Cricketer Grant Flower denied entry to SA

Grant Flower, recalled by the Zimbabwe national cricket selectors after an absence of six years, has been the victim of South Africa’s stricter policy towards foreigners and has been denied entry to the country on his current travel document.

Granted a temporary travel document by the Zimbabwe Consulate in London while waiting for his passport to be renewed, the new South African immigration policy demands an emergency travel document which is, apparently, something different.

In fine form for his county Essex, where he has played since 2006, the 39-year-old has once again been selected to represent his native Zimbabwe.

Together with his older brother Andy, the current England coach, the two siblings were the mainstay of Zimbabwe’s batting for over a decade when the country still boasted Test status.

Team manager Lovemore Banda, said he was still hoping Flower will join the squad in Bloemfontein, where they play their first Twenty/20 against South Africa on Friday.

Allan Butcher, recently appointed coach to the Zimbabwe team, said he was confident the left-hand batsman and handy spinner would be granted entry into South Africa on time.

This series, of two Twenty/20 games and three One Day Internationals, will be used as a yardstick for Zimbabwe to measure their progress before next year’s World Cup in the sub-continent.

“Every series is vital to us,” said the ex-Glamorgan and Surrey coach, “especially against top nations like South Africa, but we will be using this tour as a yardstick to measure our progress.

“Obviously, playing against a better team will show us whether we have improved in the last year or not.”

All-rounder Elton Chigumbura, who took over the reigns from his good friend Prosper Utseya in the middle of the year, has just lead his side to a series win against Ireland, however, he is confident Zimbabwe will not be in awe of South Africa .

“We have nothing to lose and if get a chance to win, we’ll take it,” said the 24-year-old captain.

Chigumbura said the new franchise system in Zimbabwe had helped the players develop and they had made a big improvement over the last year.

“There is already more intensity in the franchise series and the matches are very competitive.”

He said it had helped to improve the individuals and he hoped to instil a more positive attitude overall into the Zimbabwean side.

“Over the last few years, we have been too defensive so I want the batsmen to go out there and be more positive.

“We also need to develop the seamers. We’ve done well in the spinning department but we need to help the seamers and give them more experience – so we will bowl them a lot more on this tour.”

Butcher said they were hoping to surprise the South Africans.

“We cannot play conservatively and beat South Africa. In Twenty/20 we are duty-bound to play aggressive cricket. So, if we can do that well, we’re hoping to spring a surprise.” – Sapa