Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Lawrence Moyo
14 August 2007
Harare — NATIONAL cricket selectors settled for one-day international experience in finalising Zimbabwe's final 15-member squad for the 2007 International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.
Zimbabwe, who are the underdogs in a first round group that includes pioneers England and world one-day champions Australia, have named just two rookies in their squad -- Johnson Marumisa and Tymicen Maruma.
Opening batsman Marumisa and off-spinner Maruma were rewarded for a good performance in the domestic leagues last season.
The rest of the squad is made up of experienced one-day players including former captain and wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu and the aggressive all-rounders Elton Chigumbura and Shaun Williams.
Prosper Utseya has been retained as captain of the team that also includes Hamilton Masakadza, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Brendon Taylor, Gary Brent and Vusi Sibanda.
Zimbabwe will be based in Cape Town and they will take on tournament favourites Australia at Newlands in a Group B opener on September 12 and England the following day.
In a statement yesterday, tournament director Steve Elworthy welcomed the squad announcements by the participating teams.
"Looking down through the squad lists it is very exciting to see the quality of talent that will be on show during the event.
"Every single team has potential match-winners within its ranks and I have no doubt that we are going to see some amazing performances during the two weeks of the tournament.
"Players love performing in front of big crowds and so it is very encouraging for us to see how fast the tickets are selling.
"The Twenty20 format has been very successful on a domestic level in South Africa in recent seasons so it is no real surprise that people will want to go to watch the world's top players in action.
"The countdown to the ICC World Twenty20 is very much on now and I get the sense that there is a real momentum building now and it has already caught the public's imagination here in South Africa," said Elworthy.
Group B squads
Zimbabwe:
Prosper Utseya (captain), Gary Brent, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Tymicen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Stuart Matsikinyeri, Johnson Marumisa, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Vusimusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendon Taylor, Shaun Williams.
Australia:
Ricky Ponting (captain), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Bradley Hogg, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson.
England:
Paul Collingwood (captain), Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff, James Kirtley, Darren Maddy, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Chris Schofield, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Jeremy Snape, Vikram Solanki, Chris Tremlett, Luke Wright.
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