da brdice： With wet conditions continuing to prevail in this series, the playing hourswere slightly restricted on the first day
Andy Jalil01-Jun-2000With wet conditions continuing to prevail in this series, the playing hourswere slightly restricted on the first day. It provided the opportunity forCricInfo to talk to Clive Rice, Nottinghamshire’s Cricket Manager.While his team is making good progress this season, Rice is particularlyhappy with the long-awaited arrival of Pakistan’s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.”You can see what Shoaib has done with coming into the club, the membershiphas increased by 20% already, before the season has properly started. Sothat’s the interest shown by the people. He is probably the most excitingyoung player in world cricker today and the fastest bowler. When you getsomeone bowling at that sort of pace it is really exciting and mostspectacular.”The anticipation of what he might do this season is certainly evident interms of enquiries as to when he will start playing and also when you seewithin the side the excitement about the fact that a missile is about to bedelivered, there is a lot of confidence created in the team.He said: “He is such a positive person, just his presence has generated somuch confidence. If he can win you between eight and ten games, that canbring you a trophy. The prospects are just so exciting. You will also findthat other bowlers in the side will feed off his presence that he might becoming on to bowl or he is bowling and the batsmen can’t get him away so theytake chances at the other end and you get dismissals as a result of that.”Pakistan were a bit silly to make him bowl when he wasn’t fully recoveredfrom a pulled muscle that is why it has taken him longer to get fit. We arehoping that he will be fit in a week to play against Worcestershire. “Rice added, “Shoaib is popular, he is easy to get on with and has endearedhimself to the guys already.”He then went on to say that at Trent Bridge they have a programme going forpromoting the game in the area and the developement of young players. ” Wewill be sifting through and letting the promising ones come through to anelite group.”Finally, Clive Rice talked about CricInfo: ” When I see the kind ofcoverage that is taking place on the internet through Cricinfo, it isabsolutely brilliant. The information and updates given on the games isexcellent. You can follow it without being there and I think the fact thatthey are sponsoring the Nottinghanshire team is really great.”As far as the cricket was concerened today, it can only be said that not muchhas been going right for Zimbabwe on this tour as they struggle withinjuries, poor form, weather conditions and not least with a little worry ofthe political unrest back home. But while that was beginning to giveindications of scaling down to an extent, it raised its ugly head yesterdaywith the murder of another white farmer whose son Jason Oates is afirst-class cricketer there and as a mark of respect the Zimbabweans woreblack arm bands on the field.Andy Flower, the tourists’ beleaguered captain must have thought that thingsmight begin to go their way when he won a toss which seemed important underthe heavy sky. The conditions were similar to Lord’s in the previous Test andhis thoughts must have gone back to that morning when England put them in andsaw a most humiliating batting performance.But any hope that Zimbabwe might have held of getting England off to asimilar start was dispelled rapidly. After a tentative start, during whichboth England openers played and missed against the swinging ball,particularly from Heath Streak, both batsmen settled in and once againZimbabwe suffered. The brilliant opening stand and the prospects of what maywell follow must already be agonising for Zimbabwe.