Lance Klusener appointed Zimbabwe's batting coach, Craig Ervine named ODI and T20I skipper

Former veteran South African allrounder Lance Klusener has been appointed as the Zimbabwe men’s national team as batting coach. The appointment was confirmed by the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) board during a meeting conducted on March 7 (Monday). The 50-year old previously served as Zimbabwe’s batting coach between 2016 and 2018. He then worked head coach of the Afghanistan national team, before resigning from his post from January 1, 2022.

Several other decisions were also taken by the board during the meeting. Left-handed batter Craig Ervine was confirmed as Zimbabwe’s full-time white-ball captain. The 36-year old batter has played over a 100 matches in his ODI career in which he has scored 2837 runs at an average of 32.61. Talking about his T20I numbers, Ervine has played 34 matches for his country in which he has scored 777 runs making it at an average of 25.06.

Senior batter Sean Williams appointed as Test captain

Meanwhile, Sean Williams has been given the post of Test captain for the Zimbabwean side. Williams has represented his country in 14 matches in which he has amassed a total of 1034 runs at a decent average of 41.36. In bowling, the left-arm spinner has scalped a total 21 wickets at an economy of 3.18.

Zimbabwe board in a statement released on Monday confirmed the appointment of Lance Klusener as the team’s batting coach. “He is taking over from Stuart Matsikenyeri, who now moves to the position of assistant coach, while Lalchand Rajput remains in charge as head coach of the national side,” an official statement was quoted by NDTV Sports.

In the meantime, Zimbabwe Cricket is in the process of the appointment of a bowling coach and a fitness trainer for the men’s national team. Zimbabwe will lock horns with Ireland in five ODIs, three T20Is and one Test match scheduled to start from the month of April. In July, Bangladesh is set to visit Zimbabwe to play two Tests, three ODIs and as many number of T20Is.