BULAWAYO, 30 April 2003 — Zimbabwe cricket captain Heath Streak says he wants to put the World Cup controversies behind him and concentrate on his country’s tour of England.

Streak led the team to a Super Six berth in southern Africa but faced controversy around a protest mounted by Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, who have both since retired, against Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s regime, and by England’s refusal to play their first round fixture in Harare.

There have also been reports that matches in England may be targeted for anti-Mugabe demonstrations. “We’ll be there to play the game in the right spirit and hopefully so will England,” said Streak on the eve of his side’s departure for the tour. “I hope we can be allowed to simply get on with the game.

“Hopefully the Zimbabwe Cricket Union can deal with other issues that do not pertain to the tour itself. “We’ve got a job to do, and we’ve also got supporters who will be following us around England. I hope we can give them some pride and joy.”

Streak, who has played 51 Test matches and 161 One-Day Internationals, leads an inexperienced side on the tour that features two Test matches, a One-Day International triangular series that also includes South Africa, and eight tour matches.

Only Streak, batsmen Grant Flower and Stuart Carlisle and medium pacer Mluleki Nkala have played a Test against England in their squad of 14 after there were several retirements following the World Cup.

Andy Flower, Guy Whittall, Alistair Campbell and Olonga all quit international cricket, taking with them a total of 199 Test and 598 One-Day International caps, a catastrophe for a country with fewer than 50 first class cricketers. “The experience base is quite heavily reduced and this could be a difficult tour, but there is bright young talent coming through,” Streak said yesterday.

Former all-rounder Whittall also saw some positives. “It will be a tough tour for Zimbabwe because England are very strong at home, but it will also be a very good tour,” Whittall said from Harare.

“They’re going to play a lot of tour matches against first class sides...so it will be a good opportunity for the Zimbabweans...to get on with building for the future.” Both Streak and Whittall predicted uncapped 20-year-old all-rounder Sean Ervine as the player most likely to make an impact.

Squad: Heath Streak (captain), Tatenda Taibu, Grant Flower, Dion Ebrahim, Mark Vermeulen, Barney Rogers, Sean Ervine, Andy Blignaut, Mluleki Nkala, Stuart Carlisle, Raymond Price, Travis Friend, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Douglas Hondo.

Sacked Pollock, Hussain Win

Honors, Raise Eyebrows

Meanwhile, Shaun Pollock, South Africa’s sacked captain, and Nasser Hussain, who stood down as England’s one-day skipper after a disappointing World Cup campaign, have been included in Wisden’s five cricketers of the year. The 140th edition of the cricketer’s almanac conceded that their selection might cause surprise.

But Wisden editor Tim de Lisle argued: “The choice of Hussain and Pollock may raise eyebrows, as both led national teams to heavy defeats in Australia but, if we ruled out players who get hammered by the Australians, we wouldn’t have many left.”

De Lisle said on Wisden’s website that Hussain’s leadership skills had made him “England’s most influential figure in a generation” while Pollock remained “one of the world’s top two seamers, as well as a stylish batsman”.

Pollock was sacked as captain after his side failed to get beyond the first round of the World Cup. South Africa, despite heading the world Test rankings, also lost five out of six Tests against Australia.

Hussain, whose team lost the Ashes 4-1 and then also failed to progress from the World Cup’s first phase, stood down after the tournament, saying he no longer deserved a place in the one-day lineup.

Wisden’s other choices as cricketers of the year — Michael Vaughan, Matthew Hayden and Adam Hollioake — were less controversial. England opener Vaughan was the world’s leading run-scorer in 2002. He has made seven centuries in his last 12 Tests, three of them against Australia, and is expected to be named as Hussain’s one-day successor next week. He averages 50.93 in Tests.