was at one point rated the best batsman in world cricket. During this era, Zimbabwe also produced such cricketers as Flower's brother
Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States *Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...
, and allrounders Andy Blignaut and
Heath Streak Heath Hilton Streak (born 16 March 1974) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. By his statistical record, he is the best bowler to have played for Zimbabwe. He is the a ...
(who was later appointed national captain).
Murray Goodwin Murray William Goodwin (born 11 December 1972) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played 19 Tests and 71 One Day Internationals. He was a right-handed top-order batsman, strong on the back foot, and a good cutter and puller of the ball. In ...
was also a world-class batsman; following his retirement from international cricket, he has scored heavily for Sussex. 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 Eddo André Brandes (born 5 March 1963) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played in 10 Tests and 59 ODIs from 1987 to 1999, spanning four World Cups. In the days when a number of Zimbabwe's players were amateurs with other full-time profess ...
, and 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. Unfortunately, the political situation in Zimbabwe declined at around the same time, which had a detrimental effect on the national team's performances. Zimbabwe performed well at the
1999 Cricket World Cup The 1999 Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Cricket World Cup '99) was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with Scotland, Ireland, Wales ...
, 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 New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
. In the group stage, Zimbabwe beat India by three runs, before facing their neighbours South Africa, then 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 Lance Klusener (born 4 September 1971) is an international cricket coach and former cricketer of South Africa. He was known for his aggressive batting and fast-medium swing bowling. Klusener was one of the best all-rounders in the world during ...
and
Shaun Pollock Shaun Maclean Pollock OIS (born 16 July 1973) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer, who was captain in all formats of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers and allrounders of all time. A genu ...
scored half-centuries to reduce the margin of defeat to 48 runs. This was South Africa's first defeat against Zimbabwe and one of Zimbabwe's most famous wins. Neil Johnson also 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 (except Australia) regularly in ODI series. Zimbabwe beat New Zealand both home and away in 2000–2001. The team also reached the finals of many multi-national one-day tournaments.


2003–2004: Signs of decline

The increasing politicization of cricket, including selectorial policy, along with the declining situation in Zimbabwe disrupted the
2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the f ...
, which was jointly hosted by Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa.
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
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 Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest ...
and fast bowler Henry Olonga wore black armbands, for "mourning the death of democracy" in Zimbabwe. Both were immediately dismissed from the team and applied for political asylum overseas. This public political protest caused considerable embarrassment to the co-hosts and disrupted team harmony. Since the 2003 World Cup, with a succession of Zimbabwe's best players ending their international careers early, a new side began to develop, featuring the likes of Travis Friend, Andy Blignaut, Hamilton Masakadza, Douglas Hondo, Craig Wishart, Ray Price, Sean Ervine, Mark Vermeulen,
Tatenda Taibu Tatenda Taibu (born 14 May 1983) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He is a wicket-keeper-batsman. From 6 May 2004 to 5 September 2019, he held the record for being the youngest test captain in h ...
, Elton Chigumbura,
Prosper Utseya Prosper Utseya (born 26 March 1985 in Harare, Zimbabwe) is a Zimbabwean cricketer, who plays all formats of the game. He was the former captain of Zimbabwe from 2006 to 2010. He bowls right-arm off break and is a useful right-hand batsman. Uts ...
, Dougie Marillier, and
Barney Rogers Barney Guy Rogers (born 20 August 1982) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer. He played four Test cricket, Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for the Zimbabwe national cricket team between 2002 and 2005 and first-class cri ...
. Whilst not of the same caliber of Streak, Goodwin, and the Flower brothers, this new breed of predominantly multi-disciplined players formed a solid backbone to a competitive, if usually unsuccessful, side. In late 2003, Zimbabwe toured Australia in a two-match series. The series was more memorable for Australian opener
Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Just ...
's innings in the first Test – in which he overcame a back strain to score a then
record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...
380 runs – than for the Zimbabwean performance. Zimbabwe lost its first match against Bangladesh in 2004. In 2004, captain
Heath Streak Heath Hilton Streak (born 16 March 1974) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. By his statistical record, he is the best bowler to have played for Zimbabwe. He is the a ...
was sacked by the ZCU (now Zimbabwe Cricket), prompting a walkout by 14 other players in protest against political influence in the team's management and selection policies. A scheduled tour by Sri Lanka went ahead, but this was a lopsided affair, with Zimbabwe represented by fringe players who were not of international standard. Because of this, the ZCU accepted that Zimbabwe was to play no further Test cricket in 2004, though its status as a Test nation was unaffected.


2005–2009: Worsening political situation, steep decline and the exodus of players

After a series of poor Test performances following the resignation of several senior players, the Zimbabwean team was voluntarily suspended from Test cricket in late 2005 by its cricket board, with ICC encouragement. In early 2005, Heath Streak was reinstated into the national side, but the political situation in Zimbabwe involving
Operation Murambatsvina Operation Murambatsvina (''Move the Rubbish''), also officially known as Operation Restore Order, was a large-scale Zimbabwean government campaign to forcibly clear slum areas across the country. The campaign started in 2005 and according to Unit ...
disrupted the Zimbabwean team. During overseas tours, the players were often said to be buying necessities that were unavailable – or prohibitively expensive – at home, as opposed to the souvenirs which other touring teams would purchase. In 2005 an agreement was signed which led to the return of many of the rebels to the Zimbabwe side. However, results failed to improve as in March Zimbabwe lost both their Tests on tour against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
by an innings. Worse was to follow in August, when they were crushed on home soil by
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
, in a match that was completed in just two days. In the process, Zimbabwe was humiliated; they became only the second side in Test history (after
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
in 1952) to be bowled out twice in the space of one day. Then they lost both their Tests to India at home later in September. After the series against India, Streak announced his retirement from international cricket, dealing yet another blow to the beleaguered team. By November 2005, the players were once again in dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket over political interference in the management of the game, as well as contract negotiations, and the new captain,
Tatenda Taibu Tatenda Taibu (born 14 May 1983) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He is a wicket-keeper-batsman. From 6 May 2004 to 5 September 2019, he held the record for being the youngest test captain in h ...
, resigned from international cricket. By then the team had been further weakened by the departure of the likes of Dougie Marillier, Craig Wishart and Sean Ervine, all of whom retired in protest and expressed disillusionment in the local cricket hierarchy. By January 2006, 37 Zimbabwean cricketers had failed to receive any offer of renegotiation talks from Zimbabwe Cricket after their contracts with the board had expired. This body of players demanded that the chairman and managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket,
Peter Chingoka Peter Chingoka (2 March 1954 – 22 August 2019) was a Zimbabwean cricket administrator. Career His father, Douglas, was a sub-inspector in the Rhodesian police force—the British South Africa Police—and later a deputy commissio ...
and
Ozias Bvute Ozias Bvute is the managing director and chief executive of Zimbabwe Cricket. He replaced Vincent Hogg as chief executive in 2005. Hogg's departure came against the background of the player standoffs, with the senior and mostly white players taki ...
, be removed from office for there to be any hope for the players to return to the international stage. On 6 January 2006, the Sports and Recreation Commission, a division of the Zimbabwean government, took over the offices of Zimbabwe Cricket. The apparent takeover has resulted in the firing of all whites and Asians among the board directors, because of "their racial connotations and saving their own agendas and not government policy" according to
Gibson Mashingaidze Gibson Mashingaidze is a former army general and head of Zimbabwean sports. History He was born in Ushe, Bikita District from Nyika Growth Point in Masvingo province in 1949. He went to Ushe primary school and then to Mashoko Secondary Schoo ...
, an army brigadier and chairman of the government's Sports and Recreation Commission. An interim board was appointed as the new leading party of cricket in Zimbabwe, with Peter Chingoka appointed as the committee's head. Given Chingoka's close ties to Bvute, it was likely that the latter would continue in his post as well. On 18 January 2006, Zimbabwe Cricket announced that they were suspending the playing of
Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last f ...
for the rest of the year. Zimbabwe's coach Kevin Curran said that Zimbabwe were aiming to play their next Test against the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...
in November 2007. It was felt by observers that the Zimbabwean national team was not of sufficient Test standard, and that competing against Full Member sides would do little to improve standards, given the likely one-sided nature of the games.
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
, for a long time seen as the 'whipping boys' of Test cricket, recorded their first win against Zimbabwe, and were thereafter regarded as being of a superior standard. On 8 August 2011, Zimbabwe recorded a resounding victory in the one Test match series over Bangladesh, played in Harare. Domestically, the Logan Cup – Zimbabwe's first-class competition played amongst the provinces – was canceled in 2006 for the first time since its inception over a century ago (though the Cup was not played during some of the years of the World Wars). This was widely seen due to concern by ZC that the standard of play would be so poor as to be both not worthwhile and potentially harmful to the external image of cricket in Zimbabwe. The one-day trophy, the Faithwear Cup, was contested and drew complaints from observers that the quality was less than club level. As well as player exodus, the main reason for this catastrophic fall in standards was put down to wrangling within Zimbabwe Cricket, where internal politics motivated the removal of the historic provinces and their replacement with revamped, newly designated provincial teams. Zimbabwe's economic collapse led to scanty attendance at games and players not receiving their salaries for long periods of time. In a further harmful incident, ex-player Mark Vermeulen was arrested after attempting to burn down ZC's offices, and successfully destroying the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy's premises. In a nation in increasing social and economic turmoil, such facilities are hard to replace, and their loss has proven difficult to manage for a cricket administration already short of top-quality facilities. In the period leading up to the
2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...
in the West Indies, and to stop a similar exodus of players as after the 2003 World Cup, the selected players were asked to sign a new contract. The players were summoned to meet Ozias Bvute, Zimbabwe Cricket's managing director, a week or so before they were due to set off and given an ultimatum – sign the contract on offer or be removed from the squad. It is understood that they were not allowed to take advice, and were told they had to make the decision there and then. One player told his teammates that there were certain things contained in the contracts that needed clarification. He was summoned back into Bvute's office and warned that it was a take-it-or-leave-it offer: this player was later revealed to be
Anthony Ireland Anthony Ireland may refer to: * Anthony Ireland (actor) (1902–1957), British actor * Anthony Ireland (basketball) (born 1989), American basketball player * Anthony Ireland (cricketer) Anthony John Ireland (born 30 August 1984) is a former cr ...
. Another said that when he told Bvute he wanted to consult with friends, Bvute picked up the phone and called Kenyon Ziehl, the head of selection, and told him he wanted the player replaced in the squad. Unsurprisingly, the player backed down and signed. In light of the poor state of Zimbabwe's finances, and that Zimbabwe Cricket had to borrow around US$1  million in early 2007 pending receipt of monies from the World Cup to help them over an ongoing cash crisis, the board agreed to pay match fees in US dollars. The players were to be paid US$2000 per appearance and a series of US$500 bonuses based on wickets taken and fifties scored. The maximum payment was believed to be capped at around US$8000. However, fees were not paid until June 2007 to stop the exodus and help cash flow. The specter of continued problems with the ZC board influenced some players to cut their losses and seek to finish their careers abroad: Anthony Ireland accepted a contract to play for Gloucestershire during 2007, while opener Vusi Sibanda also left. More are thought to be considering following suit. Zimbabwe fared poorly in the
2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...
, even failing to beat non-Test playing
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Zimbabwe upset Australia in its opening match of the Twenty20 World Championship in
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...
, defeating them by 5 wickets.
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
led the way for Zimbabwe, with first-class wicket keeping (a catch, stumping, and run out) and a crucial unbeaten 60 from 45 deliveries. He was announced as Man of the Match. They then lost to England by 50 runs, meaning they exited the tournament at the first stage due to their net run rate being inferior to both Australia and England after Australia had beaten England in the other group match. There was more encouraging news in October 2007, when it was announced that Zimbabwe would compete in all three domestic competitions in South Africa as part of Cricket South Africa's attempts to improve the standard of cricket in Zimbabwe. However, their participation in the above competitions was thrown into doubt when the plans were postponed pending a
Cricket South Africa Cricket South Africa (CSA) is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South Afr ...
board meeting. A compromise was reached late in November 2007, meaning Zimbabwe would have taken part in the MTN Domestic Championship and the
Standard Bank Pro 20 Series The Betway T20 Challenge is a domestic Twenty20 Cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in the 2003–04 season. It was previously known as the Standard Bank Pro20 Series until the 2010–11 season, the MiWay T20 Challenge for the ...
, but not the
SuperSport Series The CSA 4-Day Domestic Series is the domestic first class cricket competition of South Africa. The tournament is contested by teams from all nine provinces of South Africa. First contested as the Currie Cup from 1889–90, the tournament has u ...
as originally planned. Instead, they played three first-class four-day games against a South African Composite XI made up of franchise and provincial players. The three games, in
Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...
,
Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty riv ...
, and
Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...
were all won by Zimbabwe. In between those games, they played a five match One Day International series against the West Indies, scoring an upset win in the opening match before losing the series 3–1. The final match was abandoned due to rain. Zimbabwe's performance against Bangladesh during this time was extremely poor as they lost every ODI series except one at home, including a 0–5 whitewash in 2006. Zimbabwe also lost against non-Test playing nation Kenya very often. But in 2009, they bounced back beating their African neighbors 9–1 in ten games.


2010–2013: Return to Tests and continued financial problems

Zimbabwe won an ODI and a T20I during their tour of the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...
. Zimbabwe reached the finals of a triangular tournament that included India and Sri Lanka. They lost their remaining matches in the year except against Ireland whom they beat 2–1 at home. Zimbabwe started their World Cup 2011 campaign with a 91-run defeat by Australia at Ahmadabad on 21 February 2011. They then recorded a comfortable victory over Canada, before losing by 10 wickets to
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
on 4 March 2011. Further heavy defeats by Sri Lanka and Pakistan followed, before a consolation victory over Kenya was achieved in Zimbabwe's final game of the tournament. After these defeats, opening batsman
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
was announced as captain of all formats on 24 June 2011, replacing Elton Chigumbura. Zimbabwe returned to Test cricket on 4 August 2011 after a six-year exile, hosting
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
in a one-off Test match at
Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...
. The national team's re-introduction to Test cricket was successful, as they won by 130 runs. As part of the lead-up to their Test return, Zimbabwe Cricket announced major upgrades to the Harare Sports Club and Mutare Sports Club grounds. Plans for a new Test ground at Victoria Falls were also revealed. ZC also signed a US$1 million deal with
Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
to sponsor the domestic competitions and manufacture the kits of the national team for three years. Following the Test, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh contested a five-match ODI series. Zimbabwe won 3–2, thus recording their first ODI series win against a Test-playing nation since 2006. Zimbabwe was beaten in all the formats by
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. After this they played a home series with
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
. They were defeated 2–0 in the T20I series, and New Zealand was 2–0 up in the ODI series. The final ODI was being played at the Queen's Sports Club,
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
. They were on a 12-match losing streak at that time. Furthermore, when batting first, New Zealand scored 328 in 50 overs, nobody gave Zimbabwe a chance of winning. The Zimbabweans have never chased an ODI total over 300 before. However, they did it successfully for the first time in their history. Zimbabwe's main aim in the innings break was to lose with dignity. When opener Vusi Sibanda was out for a duck, even that seemed to be a tall order, but skipper
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
changed the entire complexion of the match. Taylor scored a brilliant 75 before he was dismissed fresh from the centuries he scored from the last games. After Taylor's dismissal,
Tatenda Taibu Tatenda Taibu (born 14 May 1983) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He is a wicket-keeper-batsman. From 6 May 2004 to 5 September 2019, he held the record for being the youngest test captain in h ...
's speedy fifty kept Zimbabwe in the hunt. However, the match-changing partnership was between the two all-rounders
Malcolm Waller Malcolm Noel Waller (born 28 September 1984) is a Zimbabwean professional cricketer, who plays all formats of the game. He is a middle-order batsman and off-spinner. In December 2014, he was suspended from bowling by the International Crick ...
and Elton Chigumbura. Waller played one of the greatest innings in ODI history as he scored 99 *. In the end, he even did not think of his century, but to just take his team over the line. His unselfishness brought about for Zimbabwe a much-needed victory. His partner Chigumbura scored a brisk 47 and was quite unlucky to miss out on his half-century, bowled by Jacob Oram after he along with Waller had taken the equation below a run a ball. When
Keegan Meth Keegan Orry Meth (born 8 February 1988) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He plays domestically for the Matabeleland Tuskers and has represented Zimbabwe in One Day Internationals (ODIs). An all-rounder, he bowls right-arm medium-fast and generally bat ...
was bowled two balls later for a duck, Waller kept his cool as he marshaled the middle order efficiently, assisted by a six by debutant Natsai Mushangwe, and then enough support by Ray Price brought the scores level. After Price was dismissed (caught), it was the last wicket Zimbabwe had and the new man in was another debutant Njabulo Ncube. Waller is said to have advised him, "'No matter what happens if I get bat on the ball, let's take the run.' And the run they did take, thereby recording a legendary victory for Zimbabwe. According to an interview later, Waller said that he was thinking of a swing and get the ball over the ground so that both his team could win and he could get a century, but later he thought that he would rather take the team home rather than get 100,". Waller was the Man of the Match for his spectacular performance, while Brendan Taylor was Man of the Series. Zimbabwe came close to winning the solitary Test between the teams. Chasing 366 to win in their second innings, Zimbabwe were well placed at 265 for 3, with Taylor making 117, before a collapse handed New Zealand a 34-run victory. Zimbabwe then toured New Zealand in January and February 2012 for a single-Test, three-ODI and two-T20I series, but lost all six matches. In the Test, they were bowled out twice on the third day – for 51 (their lowest Test score) and 143 – to lose by an innings and 301 runs. In June 2012, Zimbabwe beat South Africa in a t20 match of an unofficial triangular T20 tournament where
Bangladesh national cricket team The Bangladesh men's national cricket team ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় ক্রিকেট দল), popularly known as The Tigers, is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It is a Full Member of the Int ...
also featured. This was the 3rd match of the tournament. They beat South Africa by 29 runs. They also had beaten Bangladesh in the first match of that tournament by 10 runs. In the 3rd match against South Africa, although there were no
AB de Villiers Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a former South African international cricketer. AB de Villiers was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five W ...
and
Jacques Kallis Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as South Africa's greatest batsman ever, he is a right-handed batsman and right ...
, the South Africa team was very much strong. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza opened the innings and scored 58 and 55 respectively. The wicket-keeper captain
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
scored a quickfire 38 from 21 balls in the end. They scored 176/4 in 20 overs. Coming to chase, South African batsmen Richard Levi and Colin Ingram scored 40 and 48 respectively. But the other batsmen struggle to make it and went all out on 147 within 19.2 overs. Christopher Mpofu took 3 for 20. In the next meetings with South Africa and Bangladesh, Zimbabwe lost both of the matches and ended in the same points as those of South Africa and Bangladesh. Due to better net run rates, Zimbabwe and South Africa progressed to the final. On 24 June 2012, in the final match, South Africa batted first and scored 146 runs with the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. While an early collapse occurred in their innings, South Africa managed to get back with a fair score as
Faf du Plessis Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-format ...
scored 66 off 57 balls and Albie Morkel scored a quickfire 34 not out off 23 balls. Kyle Jarvis of Zimbabwe took 2 wickets for 22 runs. coming out to chase, Zimbabwe started well but Vusi Sibanda went out on 24 off 16. But then the captain
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
and Hamilton Masakadza well built the innings scoring 59 not out and 58 not out respectively. They took Zimbabwe to victory as they scored 150 for the loss of 1 wicket in 17.1 overs. Zimbabwe won by 9 wickets and clinched the T20 series in front of a full house packed with native Zimbabwean crowd at the
Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club is a sports club and the Harare Sports Club Ground is a cricket stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1900 and known as Salisbury Sports Club until 1982, it is mostly used for cricket matches, and has served as the primary c ...
ground. Brendan Taylor was the man of the match and Hamilton Masakadza got the man of the series award. Zimbabwe lost all their matches in 2010 and 2012 World t20s in the opening stage. Zimbabwe toured West Indies again in 2013. This time they were less successful and lost all matches. Zimbabwe then hosted Bangladesh in June. They won the One Day International series 2–1 while the Test and T20I series were tied 1–1. They then lost an ODI series 0–5 at home to world champions India. During August and September 2013, Zimbabwe hosted Pakistan in a two-Test, three-ODI and two-T20I series. Pakistan won both T20Is, before coming from behind to win the ODI series 2–1. They then won the first Test following a double-century by
Younis Khan Mohammad Younis Khan PP SI (Urdu: ; Pashto: ; born 29 November 1977) is a Pakistani professional cricket coach and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all three formats of the game, and is widely regarded as ...
in the second innings. However, Zimbabwe won the second Test by 24 runs – their first Test victory against a team other than Bangladesh since 2001 – to draw the series 1–1. Throughout the period, Zimbabwe's financial condition deeply worsened. The ICC had to step in and provide financial assistance but the usage of monetary benefits has been a question of debate. Zimbabwe players have threatened boycott many times of late and have formed a players' Union. Zimbabwe team has struggled to attract sponsors and this has affected its domestic structure leading to cancellation of many tournaments such as ''Pro40''. A number of franchises also have been cancelled. Multiple tours have been postponed, cancelled or have gone un-televised.


2014–2021: Fall in rankings, loss to associates, and failure to reach 2019 World Cup

At the
2014 World Twenty20 The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 was the fifth ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament, that took place in Bangladesh from 16 March to 6 April 2014. It was played in three cities — Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. T ...
in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe was eliminated in the group stage. A last-ball defeat against Ireland was followed by victories over the Netherlands (also off the last ball) and the United Arab Emirates, but a resounding win for the Netherlands over Ireland meant that the Dutch progressed to the Super 10 stage on net run-rate. In July 2014, Zimbabwe hosted Afghanistan in a four-ODI series. They won the first two matches, before the Afghans won the last two to draw the series. The following month, Zimbabwe hosted South Africa in a single-Test and three-ODI series, losing all four matches. Following the South African tour, Australia arrived in Zimbabwe for a triangular ODI series with the hosts and South Africa. While Zimbabwe lost their first two matches, to Australia and South Africa respectively, they pulled off a significant upset by beating Australia in the 4th match of the series. This was the first time Zimbabwe had beaten Australia in 31 years, with their last win coming in the 1983 world cup in England. Despite this win, Zimbabwe lost their final match and were knocked out of the tournament. In late 2014, Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh for a three-Test and five-ODI series. They lost all eight matches. Following this, Stephen Mangongo was sacked as coach. In late December 2014, Zimbabwe Cricket appointed Dav Whatmore as coach, replacing Mangongo. Zimbabwe geared up for the
2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by ...
by winning all games against Northern Districts XI before facing New Zealand in their first warm-up game. New Zealand were reduced to 157/7 before rain intervened. In the next game, Zimbabwe upset Sri Lanka by seven wickets. Zimbabwe lost their opening game to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
, following which they beat the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...
before losing to West Indies. Zimbabwe then went on to lose a close encounter to Pakistan. During the Pool B match between Ireland and Zimbabwe, Sean Williams was caught by Ireland's John Mooney in a close run chase. Mooney was extremely close to the boundary and eight different television replays were inconclusive as to whether his foot had touched the boundary rope. Meanwhile, Williams had walked and the umpires signaled him out. Zimbabwe went on to lose the game and was knocked out of the tournament as a result. In their last game, Zimbabwe lost to India. Zimbabwe finished their world cup campaign with just one win over UAE in the first round. Despite this, Zimbabwe turned out to be very competitive and suffered four of the closest losses in the preliminary round of the tournament. During the tournament,
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
announced his retirement from Zimbabwe cricket even as he finished the tournament with 433 runs and two centuries. At the finish of the tournament, Taylor was among the leading run-getters of the tournament. In May 2015, Zimbabwe became the first team in six years to tour Pakistan. Zimbabwe lost the T20I series 0–2 and the ODI series by an identical margin. In July that year, Zimbabwe hosted India and lost the ODI series 0–3, while the T20I series was tied 1–1, which included Zimbabwe's first T20I win in Harare. Zimbabwe then hosted New Zealand in August for a three match ODI series and won the first game but went on to lose the series 1–2, as well as the lone T20I. Pakistan arrived in late September following a decision to postpone their tour. Pakistan won the T20Is 2–0 and the ODI series 2–1. Following the series against Pakistan, Zimbabwe simultaneously hosted associates Ireland and Afghanistan in October. Zimbabwe beat Ireland 2–1 in ODIs. But, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe 3–2 to win the ODI series. This was the first time an associate nation had beaten a full member in a bilateral series. Zimbabwe then went on to lose the T20I series 0–2 as well to Afghanistan. After series of losses within home soil, Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh in November. But, losses continued to attack Zimbabweans, where they lost the ODI series 0–3, while the T20Is were drawn 1–1. At the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, Zimbabwe contested a five-ODI and two-T20I series against Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates. They took the ODI series to the deciding match before losing 3–2, and lost both T20Is. Zimbabwe then toured Bangladesh for a four-T20I series which was drawn 2–2. After Chigumbura stepped down as captain, Hamilton Masakadza was named skipper. During the
2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...
in India, Zimbabwe were knocked out in the first round after they lost to Afghanistan by 59 runs. Zimbabwe axed coach Whatmore and captain Hamilton Masakadza before the India tour in mid-2016.
Makhaya Ntini Makhaya Ntini OIS (born 6 July 1977) is a South African former professional cricketer, who played all forms of the game. He was the first black player to play for the South African national cricket team. He reached second place in the ICC ...
the bowling coach was given interim responsibility of coaching while previously appointed vice-captain
Graeme Cremer Alexander Graeme Cremer (born 19 September 1986) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who was the captain of the Zimbabwe national cricket team, between May 2016 and March 2018. He is a leg-spinner who got into the Zimbabwe side at the age of eighte ...
who had missed the
ICC World Twenty20 2016 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...
was appointed stand-in captain.
Lance Klusener Lance Klusener (born 4 September 1971) is an international cricket coach and former cricketer of South Africa. He was known for his aggressive batting and fast-medium swing bowling. Klusener was one of the best all-rounders in the world during ...
was appointed batting coach on a full-time basis. India toured Zimbabwe for the fourth time in about six years for a three ODI and three t20I series. Indian selectors rested most of its senior players except for skipper
MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curre ...
who visited the country for the first time in the decade. Zimbabwe was thrashed 0–3 in the ODI series which led to angry reactions by the fans. To add injury to insult, several key Zimbabwe players like Sean Williams,
Craig Ervine Craig Richard Ervine (born 19 August 1985) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer who captains Zimbabwe in limited overs matches. Ervine is a left-handed batter. He was born in Harare and has played Test and limited overs cricket for the Zimb ...
, Vusi Sibanda, Luke Jongwe, Richmond Mutumbami and Tinashe Panyangara were injured before or during the t20 series. Despite this, Zimbabwe managed to win the first T20I by two runs before going down meekly in the second. The series remained tied 1–1 after two games. In the last game, Zimbabwe went down fighting by 3 runs to lose the series 1–2. In 2016 season, New Zealand toured Zimbabwe in late July and won both tests convincingly, recorded as the Zimbabwe's sixth straight loss to Kiwis. Before the Sri Lanka tour on late September, Streak was appointed as head coach of Zimbabwe, with Ntini appointed as bowling coach. The task was given to qualify for the
2019 ICC Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...
and go up through the ranks in coming years. Zimbabwe played their 100th Test match on 29 October 2016 against Sri Lanka, but lost the match by 225 runs in the last hour of the fifth day after a fighting innings by skipper
Graeme Cremer Alexander Graeme Cremer (born 19 September 1986) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who was the captain of the Zimbabwe national cricket team, between May 2016 and March 2018. He is a leg-spinner who got into the Zimbabwe side at the age of eighte ...
. Zimbabwe went on to lose the two match series 0–2. The test series was followed by a tri-series also featuring West Indies. Zimbabwe advanced to the finals with four different results – a loss, a tie, a no-result and a win. However, Zimbabwe lost the final to Sri Lanka by six wickets. In early 2017, Afghanistan again defeated Zimbabwe in the ODI series and won the series 3–2. Zimbabwe's next one day international series was against Scotland in the European country in mid 2017 which was tied 1–1. After 15 years, Zimbabwe toured Sri Lanka for 5-ODIs and a single Test in late June 2017. In the first match against Sri Lanka at Galle on 30 June 2017, Zimbabwe recorded their first ODI win against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, which is also recorded as their first win in any format against them within Sri Lanka.
Solomon Mire Solomon Farai Mire (born 21 August 1989) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer who represented the Zimbabwe cricket team at international level in Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) before announcing his retire ...
scored a match-winning century and Zimbabwe successfully chased 319, which was also recorded as the first successful chase over 300 on Sri Lankan soil. Despite the opening win, Zimbabwe went on to lose the next two games but bounced back to win the fourth game in a rain-affected match. In the fifth game, Sri Lanka set Zimbabwe a total of 204 runs to chase with Sikandar Raza claiming a career-best 3/21. In reply, Zimbabwe was 137–1 thanks to Hamilton Masakadza's 73 before a collapse saw them lose six wickets before reaching 175. Skipper Cremer joined Raza to score the remaining runs and Zimbabwe won with about 12 overs to spare. Zimbabwe lost the following one-off test by 4 wickets, partly due to a controversial stumping decision on the fifth day of the test. Despite this, Zimbabwe team and especially coach Heath Streak were showered with praises on their return. In October, former players
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
and Kyle Jarvis returned to the national team after a two-year hiatus to play in the two test match series against the West Indies. Zimbabwe lost the first match and the two test series 0–1 to West Indies. However, their draw in the second game was their first in over 12 years and they also earned their first points on the ICC rankings table while ending their ten-match losing streak. Zimbabwe finished the year with an innings defeat within two days against South Africa in a rare four-day test. Zimbabwe began 2018 with one win (against Sri Lanka) out of four games in a tri-series that involved hosts Bangladesh. They failed to qualify for the finals. Zimbabwe's next commitment was in the UAE where they again lost 0–2 to Afghanistan in a t20 series. This was followed by yet another ODI series defeat (1-4) against Afghanistan. In March, Zimbabwe hosted nine other teams in the qualifiers for the 2019 ICC World Cup to decide the top two teams that will join the elite eight at cricket's premier event to be held in England and Wales. Zimbabwe were placed in group B alongside Afghanistan, Nepal, Hong Kong and Scotland. Zimbabwe progressed to the super sixes by beating Nepal, Afghanistan and Hong Kong and earning a tie with Scotland. Zimbabwe beat Ireland in the first game of the super sixes but lost the second to West Indies. Needing to win their last game, Zimbabwe suffered a shock loss by 3 runs against UAE and were knocked out of the tournament. This was the first time Zimbabwe had failed to qualify for the Cricket World Cup. With this failure, Zimbabwe Cricket sacked all the national coaching staff, national captain, under-19 coach and national selector from their positions. During a press conference, ZC suggested that Brendan Taylor would take over leadership of the team. In May 2018, ZC announced the appointment of Lalchand Rajput as interim head coach. In August 2018, he was confirmed as the permanent coach of the team. In July 2018, Zimbabwe hosted Australia and Pakistan in a T20I tri-series. Zimbabwe players -
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
,
Graeme Cremer Alexander Graeme Cremer (born 19 September 1986) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who was the captain of the Zimbabwe national cricket team, between May 2016 and March 2018. He is a leg-spinner who got into the Zimbabwe side at the age of eighte ...
, Sean Williams,
Craig Ervine Craig Richard Ervine (born 19 August 1985) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer who captains Zimbabwe in limited overs matches. Ervine is a left-handed batter. He was born in Harare and has played Test and limited overs cricket for the Zimb ...
and Sikandar Raza - refused to play after being not paid their salaries for about a year which resulted in a depleted Zimbabwe side losing their games heavily and getting knocked out in the first round. This was followed by a five-ODI series against Pakistan where Zimbabwe - further rattled by the losses of Malcolm Waller, Solomon Mire, and Kyle Jarvis - lost all five games by heavy margins. Zimbabwe's losing streak in international matches was extended to nineteen as the team lost the ODI series (0-3) and the t20I series (0-2) in South Africa in October and the ODI series (0-3) in Bangladesh in the same month. Zimbabwe put an end to the streak by winning the first test against Bangladesh by 151 runs. This was the Chevrons' first away win since 2001. The series was eventually tied 1-1. 2019 began on a bad note for Zimbabwe with Graeme Cremer putting his career on hold and proposed tours of India and Afghanistan being called off. Zimbabwe retained Hamilton Masakadza as skipper for all formats (despite the cricketer having not won a single limited overs match) while Peter Moor was named deputy. However, Masakadza along with Taylor missed the series against UAE due to injury. Moor captained the team in Masakadza's absence. Under Moor, Zimbabwe recorded their first series clean sweep in over a decade by beating UAE 4–0. Masakadza returned along with Taylor for Zimbabwe's tour to the Netherlands. Zimbabwe lost the ODI series 0–2. After the Netherlands won the first t20i, the second game ended in a dramatic tie. Zimbabwe won the super over to tie the series 1-1. During the tour, Zimbabwe's cricket board was suspended and was replaced by an interim board. Zimbabwe also lost the ODI series 0–3 in the subsequent tour of Ireland. The t20I series was tied 1-1. ICC voluntarily suspended the Zimbabwe Cricket on 18 July 2019 from ICC tournaments citing political interventions in the Cricket Board of Zimbabwe. The decision taken by ICC panel left several players frustrated. Due to the ban, Zimbabwe could not compete in the qualifiers for
2020 ICC World Twenty20 The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventua ...
. Zimbabwe's board was reinstated by their government soon after, but the suspension stayed. During the time, Solomon Mire and captain Hamilton Masakadza (under whom Zimbabwe had lost all 25 completed ODIs) announced their retirements. Despite the suspension by the ICC, Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed that they would still be participating in the
2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series The 2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series was a cricket tournament that took place in September 2019. It was a tri-nation series between Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe with all the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Zimbab ...
, as they can still play against other
ICC members The International Cricket Council (ICC) was founded at Lord's on 15 June 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference, with Australia, England, and South Africa as its founding members. In the beginning, only countries within the Commonwealth cou ...
. The tri-series started on 13 September, with the final scheduled to be held on 24 September. Masakadza's last assignment led to Zimbabwe winning one game out of four and bowing out of the tournament. Under new stand-in captain Sean Williams and missing many of their regular players, Zimbabwe toured Singapore to play in a final Tri-Nation Series also involving
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
. Zimbabwe beat Nepal in the first game but lost to 21st ranked
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
in the second. Zimbabwe won the next two games to register their first-ever series win in t20i format. In October 2019, the ICC lifted its suspension on Zimbabwe Cricket, allowing them to take part in future ICC events. Zimbabwe's first commitment of the year 2020 was a two-test home series against Sri Lanka which they lost 0–1. This was followed by a lone test and ODI series loss in Bangladesh. They lost the lone test in Sylhet by an innings and 106 runs. In the first ODI, thanks to a Liton Das century, they lost by a huge margin of 169 runs. The second ODI was a closer affair as Donald Tiripano's incredible assault led to them causing a huge upset, but eventually, Zimbabwe lost by 4 runs. They were crushed by a 292 run partnership by the Bangladeshi openers and went on to lose by 123 runs. After the 0–3 loss, the two teams squared off for a two-game t20i series which Zimbabwe lost 0–2. As of April 25, 2021 Zimbabwe had played 3 T20i matches against Pakistan marking a remarkable win in second T20 match held at 23 April in Harare restricting opposition to 99/10 against 119 and that was also their first ever victory in T20 against Pakistan.


2022 - present: The redemption, 2022 World Cup qualifier success, First ever win on Australian soil and T20 World Cup

In Group A, United States and Zimbabwe both won their first two matches to secure their places in the semi-finals of the tournament. The Netherlands and Zimbabwe reached the final of the tournament to qualify for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Hosts Zimbabwe beat the Netherlands by 37 runs in the final to win the tournament. The Bangladesh cricket team toured Zimbabwe in July and August 2022 to play three One Day International (ODI) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches.Zimbabwe won the opening T20I match by 17 runs. It was the team's sixth-consecutive win in T20Is, their best in the format. Zimbabwe won the third T20I by 10 runs to win the series by 2–1 margin, which was their first T20I series win against Bangladesh and defeated them in ODI matches too 2-1. Sikandar Raza was player of the series in both the series, Ryan burl also made a record of 34 runs in a over against Nasum Ahmed bettering shakib al hasan's record of 30 runs a over which dates back in 2019 Although they lost the series 3-0 , there was a good fight back against India in 3rd ODI ,completely whitewashed by India. Zimbabwe lost the matches 2-0 , but sprung up a surprise to Australians to win the 3rd final ODI . Ryan Burl starred again with his 5/10 being the best bowling by a Zimbabwe player against Australia in ODIs, which incidentally was their first ever win on Australian soil .Ending the series 2-1 . Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton was impressed by team's performance. Zimbabwe qualified for the Super 12 of the 2022 T20 World Cup after victory over Scotland and Ireland and a loss to the West Indies. The first game of the Super 12 was a no result against neighbhours South Africa. The second game brought about a famous 1 run win over Pakistan.


International grounds


Current squad

This is a list of players who have played for Zimbabwe in the past 12 months or have been named in the recent Test, ODI or T20I squad. Uncapped players are listed in italics. Updated on 17 July 2022.


Coaching staff


Colours

In Test cricket, Zimbabwe wears cricket whites with the
Zimbabwe Bird The stone-carved Zimbabwe Bird is the national emblem of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flags and coats of arms of both Zimbabwe and Rhodesia, as well as on banknotes and coins (first on the Rhodesian pound and then on the Rhodesian dollar ...
insignia on the left side of the chest and the sponsor logo on the right side of the chest. Fielders wear a dark green cap or a white sunhat, also with the Zimbabwe Bird insignia. The helmets worn by the batsmen are coloured similarly. In ODI and T20 cricket, Zimbabwe wears red kits, usually with yellow accents, or sometimes green or black. Fielders wear a red baseball cap or a red sunhat. The batsman helmet is dark green. In ICC competitions, the sponsor logo is on the left sleeve and the inscription "ZIMBABWE" is on the front of the shirt. The current uniforms are manufactured by Vega Sportswear. Previous manufacturers were
Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
(2011-2013), Ihsan Sports (2004-2007), Asics (1999) and International Sports Clothing (1992-1996). PPC Zimbabwe is the current sponsor since 2018. Previous sponsors were Castle Lager (2013-2018), CBZ Limited (2010-2013), Old Mutual Life Assurance (2002-2004) and Zimbabwe Sun.


Notable players

''Players are included here because of outstanding achievement or another prominence/notoriety. For a fuller list of Zimbabwean cricketers, see : Zimbabwean cricketers.'' *
Eddo Brandes Eddo André Brandes (born 5 March 1963) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played in 10 Tests and 59 ODIs from 1987 to 1999, spanning four World Cups. In the days when a number of Zimbabwe's players were amateurs with other full-time profess ...
 – Fast bowler; first Zimbabwean to take an ODI hat-trick. Originally a chicken farmer; later became a coach in Australia. * Alistair Campbell – Former national captain and opening batsman; later an administrator and convener of selectors. * Kevin Curran – Former all-rounder and Zimbabwe coach (2005–2007). Father of Tom Curran, Ben Curran and Sam Curran. * Sean Ervine – elder brother of Craig. Currently plays
county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...
for
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. *
Andy Flower Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest ...
 –
Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. T ...
batsman, former national captain and black arm-band demonstrator. Once ranked as the top batsman in Test cricket. Coached the England team from 2009 to 2014. *
Grant Flower Grant William Flower (born 20 December 1970) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former cricketer. He is the current batting coach of Sri Lanka cricket team and Sussex. He is rated among the best Zimbabwean cricketers in history for his consisten ...
 – Also played county cricket for Leicestershire and
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, the latter alongside elder brother Andy. Retired from playing in 2010 and became a batting coach, first for Zimbabwe, then Pakistan, and currently for Sri Lanka. *
Duncan Fletcher Duncan Andrew Gwynne Fletcher (born 27 September 1948) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former cricketer, who has coached the England and Indian national teams. He was England coach between 1999 and 2007, and is credited with the resurgence ...
 - Former cricketer, who coached Indian cricket team and England 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 *
Murray Goodwin Murray William Goodwin (born 11 December 1972) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played 19 Tests and 71 One Day Internationals. He was a right-handed top-order batsman, strong on the back foot, and a good cutter and puller of the ball. In ...
 – Born in Salisbury (now Harare), he began his career with Western Australia in 1994. Played county cricket for Sussex and Glamorgan; retired from playing in 2014 having made 71 first-class hundreds. Currently batting coach for Sussex. *
Graeme Hick Graeme Ashley Hick (born 23 May 1966) is a Zimbabwean-born former England cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He was born in Rhodesia, and as a young man played international cricket for Zimbabwe. H ...
 – Member of 1983 World Cup squad at the age of 17 and represented Zimbabwe until 1986. Qualified for England and played international cricket from 1991 to 2001.
Worcestershire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Worcestershire. Its Vitality Blast T20 team has been rebranded ...
legend, for whom he compiled 106 of his 136 first-class hundreds. * David Houghton – Former national captain, has the highest individual Test score for Zimbabwe (266). Later coached
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...
; is currently a batting consultant for the Ireland national team. * Kyle Jarvis – Son of Malcolm. Talented fast bowler represented Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013; signed a Kolpak deal and played for
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...
before returning to Zimbabwe in September 2017 * Neil Johnson – Born in Salisbury (now Harare). An all-rounder opened both the batting and bowling for his country in the 1999 World Cup. He won three Man-of-the-Match awards and was influential in Zimbabwe's qualification to the Super 6 stage of the tournament. * Hamilton Masakadza – Talented batsman and former national captain. Made history by scoring a century on his Test debut at the age of 17 in 2001; was also the first black Zimbabwean to score a first-class century, and the first batsman to make two scores of 150 or more in the same ODI series (against Kenya in 2009). * Henry Olonga – Quick bowler, musician, and black arm-band demonstrator. Olonga was the first black Zimbabwean to represent the country in 1995. *
Trevor Penney Trevor Lionel Penney (born 12 June 1968 in Salisbury, Rhodesia) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club, noted particularly for his fielding. He was a substitute fielder for England during the 2005 Ash ...
 – Represented Zimbabwe before becoming a
Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of W ...
stalwart from 1992 to 2005. Since retirement, his employment as fielding coach (an art in which he excelled) has been much sought-after, currently assisting the Indian national team. * Ray Price – Spin bowler; one of the few white players to regularly represent Zimbabwe before and after the rebellion of 2004. Also played county cricket for Worcestershire. * Paul Strang – elder brother of Bryan. Spin bowler and all-rounder, instrumental in Zimbabwe's rise in the mid to late 1990s; current coach of the Auckland Aces. *
Heath Streak Heath Hilton Streak (born 16 March 1974) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. By his statistical record, he is the best bowler to have played for Zimbabwe. He is the a ...
 – Former national captain and leading wicket-taker for Zimbabwe in both Test and ODI cricket. Later became a bowling coach for both Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. *
Tatenda Taibu Tatenda Taibu (born 14 May 1983) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He is a wicket-keeper-batsman. From 6 May 2004 to 5 September 2019, he held the record for being the youngest test captain in h ...
 – Talented wicket-keeper batsman; became Zimbabwe's first black national captain in 2004 and – at 20 – the youngest Test captain ever, a record he retains as of 2016. Quit cricket for the Church in 2012, but returned to the sport in 2016 as a convener of selectors and development officer. *
Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...
 – Regarded as one of Zimbabwe's few post-isolation international class players, became the first Zimbabwean batsman to hit back-to-back
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...
centuries and the first batsman to score more than 300 runs in a three-match ODI series. He opted for a Kolpak deal with
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
after the 2015 World Cup. Returned to Zimbabwe in September 2017. * Charles Coventry – Coventry jointly held the record for the highest score in ODIs with Saeed Anwar after equaling his 194 versus Bangladesh in 2009 at Bulawayo, until it was surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar's 200* vs South Africa in 2010. *
John Traicos Athanasios John Traicos (born 17 May 1947) is a former cricketer who represented South Africa and Zimbabwe at international level. He was primarily an off spin bowler, and is one of a small number of cricketers to have played at the highest lev ...
 – Born in Egypt of Greek descent, represented South Africa in 1970 before ex-communication. The accurate off-spin bowler who broke records for the longevity of
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
career when Zimbabwe debuted in 1992. Popular in quizzes – representing two countries in international but born in neither. *
Prosper Utseya Prosper Utseya (born 26 March 1985 in Harare, Zimbabwe) is a Zimbabwean cricketer, who plays all formats of the game. He was the former captain of Zimbabwe from 2006 to 2010. He bowls right-arm off break and is a useful right-hand batsman. Uts ...
 – Spin bowler and former national captain. Second-highest ODI wicket-taker in ODIs and second Zimbabwean to take an ODI hat-trick. *
Guy Whittall Guy James Whittall (born 5 September 1972) is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer who played 46 Test matches and 147 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and captained Zimbabwe in four ODIs. He played as an all-rounder and was known as an ag ...
 – cousin of Andy Whittall. All-rounder and former captain. *
Graeme Cremer Alexander Graeme Cremer (born 19 September 1986) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who was the captain of the Zimbabwe national cricket team, between May 2016 and March 2018. He is a leg-spinner who got into the Zimbabwe side at the age of eighte ...
 – Leg spin bowler and captain. Leading wicket-taker in T20 internationals for Zimbabwe. * Stuart Carlisle – Middle-order Batsman and former captain. He represented the Zimbabwean national cricket team for 10 years and played 111 ODI and 37 test matches. * Elton Chigumbura - Fast bowling all-rounder. Has taken over 100 ODI wickets and scored over 4000 ODI runs for Zimbabwe. Captained the team twice periods, first in 2010, then from 2014 till 2016. Also represented the U19 team in 2 world cups. Also, a well-traveled and explosive T20 batsman with a high strike rate *
Gary Ballance Gary Simon Ballance (born 22 November 1989) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who also represented England internationally until 2017, and represents Zimbabwe from 2022 onwards. He is a left-handed batsman and a leg break bowler, who last played for Yor ...
 - Played for Zimbabwe U19's before representing England from 2013. Captain of
Yorkshire CCC Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...
. *
Colin de Grandhomme Colin de Grandhomme (born 22 July 1986) is a former Zimbabwean-born New Zealand international cricketer. Early, domestic and T20 career Born in Harare, de Grandhomme, who attended St. George's College, Harare, began his career by playing for ...
 - Represented Zimbabwe U19's in the 2004 World Cup, before moving to New Zealand. He played in the 2019 World Cup Final and represented Kolkata Knight Riders &
Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...
in the IPL * Sam Curran - Represented Zimbabwe U13's before moving to England.


Tournament history


ICC Men's Cricket World Cup


ICC Men's T20 World Cup


ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier

Known as the ICC Trophy from 1979 to 2005.


ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier

*
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
: Suspended *
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...
: Winners


ICC Men's Champions Trophy

''Known as the "ICC KnockOut Trophy" in 1998 and 2000''


Men's Commonwealth Games


Records

International match summary ''Last updated: 6 November 2022''


Test matches

* Highest team total: 563/9 declared v.
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...
, 27–31 July 2001 at
Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...
* Highest individual score: 266, Dave Houghton v.
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, 20–24 October 1994 at
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
* Most individual runs in a match: 341,
Andy Flower Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest ...
(142 and 199 not out) v.
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
, 7–11 September 2001 at
Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...
* Best individual bowling figures in an innings: 8/109, Paul Strang v.
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
, 12–16 September 2000 at
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
* Best individual bowling figures in a match: 11/255,
Adam Huckle Adam George Huckle (born 21 September 1971) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer who played in eight Test matches and 19 One Day Internationals (ODI) from 1997 to 1999 for the Zimbabwe national team. In his second Test in 1997, again ...
(6/109 and 5/146) v.
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
, 25–29 September 1997 at
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
Most Test runs Most Test wickets


Test record versus other nations


One-Day Internationals

* Highest team total: 351/7 v.
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
, 29 January 2009 at
Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
* Highest individual score: 194 not out, Charles Coventry v.
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
, 16 August 2009 at
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
* Best individual bowling figures: 6/19, Henry Olonga v.
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, 28 January 2000 at
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...
Most ODI runs Most ODI wickets


ODI record versus other nations


Twenty20 Internationals

* Highest team total: 236/5 v.
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, 11 July 2022 at Queens Sports Club,
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
. * Highest individual score: 94,
Solomon Mire Solomon Farai Mire (born 21 August 1989) is a Zimbabwean former cricketer who represented the Zimbabwe cricket team at international level in Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) before announcing his retire ...
v.
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, 4 July 2018 at
Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its ...
. * Best individual bowling figures: 4/8,
Sikander Raza Sikandar Raza Butt (} ; born 24 April 1986) is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer, who plays all formats primarily as a batter. Born in Sialkot, Raza emigrated to Zimbabwe in 2002 along with his family. He soon became one of t ...
v.
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, 17 July 2022 at
Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...
. Most T20I runs Most T20I wickets


T20I record versus other nations


See also

* Cricket in Zimbabwe *
Sport in Zimbabwe Sport in Zimbabwe has a long tradition and has produced many world recognized sports names and personalities. Football is the most popular sport, although rugby union, cricket, tennis, golf, and netball also have a following, traditionally amo ...
– Overview of sports in Zimbabwe *
List of Zimbabwe Test cricketers This is a list of Zimbabwean Test cricketers. A Test match is an international cricket match between two representative teams that are full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Both teams have two innings, and the match lasts up t ...
* List of Zimbabwe ODI cricketers * List of Zimbabwe Twenty20 International cricketers *
Zimbabwean women's cricket team The Zimbabwe women's national cricket team represents Zimbabwe in international women's cricket. The team is organised by Zimbabwe Cricket, a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Zimbabwe made its international debut in 200 ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Cricket clubs established in 1981 Cricket in Zimbabwe National cricket teams
Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
1981 establishments in Zimbabwe History of cricket by national team