Zimbabwe has landed in Weest Indies to play their five-match ODI tour against the West Indies in good spirits after a gruelling 36-hour journey but suffered their first 'injury' when batsman Brendan Taylor was forced to stay behind in Johannesburg.
Taylor was the victim of clerical mishap when his transit visa for London was misplaced so the remainder of the party set off without him. "He should be able to travel 48 hours later and join up with us on Thursday night," said coach Walter Chawaguta.
Taylor will miss the first match of the tour, a warm-up against a WICB vice Chancellor's XI on Thursday. The first official match of the tour is a T20 international against the West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval on Sunday afternoon. The first two ODIs will then be played in Guyana before the tour concludes with a further three ODIs in St.Vincent.
Former captain Tatenda Taibu was in especially good spirits before the team's first training session on Wednesday making light of the travel schedule and insisting that Zimbabwe had not simply come to the Caribbean "for experience."
"We are a young team in terms of age but we also have players like Prosper Utseya and Stuart Matsikenyeri who have over a hundred caps. And there's Hamilton Masakadza and myself, we have plenty of experience. Now it's time to make it count and make our presence felt," Taibu told journalists.
"That is why we have come here, that is our thinking. We will not be satisfied with just 'competing', or just giving a good account of ourselves. We have been through some tough times in Zimbabwean cricket, so it is time to start stamping some authority and making Zim cricket proud again," Taibu said.
The home side's selectors raised eyebrows on Wednesday by resting talismanic skipper Chris Gayle for Sunday's game despite a whitewash in both T20s and ODIs against Australia.
