Test return excites Zimbabwe coach
ESPNcricinfo staff
March 19, 2011
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Zimbabwe coach Alan Butcher has warned Zimbabwe may take some beatings early on
in their return to Test cricket© AFP

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Players/Officials: Alan Butcher
Matches: Kenya v Zimbabwe at Kolkata
Teams: Zimbabwe
Alan Butcher, Zimbabwe's coach, has said the team's return to Test cricket,
scheduled for August 2011, after six years of self-imposed exile will be
"massive" for the team.
"Our return to Test cricket is happening in August against Bangladesh," Butcher
told AFP on the eve of Zimbabwe's last match of the on-going World Cup. "I think
after that Pakistan and New Zealand come to Zimbabwe to play one Test each and
some ODIs. That's going to be a massive thing for Zimbabwe."
After withdrawing from Tests in September 2005, Zimbabwe have struggled in ODIs,
having won only 32 out of 107 matches in that time, with just five of those
victories coming against Test playing nations apart from Bangladesh. Butcher
said he was aware it would not be an easy road back into Test cricket for his
side.
"No doubt you might be wondering if we are going to be up for the challenge and
the answer to that, honestly, is probably no. The only place to learn to play
Test cricket is by actually doing that. There is no other place that can prepare
you. So obviously we will be doing all that we can but I will be surprised if we
can come out of it without some beatings in the initial stages. But I hope the
players can learn from the experience."
Zimbabwe have struggled in the World Cup so far, having lost four out of their
five matches. They take on Kenya in their final match on Sunday, at Eden
Gardens, and Butcher is hoping for an improved performance. He had earlier
pointed to Zimbabwe's exile from Tests as one of the reasons his batsmen were
struggling to play long innings and continued to stress that batting had been
the team's weakness
"Our spin bowling has done a fantastic job, but our batting has been a
disappointment. We have not given our spin attack enough chances to win us
games. We've scored runs in the past, but it has just not worked out [this
time]."
Butcher had also stressed on the importance of developing new talent when
Zimbabwe re-enter the Test arena, but he did mention Brendan Taylor, Tatenda
Taibu, Ray Price and Graeme Cremer from the current crop of players as being
important to the teams' future. Zimbabwe's opponents on Sunday, Kenya, have had
their own problems through the World Cup, losing all their games so far. But
Butcher said Zimbabwe wouldn't be taking anything for granted.
"We are making sure we do our homework and ensure that we give them [Kenya] as
much respect as we gave other, big teams."
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