TRUE TEST FILE. Former Zimbabwe cricketer Tatenda Taibu has welcomed the return of regular Test cricket for his country. Seen here: Taibu during his playing days for Zimabwe. Picture: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP
Image: Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP
Legendary Zimbabwe cricketer Tatenda Taibu is excited that his nation will once more be playing regular Test cricket in 2025.
The 41-year-old who played 195 matches for Zimbabwe combined across all formats, was reacting to the news that the Southern African nation is scheduled to play nine Tests in 2025.
Their schedule includes playing England in May on their home turf for the first time in 22 years, before they host South Africa and New Zealand in Zimbabwe.
With Zimbabwe not currently included among the nine teams competing in the World Test Championship (WTC), a revitalised scheduled will do much to plead their case to be included among the top nations in the future.
"I commend them for doing this. Test cricket was always big in Zimbabwe, but the country went through problems [in the mid-2000s], we didn't play for six years [2005-2011] and started again,” Taibu told Sportsboom.com.
"Zimbabwe has not gone down because they love Test cricket. You have youngsters who want to play Test cricket as a profession, knowing that the coaching will be expensive.”
Taibu who played 150 One-Day Internationals and 28 Tests for Zimbabwe, was, however, concerned about the development of cricket in the country.
"The country has been going through economic problems. It plays a role in the development of any sport. I don't think the administrators have made a concerted effort to find new cricketers who are better than before. If you have 10,000 cricketers in the country, increasing the number to 15,000 increases your chances of quality.
"You need to spread cricket to the rural areas; that's where most of the numbers are. You will find the guys scoring hundreds and taking fifers. You will feel like following those players to other games. While you are watching them, you may spot someone else. Then you put all the diamonds and gold in one place, and then only you can unearth someone like Andy Flower.”
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