THE KENYAN CRICKET TEAM

The Kenyan cricket team is the national cricket team of Kenya. The team are considered as the number one non-Test cricketing nation. They proved their skills by surprisingly proceeding up to the semi-final in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, which led for calls to grant Kenya Test status.
History
Kenya’s entry into international cricket came as part of the East African cricket team, a combined team representing Kenya in addition to Uganda and Tanzania. That team gained associate membership of the ICC in 1996. The Kenyan team did play the occasional game outside of that combination, including a drawn game against India in 1967. Kenya played their first first-class game in 1986, losing against Pakistan B. Their second first class game would be twelve years away, but in the interim, their cricket came on in leaps and bounds.

Performance
The team has been boosted over recent years with the batting of Steve Tikolo and Mourice Odumbe with the backup of other batsmen and bowlers, including spin bowler Aasif Karim, who holds the distinction of having captained his country both in international cricket and Davis Cup tennis. Their other famous upset was against West Indies during the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

Since the 2003 World Cup, Kenya’s progress towards eventual test status has been hampered by, among other factors, a lack of fixtures against the more established teams. Kenya went for a span of almost 18 months without playing an ODI after September 2004.

In February 2006, Kenya played an ODI series against Zimbabwe and did well to draw the series 2-2. It can be seen that the Kenyan Cricket Team’s recent performances have been of mixed fortunes. Kenya now need to play more matches in preparation for the 2007 World Cup.

Chances in the 2007 World Cup
After the 2003 World Cup, Kenyan cricket was plunged into a dark phase of controversies that seemed never ending. With match fixing allegations, payment disputes with senior players and striking, cricket suffered, however in 2005 the issue was resolved and with a new management at the helm of affairs, Kenya began their cricketing endeavors on a fresh note.

The team played a few matches and that made for some good preparation for the World Cup. They have to improve upon a lot if they wish to leave any impression in 2007 world cup. It might be a good exposure for the future of Kenyan cricket. They may play some good matches with their equals. However the Kenyan Team’s Chances in the 2007 World Cup seem bleak as the team is now left without a lot of their senior players who have either retired or been banned.

THE ZIMBABWE CRICKET TEAM

The national cricket team representing Zimbabwe is known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Team and was formerly known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. Zimbabwe is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and one-day international status.
History
Zimbabwe is the ninth nation to play test cricket. It played its first Test against India in 1992. However, it had an established ODI team much before that and had even participated in three World Cups-in 1983, 1987 and 1992.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Team, though not a very strong unit, had some very good players in it. The most renowned of these were wicketkeeper batsman Andy Flower. At a time, Flower was also ranked as the world’s best batsman. The 1990s was a whole bunch of good players emerging from the Zimbabwe team. Grant Flower, Alistair Campbell, Heath Streak and Murray Goodwin were some of the most talented players to ever play for Zimbabwe.
Performance
Zimbabwe did not perform very well in Tests, though they were improving on their ODI performances. Zimbabwe were never considered a strong team, but they were known as fighters who were exceptionally good in the fielding department.

However at the end of the decade, Zimbabwe was plunged into political unrest and that kind of strained into the Cricket Team as well. As a result lot of the top players lost their places in the squad and the team was reduced to inexperience. Further controversy resulted in some top players striking and this was like the final straw for Zimbabwean cricket’s doom. The team had to be made up of players who were not ready for international cricket and this meant a disastrous phase for the team where they lost almost every match they played, both at home and away.
Zimbabwe has not done much in world cricket except some upset shows here and there. Some good players have retired. Zimbabwe is also suffering from lots of internal problems, which is not good for cricket.
Chances in the 2007 World Cup
Zimbabwe have never reached the semifinals of the World Cup and it looks rather unlikely that they will do so in World Cup 2007. Zimbabwe cricket was rocked by a lot of controversy in the recent past and as a result a whole lot of top players like Andy Flower, Henry Olonga and Heath Streak lost their place in the side. To compensate the loss, the Zimbabwe selectors called up a new set of player, most of whom were not equipped to play at the international level. Consequently, the team’s performance suffered. Now with the World Cup coming up, it is unlikely that the team can come up with a miracle. Only a handful of players in the team have played in a World Cup before this. So it will be an uphill task for the Zimbabweans to perform well in the series.

THE BANGLADESHI CRICKET TEAM

Cricket is a sport that has an immense and passionate admiration in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi Cricket Team or the Tigers is administrated by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Bangladesh is a member of the International Cricket Council with Test and one-day international status. Bangladesh Cricket Team has a strong domestic league, which on many occasions also saw Test players from many different countries like, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, England decking the cricket fields of Bangladesh.

History
Bangladesh played in the World Cup for the first time in 1999. Bangladesh Cricket team played its first Test match in 2000 against India at Dhaka, becoming the tenth Test nation. In the years between 1979-1996 they could not qualify for the tournament and before that in 1975 they were not eligible or the contest as the country was not an ICC member. They won the ICC trophy in 1997 and thereby qualified for the 1999 World Cup. They have participated in the 2003 World Cup as well, giving them two exposures of the tournament.

The Bangladeshi team has a lot of potential and under the watchful eyes of coach Dav Whatmore the team has shown considerable improvement. With dedication and hard work on its side, the team can be expected to be world class in a few years. That it is moving in that direction is beyond doubt.

Performance
Bangladesh is the newest member to join the Test playing nations club. Bangladesh got Test status in 2000. The decision received a lot of flak from many cricketing big wigs, and was also quite understandable as Bangladesh lost 31 of its first 34 Tests, with a record 21 losses. The team was clearly weak gave no competition to the other Test teams across the world. However the disappointing spell finally came to an end in early 2005 when Bangladesh, playing their 35th Test, defeated Zimbabwe by 226 runs, thereby creating history for themselves. The team had come very close to winning a few matches in the past, but nothing quite went their way and so this victory called for a lot of celebration.

They followed the win by a one day series win, which not only saw Bangladesh win its first series but also it’s first ODI. But on June 18 Bangladesh caused one of the biggest upsets by defeating the mighty Australians. It was a historic occasion for Bangladeshi cricket and they celebrated in style. 2006 got off to a good start for Bangladesh when they defeated Sri Lanka for the first time in an ODI. They also came very close to defeating Australia in a Test, but could not manage to pull it off. However, a win against Kenya in August this year made for some consolation.

Chances in the 2007 World Cup
Bangladesh may cause a few upsets in 2007 world cup. The Bangladesh Team’s Chances in the 2007 World Cup don’t seem very bright. Though the team has improved a lot in the last few months, Bangladesh still doesn’t really qualify as one of the potential winners of the cup. If we were to go by their past performances in the World Cup, then Bangladesh would not be given any chance to even perform well. However, that will not be a fair thing to do as since the 2003 World Cup, the team has improved a lot and shown considerable potential. Realistically speaking, the team would like to finish the tournament with a few wins to their credit, and if they can go past the initial rounds then nothing like it. However for that to happen, they have to improve upon their bowling and their talented batsmen need to play more mature cricket.