Exclusive: Tatenda Taibu Supports Zimbabwe’s Test Cricket Surge While Chasing USA Coaching Role

Test cricket is back among the Zimbabwe cricketers. The African nation has nine red ball matches in 2025, the most in a calendar year after two decades. 

They lost the New Year's Test to Afghanistan and are eyeing to win the one-off Test against Ireland at home from February 6.

Zimbabwe has a historic occasion lined up in May as they will travel to England after 22 years for a four-day Test in Nottingham. Later in the year, they will host South Africa and New Zealand, followed by Afghanistan for two Test matches each.

Former captain Tatenda Taibu, who played in the last tour of England in 2003, lauded Zimbabwe Cricket for safeguarding Test cricket and not jumping into the shorter formats despite lack of funds. 

"I commend them for doing this. Test cricket was always big in Zimbabwe, but the country went through problems [in the mid-2000s], we didn't play for six years [2005-2011] and started again."

"Zimbabwe has not gone down because they love Test cricket. You have youngsters who want to play Test cricket as a profession, knowing that the coaching will be expensive," Taibu told Sportsboom.com.

Test of mental strength for players

Taibu is concerned about how the players will cope with the mental challenges of the consecutive red-ball games. 

"I think Zimbabwe didn't play a lot of Test cricket in the past few years because it costs money. They would have wanted to. I know the current coaches will look at the technical side of things, and four-day cricket is on in the country already. What I want to point out is the fatigue of game in and game out since they will be playing a lot of Tests this year. That is something the coaches should look into," added the 41-year-old, who played alongside legends Heath Streak, Alistair Campbell, and the Flower brothers.

How to find the next set of champions?

The quality of cricket in Zimbabwe dipped massively after the departure of the cream generation due to corruption. 

Head coach Justin Sammons and assistant coach Dion Ebrahim have been working closely to build a young side, guided by seniors such as Sikandar Raza, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams.

Taibu felt the administrators did not try enough to find quality players. 

"The country has been going through economic problems. It plays a role in the development of any sport. I don't think the administrators have made a concerted effort to find new cricketers who are better than before. If you have 10,000 cricketers in the country, increasing the number to 15,000 increases your chances of quality."

"You need to spread cricket to the rural areas; that's where most of the numbers are. You will find the guys scoring hundreds and taking fifers. You will feel like following those players to other games. While you are watching them, you may spot someone else. Then you put all the diamonds and gold in one place, and then only you can unearth someone like Andy Flower," he said.

What the future holds for Taibu

Taibu quit as the head coach of Papua New Guinea last week and will take the interview for the head coach role in the United States of America on Tuesday. 

If the offer doesn't come through, he plans to restart the Academy concept in the UK, where he lives with his family, to nurture and make international players out of youngsters. In 2017, when he was the convenor of selectors for Zimbabwe, he made Rising Stars, a team of players from the nation who travelled to the UK as part of an academy squad for matches against County second teams. 

"Rising Stars Cricket Academy was successful because 10 players went on to represent Zimbabwe. Blessing Muzarabani, Ryan Burl, Brandon Mavuta, Faraz Akram, and Tinashe Kamunhukamwe to name a few. The Academy lasted only one year, and couldn't continue for the targetted five-year plan."

"This time, I don't want to do it with Zimbabwe. It is open to all players. If you can afford to live in the UK for six months and train with me, I will arrange matches with County second teams, their academy teams, and the MCC teams. Muzarabani earned a two-year County contract from these games. For someone who wants to be a professional in the UK, it is an opportunity to showcase your talent. If a coach is watching you from the sidelines and knows you are special, they will inquire about your situation and availability," highlighted Taibu, who played 28 Tests, 150 ODIs and 17 T20Is for Zimbabwe.