Ervine Confident

[CrimsonAvenger]

Ervine ready for ODI debut: http://www1.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=19251&cat=5

[jamthala]

who will he replace then?

[bayhaus]

he MUST play the full series to give him a run none of this one match axed bsuiness.

[sloandog]

he MUST play the full series to give him a run none of this one match axed bsuiness.

Ya i agree. This lad looks the part and he needs to play, hell we need him to play.


Just for the record Craig Ervine, there are some big names coming from the Sri lankan squad. So be prepared.

[eugene]

I do hope they give Ervine a decent opportunity to prove himself. No one match and your dropped crap.

[liamb]

Hi, I'm an assistant editor at Cricinfo and noticed this article - but when I link through to the herald page I can't read the text, it's just blank. Could someone post the text of the interview in the forum, would like to have a look for a pre-series piece. Cheers

[Conant]

http://allafrica.com/stories/201005250028.html

I was able to Google the article and found it on All Africa.com. Welcome to the forum, Liamb

Zimbabwe: Ervine Ready for ODI Debut


Eddie Chikamhi


25 May 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harare — LEFT-handed batsman Craig Ervine believes he is ready to make his belated One-Day International debut for Zimbabwe when the team battles India and Sri Lanka in a tri-nations series to begin this Friday.

The 24-year-old yesterday said the series is a platform that should afford him and the rest of the team an opportunity to build confidence and raise their game.

"This is an opportunity for us to do well and show the world that we are indeed a good side.

"We have been working on the areas that we did not do well in the West Indies and I think the team is coming up now.

"There is a great chance of upstaging our opponents.

"Our standards are improving after playing so many games in the last two seasons under difficult conditions. We now have to show it against some of the best teams in the world," he said.

The middle order batsman starred for Southern Rocks in the domestic competitions last season and is one of the bright prospects that emerged under the new franchise system.

Ervine who had his first feel of first class cricket during the 2003-04 season, is not a novice in the game especially coming from a family with a strong background in the sport.

"I think the franchise system will in future benefit a lot of players and cricket in Zimbabwe in general because there is so much competition especially with foreign players coming to join in.

"The locals have lots of things to learn from them," he said.

Ervine, who made his Twenty20 debut during the World Twenty20 tournament in West Indies last month, said he was not intimidated by the prospect of playing stronger opposition, as Zimbabwe battles to make steps towards international recognition.

"I think I am prepared to face the challenges but I need to work as hard as possible to get my confidence levels up and hopefully I will do well for the team.

"I played a lot of cricket last year and that helped me develop my game and if I get the opportunity to play during the series I would like to try and do my best and show how I have mastered during the last two years," he said.

On his future in the Zimbabwe team Ervine said, "I am not looking too far ahead. We have to face this series now and a new season will be coming up a bit later and the World Cup next year. So I will take each game as it comes and just try to do well," he said.

Ervine, a very useful middle-order in a suspect batting line-up, said he would have wanted India and Sri-Lanka to send their best teams for the series.

"I am a little disappointed because we had expected big names to come.


"It is always good to play against the great players so that we learn from them and also get the opportunity to chart with them off field on how we can improve our play.

"Nonetheless, India and Sri-Lanka have large pools of brilliant players because of the intensity of the game played there.


"Even though no big names will be coming here I believe the teams selected will give us more or less the same kind of competition.

"So we are going to be thorough in our preparations because we are taking this tournament seriously.
"We aim to give it our best and hopefully do well overall," he said.

Ervine is currently in camp with the national team in Bulawayo ahead of the opening match against India this Friday at Queens Sports Club.

India have rested several of their senior players including regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra for this tour to give other players a chance.

Left-handed batsman Suresh Raina will captain a new-look India squad in Dhoni's absence, with five players set to win their first caps.

Seam bowlers Pankaj Singh, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar, wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have been included for the first time for the series.

[liamb]

Thanks Conant!