ICC World Cup: Conditions will suit Zimbabwe, says Coach Whatmore

At the World Cup the most experienced of all the national coaches would be former Australian batsman Dav Whatmore The stocky Australian is coaching Zimbabwe This will be Whatmores fourth stint as a coach at the World Cup after having been in charge of Sri Lanka at 1996 and 2003 editions as also with Bangladesh at the 2007 eventDav Whatmore right with NZ coach Mike Hesson yesterdayThe Sri Lankan stint was a bit more about skill because of suitability to the conditions in the subcontinent This Zimbabwe is a team which has not played too much cricket over last year or two They have recently been humbled by Bangladesh in Bangladesh So it is a chance to redeem themselves The aim is to do better than what the last series results wereWhats going in our favour is the fact that the conditions will not be subcontinental In some ways it will be similar to my stint with Bangladesh when I took them to West Indies in 2007 We were not favourites by any imagination then but we targeted the next round and we managed to pull it off described Whatmore about his various stints as coach at World CupsWhatmore has come in with a very specific agenda right now to help plan Zimbabwes push to be in the quarterfinals at the World Cup In essence Whatmore is looking for three wins in the league stage to go to the quarterfinals Zimbabwe is in Group B of the tournament alongside defending champions India 1975 and 1979 winner West Indies 1992 title holder Pakistan South Africa and qualifiers Ireland and UAEThere might be a number of teams lower down the order looking to beat each other like Ireland Scotland Afghanistan Bangladesh and Zimbabwe We are not any different We have an opportunity We can be competitive and win against UAE and Ireland I do see that Ireland has improved and put in consistent performances We have to be at our very best to try and win the third game In saying that we have a number of things that we need to look to be able to perform consistentlyWe need to prepare well get the strategy right create a happy and healthy environment and manage the team well said Whatmore about his targets for thetournament One interesting aspect of Whatmores coaching stints at the World Cup is the fact that his sides have always beaten India in the showpiece event In 1996 Sri Lanka beat India twice while in 2007 Bangladesh knocked out India Is he hoping for an encore We will be playing India last in Auckland and by then we will know our fate But who knows said WhatmoreReal keennessThe Zimbabwe coaching offer came along because of a chance interaction with former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell during Zimbabwes last series in Bangladesh Whatmore and Campbell were cocommentators during the series Campbell has now gone on to become the managing director of Zimbabwe CricketZimbabwe players celebrate the wicket of NZs Tom Latham during the World Cup warmup match at Lincoln Oval yesterday PicsGetty ImagesWhatmore took up the job because he sensed that there was a real keenness in Zimbabwe to improve their stock in cricket I have always been associated with teams that are ranked lower I like to help them get consistent and better Then there is the feeling in Zimbabwe that enough is enough There is a real feeling emerging from the top with their chairman Wilson Manase epitomising what the country is feeling about the sportEverybody mdash the players the ZC administration want to turn it around Everybody wants to see an improvement added Whatmore In his role as coach Whatmore is expected to be around only till the World Cup but if things go according to plan he could even stay longer There are a few things on his agenda including possibly helping the return of players who have left the Zimbabwe systemHe believes if those players add value to the squad then there is a possibility for him to work on the homecoming of those players too They have lost a lot of good players The situation is if Zimbabwe want to remain competitive with the rest of the world they need a good structure they need competitionThey certainly need a lot more cricket than what has been the case A lot of efforts are being made right now It is exciting if certain things materialise revealed WhatmoreThe experienced coach is hopeful of Zimbabwe making some impact at the World Cup What gives Whatmore hope is the conditions Down Under I just feel that the boys will be a lot more comfortable in those conditions because the ball wont stop and turn but will come on to the bat You need to make runs if you do not make certain amount of runs to set a decent target then you are not going to winBig effort neededWe need a big effort from our players If our boys are mentally tough understand this is what we must do then we will be in the game We want to be in the game towards the end of the second innings of every match opined Whatmore While analysing the squad at his disposal Whatmore expressed hope in the top order of the side in Sikander Raza Hamilton Masakadza Brendan Taylor Sean Williams and Craig ErvineHamilton Masakadza will be playing his first World Cup after missing previous tournaments due to injuries and bad form We can expect healthy contributions from Brendan Taylor who is one of our best players Williams is a hard workerAt six Craig Ervine in pretty decent Stuart Matsikenyeri is back again We are able to bat deep with Elton Chigumbura and Solomon Mire being there too said Whatmore Above all what Whatmore wants from his squad is this A slick athletic side who are willing to cut their bloody arms dive be full of skill and bat deep We are moving in that direction4The number of international teams Dav Whatmore has coached mdash Sri Lanka Bangladesh Pakistan and Zimbabwe