Ben Curran has shaken off the fractured hand he picked up during the early-summer tour match at Arundel and is back in Zimbabwe’s 16-man group for next month’s two-Test series against New Zealand. The left-hander, who could well open, joins the returning Sikandar Raza after the all-rounder’s stint in Major League Cricket.
Brendan Taylor’s name is missing for now. His three-and-a-half-year suspension for an anti-corruption breach ends on 25 July and, barring last-minute complications, the selectors plan to add him in time for the first Test on 30 July. Nobody at Zimbabwe Cricket is putting an exact date on the call-up, but one board official said, “He’ll be available once the paperwork is cleared.” We’ll see.
Four players who featured in the 2-0 defeat by South Africa drop out: openers Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Prince Masvaure, middle-order batter Wessly Madhevere and seamer Kundai Matigimu. Matigimu debuted against South Africa but has not quite looked the same since a side strain in that series.
Blessing Muzarabani leads the pace attack again, although fellow quick Richard Ngarava misses out despite bowling in the current T20 tri-series. Selection convenor Walter Chawaguta admitted the call was tight. “Richard is fit, but we felt two Tests in Bulawayo might come a touch early after the back issue,” he said.
Brian Bennett, concussed during the first South Africa Test, is retained, while Dion Myers, who covered in his absence, returns to the reserves. Roy Kaia and youngster Tanunurwa Makoni are back in the mix, adding depth to a batting line-up still searching for reliable first-innings runs.
Both matches will be played at Queens Sports Club, a surface that can feel attritional for seamers and forgiving for patient batters—unless, as South Africa showed in April, somebody rips up the script. The Proteas ran at 5.5 an over and still found lateral movement; Zimbabwe’s bowlers took note.
It has been a heavy red-ball schedule: eight Tests since December, five at home, only one win in the last 15. The New Zealand visit closes that chapter until Afghanistan arrive towards year-end. None of these fixtures count towards the current World Test Championship, yet for captain Craig Ervine the gains are obvious. “We’ve got a core group learning what Test cricket actually feels like. That matters, rankings or not,” he said last week.
Full squad
Craig Ervine (capt), Brian Bennett, Tanaka Chivanga, Ben Curran, Trevor Gwandu, Roy Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Clive Madande, Vincent Masekesa, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Newman Nyamhuri, Sikandar Raza, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Nicholas Welch, Sean Williams.
First Test: 30 July, Bulawayo. Second Test: 7 August, same venue.
