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Having wrapped up the one-day series against West Indies with victory at The Oval, England have taken the opportunity to rest Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann from the final match at Headingley on Friday.Stuart Meaker, the Surrey fast bowler, Warwickshire allrounder Chris Woakes and Kent offspinner James Tredwell have been added into the squad. Woakes had already been drafted in as cover after Jade Dernbach was given compassionate leave following the death of Tom Maynard on Monday but Dernbach remains in the squad for the final ODI.Broad, who is the Twenty20 captain, was also rested for the final Test against West Indies at Edgbaston but for Bresnan and Swann, both part of the Twenty20 squad, it is the first England match of the season they will miss. Since the retirement from one-day cricket of Kevin Pietersen this trio are the only first-choice selections in all three formats.The players called into the squad all have previous ODI experience with Meaker making his debut against India last October and playing two matches in the series. Woakes, who was originally on that tour before pulling out injured, has played four matches which include taking 6 for 45 against Australia at Brisbane, the second-best figures for England in ODIs.Tredwell, meanwhile, was the reserve spinner in the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year and last appeared in a one-day international in the World Cup quarter-final against Sri Lanka in Colombo. In the game before that, against West Indies, he took a match-winning 4 for 48 to keep England alive in the tournament.Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: “The fact that we have already won the NatWest series means we are able to take the opportunity to rest three players ahead of next week’s series against Australia and take a closer look at players who are likely to feature in our limited overs planning going forward.”England played the same side in both the first two matches, winning by 114 runs at West End and eight wickets at The Oval, meaning Dernbach, Samit Patel and Jonny Bairstow from the original squad have yet to feature.Revised squad Alastair Cook (capt), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter, Jonny Bairstow, Samit Patel, Chris Woakes, James Tredwell, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meaker

Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians captain, has criticised the Wankhede Stadium pitch for the game against Deccan Chargers on Sunday, saying it was not ideal for Twenty20 cricket. The grassy pitch offered plenty of seam movement and the batsmen from both sides struggled. Chargers set a paltry target of 101, which Mumbai chased down in 18.1 overs with five wickets in hand.”This was a different wicket from what we have played at the Wankhede,” Harbhajan said. “Not good for Twenty20 cricket. I came today and saw the pitch and said ‘wow what to expect here’, we never know what to expect from this track ever. From next time, I think we have to ensure we know what kind of wicket we are going to play.”Chargers captain Cameron White too agreed with Harbhajan, saying it was “probably not an ideal T20 wicket”, but admitted that Mumbai played better.White had captained the team in place of Kumar Sangakkara, who sat out. White said the decision was taken by Sangakkara and the coach Darren Lehmann, in the best interests of the team combination. Sangakkara has been struggling for form this season, scoring 83 runs in five innings. White, though, praised Sangakkara for his selflessness.”Darren Lehmann and Kumar were discussing it (the combination) and decided to pick the best combination for this wicket,” White said. “Very selfless thing for Kumar to do. It’s unusual to change the captain when you get to the ground. It backfired now but on other occasions it might work.”White said he and the rest of the batsmen should take the blame for the defeat. “We failed to bat out our overs, we still had eight balls to face. At the end of the day you’re not going to win too many T20 games when you score 101.”The way our team make-up is, we probably need three overseas batsmen. I don’t think we have the luxury of doing that because our local batters aren’t strong at the moment.”Dale Steyn bowled a hostile spell for the Chargers, bowling Richard Levi first ball and beat the bat on several occasions. He finished with figures of 4-0-10-2 but the support bowlers weren’t good enough to sustain the Chargers. Rohit Sharma had several close calls against Steyn but the batsman carried the chase with 42, before falling 26 short of the target. White was full of praise for Rohit.”Rohit Sharma I believe is one of the best players in the world. I find it very hard to believe he’s not playing for India in all three formats,” White said. “He’s just class and Dale was able to get it past the outside edge and it was a great contest.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Kevin Pietersen has insisted that he will not abandon his switch hit after receiving a formal warning by the umpires for misusing the stroke during the second Test at the P Sara Oval.Pietersen, en route to one of the most flamboyant of his 20 Test hundreds, shaped to play the switch hit before Tillakaratne Dilshan was in his delivery stride and later admitted he was not aware of the regulation that prevents him moving prematurely. Pietersen, who made his 20th Test hundred, began to get into place for the shot as Dilshan started his run-up and the bowler twice aborted his run up.The incident occurred during an enthralling head-to-head between Pietersen and Dilshan, which had already seen Pietersen switch his grip around to strike the bowler through the off side. However, Pietersen then began to set himself earlier for the shot and Dilshan refused to deliver which led to a stalemate.Asad Rauf, the umpire at the bowler’s end, signalled the warning to Pietersen after the second aborted delivery after consulting with his colleague Bruce Oxenford. Pietersen gesticulated towards the officials, clearly unsure about what he was being penalised for. The immediate consequence was that if Pietersen, or any other England batsman, did it again during the innings Sri Lanka would be awarded five penalty runs.”There’s no issue, I just got my timing wrong,” Pietersen said. “He said it was a warning because I moved my hands a bit too quick. I don’t understand the rules, it’s something I found out today, mid-innings, at a pretty unfortunate time. I’ve just got to switch my hands a little later, which I didn’t know. You learn something new every day. Once I’d been warned I enquired about it.”Andy Flower, the England team director, immediately went to the match referee’s room for clarification over the issue, his second visit of the match following his questioning of a review against Thilan Samaraweera on the first day. The ball after the official warning, Pietersen reverse-swept again and brought up his hundred. He went on to make 151 from 165 balls as England pushed for their first victory of the winter.Oxenford, who was at square leg when the warning was given, spoke to Sky Sports after the day’s play. “The ICC think switch-hitting is an excellent innovation,” he said. “But when the bowler sees intent [in the batsman altering his stance] prior to delivering the ball and stops what can happen is we can get a stalemate situation…the bowler won’t deliver because he wants to change his field if he thinks the batsman is going to switch-hit.”When we get to that situation the way to move forward is to give the batsman an informal warning, then a formal one for time-wasting. If it happens again it’s a team warning under time-wasting by the batting side and it’s an automatic five-run penalty.”An ICC statement in May 2010 said: “The ICC Cricket Committee adopted the updated directive introduced earlier in the year which prevents the batsman from altering his grip or stance before the bowler enters his delivery stride. Should the bowler see a batsman change his grip or stance prior to the delivery stride the bowler can decide not to bowl the ball.”Graham Ford, the Sri Lanka coach and a mentor to Pietersen, appeared more to speed with the regulation. “The rule is quite clear: if the batsman sets himself up prior to the bowler’s release and the bowler sees him and is able to stop the warning is issued. I think for about every single one he set himself up before the release except for the ones straight after the warning. I think it was all handled pretty well.”When Pietersen first unveiled the switch hit against New Zealand in 2008 it provoked debate about the legality of the shot because, for example, if a bowler wants to change from right to left arm (however rare that occurrence may be) he has to inform the umpire and the batsman. There are also implications for what fairly constitues a wide delivery or lbw. However, the MCC approved the shot, citing the difficultly level as a main reason, and hailed it as a good innovation for cricket.”MCC believes that the ‘switch-hit’ stroke is exciting for the game of cricket,” was the conclusion. “Indeed, the stroke conforms to the Laws of Cricket and will not be legislated against…MCC believes that the ‘switch-hit’ stroke is a difficult shot to execute and that it incurs a great deal of risk for the batsman. It also offers bowlers a good chance of taking a wicket and therefore MCC believes that the shot is fair to both batsman and bowler.”After this latest incident, the MCC added: “A batsman is still entitled to play the switch-hit stroke but he is only allowed to alter from one stance or grip to another once the bowler has entered his delivery stride. Pietersen should therefore have only been warned if the umpire was certain that Dilshan had not entered his bowling stride before the batsman shaped to play the switch-hit.”Pietersen believes there is more danger for the batsman and says it is a shot he will continue to play – if with slightly different timing.”Like I said when I played it against New Zealand, I don’t think the batsman should get penalised because I’m taking the biggest risk,” he observed. “I’ve always said I’ll play to that side of the field when there’s no one there. I don’t find it a hard shot, I can just manipulate the field when they bowl a leg-stump line. It’s a shot worth playing.”

Graham Gooch has been appointed as England’s full-time batting coach. Gooch has been working with the team on a part-time basis – 100 days per year – since November 2009, but will take on the role full time from March 5 as England prepare for their Test series against Sri Lanka.The appointment is, in part, a reaction to the struggles of the England batsmen in the recently concluded Test series against Pakistan in the UAE. England lost the series 3-0 with many of the batsmen struggling to adapt to conditions that encouraged spin bowling. England only surpassed 300 once in the series and were bowled out for under 200 on four occasions. The nadir came when they were skittled for just 72 in the second Test in Abu Dhabi.Gooch returned to England on the eve of that Test. At the time Andy Flower, the England coach, admitted that “in a perfect world” Gooch would have remained with the team for the rest of the tour and his subsequent appointment provides further evidence of the ECB’s willingness to invest in the success of the international side. England’s ability to adapt to Asian conditions will be tested further when they tour Sri Lanka next month and India before Christmas.”Graham has been working really successfully with the England team in a part-time capacity,” Hugh Morris, England’s managing director, said. “The batsmen have progressed under him in that time. He will be spending time with the Test and the one-day teams but really importantly away from the Test match grounds he will now also be able to spend some quality time one on one with our top batters.”He is one of the iconic batsmen in English cricket and the guys enjoy having him around. He has a real gravitas, he is a workaholic and that is the kind of culture we are trying to develop with the England team.”Gooch, 58, who played 118 Tests and is the leading English runscorer in the format, stood down as Essex’s first-team batting coach in December to focus on his England responsibilities. He will now have more time to work with all centrally contracted players as well as other players selected for England squads. Graham Thorpe will continue in his role as ECB Lead Batting Coach, which involves working with batsmen on the England Performance Programme and those selected for England Lions. The ECB hopes that Thorpe and Gooch will help ensure a smooth transition for batsmen between the England Performance Programme and the senior England side.Gooch said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of England batting coach on a full time basis. I will now have the opportunity to spend a lot more time with the players and other coaches both in the build-up to series and during the series themselves. I firmly believe that with the talent we have at the moment within the batting unit and those pressing for places we can continue to develop and improve as a side which is a very exciting prospect.”Flower added: “Graham has an excellent relationship with our batsman and is already an important part of our management team so I am very pleased that he will be joining us on a full-time basis. We have a challenging period of cricket ahead of us and I am very much looking forward to continuing to work closely with Graham as we look to improve across all formats of the game.”

ScorecardWest Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira fought a hamstring injury to score an unbeaten 39 and guide her team home in a tense, low-scorer at Windsor Park. India made only 83, but West Indies were made to fight till the end, winning with two balls to spare.Aguilleira walked in with her team in trouble at 10 for 3, after Ekta Bisht and Amita Sharma made early inroads. She found support from Deandra Dottin, who made 16. Aguilleira, who had to receive treatment for her injury, faced 48 balls and hit two fours.For India, opener Mithali Raj top scored with 27 but the middle order struggled to push on against the spin duo of Anisa Mohammed and Stafanie Taylor. Taylor finished with 2 for 16, while Mohammed took 1 for 19.Speaking after the match, Aguilleira said she took it on herself to shoulder the responsibility: “I had to fight really hard today. I had to be brave. I had to fight the pain. My hamstring gave me some problems but we will have that fixed and I will be ready for tomorrow’s match. I am well pleased that I was able to stay at the crease and do the job for the team. We were in a hole and as captain I knew I had to stand there and bat to the end.”It is always good to lead from the front. Today we lost some early wickets but we still had plenty time in the game when I went in. I am not a power-hitter so I was able to settle in and work the ball into the gaps and build an innings. That was ideal for me … yes, there was the pressure of losing wickets, but time was on my side and I was happy with the way I stayed there and guided the team to victory.”West Indies lead the four-match series 2-1.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Match facts

February 9, Napier
Start time 1400 (0100 GMT)Can Malcolm Waller lift a flagging Zimbabwe like he did in Bulawayo in October?•AFP

Big Picture

New Zealand have the opportunity to make a statement as loudly as was possible against an opposition that have been overawed, intimidated and just plain outplayed. Victory in Napier will give them their first whitewash in two years and their boldest statement in that time.A whitewash against Zimbabwe will have to be measured in its context, and given the cowering nature of their opposition, that context is not very rich. Still, it has served as the best preparation they can get for the main course – South Africa, whom they play in just over a week’s time.New Zealand have used the series to integrate new players into the side. They settled their batting line-up and rotated their bowlers, to toy with combinations and look ready to launch their new unit into action against one of the best sides in the world.Zimbabwe may be wishing they never left the comfort of Harare but they still have three matches – this ODI and two Twenty20s – to play before they head home. They have not allowed any of their good signs to show on the tour and have been prone to ill-discipline in all three departments. Most worryingly, their lapses in the field are an indicator of how low their confidence has dipped.Energy and commitment in the field has always been a sign of strength for Zimbabwe and a way to measure how positive they were feeling. After numerous dropped catches – including letting all of New Zealand’s top four off the hook in the second match – and misfields it’s clear they are distressed by their poor showing.The only thing they can do is stop it from getting any worse. That does not necessarily mean avoiding defeat but it simply means putting on a respectable showing. In the last match, their target was to bat 50 overs and they did it, they will have to see out the rest of the series with similarly small goals in mind and take satisfaction out of achieving those.

Form guide

New Zealand WWLWW (most recent first)
Zimbabwe LLWLL

In the spotlight

Tarun Nethula has been touted as a potential partner, or even replacement, to Daniel Vettori in the Test arena but John Wright made it clear that he would have to prove himself in the ODI side first. He went wicketless is his first outing, going for 55 runs in his 10 overs in Whangerai, and will want to show his ability to get among the wickets in a three-pronged spin attack in Napier.The last time New Zealand had thumped Zimbabwe in two matches, in October last year, Malcolm Waller stepped up to make sure it didn’t happen a third time. Waller scored a valiant 99 as Zimbabwe chased a record 329 in Bulawayo – their biggest morale booster since making their Test return. He is an aggressive allrounder who is not afraid to hit the ball hard and take the game to the opposition. With the situation Zimbabwe are in now, they will need someone with courage and confidence, two words that perfectly describe Waller.

Team news

Left-armer Michael Bates finally gets his nod in the final 12, with Tim Southee dropping out. Legspinner Tarun Nethula is likely to get a second match, which would mean Kyle Mills sits out. Nathan McCullum will be back in the starting XI in place of the injured Dean Brownlie, who has a fractured finger.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Rob Nicol, 3 Brendon McCullum (capt & wk), 4 Kane Williamson, 5 Tom Latham, 6 Nathan McCullum, 7 Andrew Ellis, 8 Jacob Oram, 9 Tarun Nethula 10 Doug Bracewell, 11 Michael BatesAfter a second opening flop, Zimbabwe may want to tinker with the top two and bring in Tino Mawoyo and the expense of one of Stuart Matsikenyeri or Hamilton Masakadza. They are likely to go in with a similar bowling attack, the only probable change being Keegan Meth in for one of Elton Chigumbura or Prosper Utseya.Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Stuart Matsikenyeri/Tino Mawoyo, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Regis Chakabva, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt), 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Malcolm Waller, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Shingi Masakadza, 10 Ray Price, 11 Kyle Jarvis

Pitch and conditions

Described by locals as a “typical McLean Park belter”, the strip is expected to be packed with runs. The weather is expected to be mostly sunny with a high of 24 degrees Celsius.

Stats and trivia

• The last time New Zealand whitewashed a team was when they beat Bangladesh 3-0 in the 2009-10 season at home.
• Tatenda Taibu will play his 150th ODI in Napier.

Quotes

“We started incredibly well the other day, so if we can get some partnerships at the top it puts us in a position where we can be a little bit more flexible and try to attack at certain times.”

Duncan Fletcher, under whose watch India have lost five straight away Tests and are struggling at the end of the first day of the sixth, would not say if he felt the Indian batsmen are doing badly, but hoped they, especially those in the middle order, would click together. India were bowled out for 190 after choosing to bat on a greenish SCG track, which would need diligent batting while the pitch was fresh; India lost four wickets in the first session.Fletcher, however, chose to give credit to the Australian bowlers and blamed the lack of “fortune” when asked about the continuous problems the batting line-up has faced, which shows in how they have gone past 300 – a barely competitive score on a non-dodgy pitch – only once in their last 17 away innings.”The mood in the change room has been very, very good,” Fletcher said. “They have worked very hard at the nets. They are putting in the effort, they are trying their best. They are just some times in cricket we need a little bit of good fortune. If you see Sachin [Tendulkar] today, how many times do you play on from that width? Normally you put that through the covers for four. Sometimes it goes against you, sometimes it runs with you.” Tendulkar was the only specialist batsman who looked at ease for a longish period, and played on when driving at a full and wide delivery.Fletcher spoke of the importance of partnerships. The problem, he said, didn’t lie with getting them started, but in converting them into big meaningful ones. “What’s crucial is when we get a partnership going, we make sure we take advantage of it,” he said. “At times we have got partnerships going, and then suddenly we lose wickets, and haven’t been able to take that partnership further. It’s crucial in Test cricket that you get those partnerships of 100 and 150 to get that big score that’s required.”Duncan Fletcher: “That middle order should be able to put in the good scores we require.”•AFP

Fletcher said it was a matter of two or three of India’s middle order performing well together. “It’s important that they click together,” he said. “As a unit they haven’t scored consistently – all of them. I mean Rahul [Dravid] batted well in England. He has lost a little bit of form here. Sachin looks as though he is in good nick. There’s just probably Laxy [VVS Laxman]. He is striking the ball well, he probably needs a little bit of good fortune. That middle order should be able to put in the good scores we require.”What makes the Indian failure all the more intriguing is that Fletcher is considered to be one of the best men going around when it comes to batting technique. He, though, chose not to speak too much about technical flaws. About Gautam Gambhir’s struggle – he fell in the first over today – Fletcher spoke of the mental side of things.”We have just been working on him to get more positive,” Fletcher said. “That’s what’s crucial with Gautam. We are working on the sort of mental side of it, where we feel he has been quite tentative and pushing at balls instead of going out there and batting like he should. We have seen Gautam. He is an attacking batter. We are trying to get him to be a lot a more positive in his approach. Today the ball he got, it would have been difficult to leave that, pitching on leg stump, going across you. It probably would have got a few left-handers out so early on in your innings.”Fletcher wouldn’t get drawn into a debate on the defensive fields that have been India’s hallmark during this series. Today, when India could have ended the day close to even if they had taken another wicket towards stumps, India employed well-spread fields in the final few overs. “You have to give credit to the opposition at some stage,” he said. “[Ricky] Ponting and [Michael] Clarke came out and batted positively. Clarke was pretty positive. There were a few loose shots upfront there. He looked under a bit of pressure. He could quite easily have nicked one of those early, and they could have been four down.”India’s slide in Test cricket has coincided with Fletcher’s appointment as the coach of the side when Gary Kirsten left after the World Cup success. He was asked what has gone wrong. “I don’t think much has changed,” Fletcher said. “I had long chats with Gary. I am very friendly with him. The approach, how you deal with an Indian side, we haven’t changed that much.”When asked how bad it will get before it gets better, Fletcher said it could all change as soon as the next innings. “We are pretty confident that at some stage they will get the runs that are required,” he said. “In the second innings, let’s just wait and see what happens there.”From tomorrow if we get through and keep them down to a similar score as us, that’s not out of the question. I think we can put Australia under little bit of pressure if we bat well in the second innings.”

Dhaka Metropolis regained top spot in the National Cricket League after their sixth-round win over Rangpur, by nine wickets at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan Ground in Savar. It was Asif Ahmed who set up the victory with an aggressive 152 that took him just over three-and-a-half hours to compile, and included 22 boundaries and a six. He shared a 225-run second-wicket stand with his batting hero Mohammad Ashraful, who made 71. Shamsur Rahman and Tasamul Haque also made healthy contributions in Dhaka Metro’s 518 that went past Rangpur’s strong first innings score by 164 runs. Left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny’s six-for sunk the northerners in the second innings and gave Dhaka a meagre 30-run chase which they completed on the final day.Khulna, who now trail Dhaka Metro by 7.22 points, crushed Chittagong by eight wickets in Jessore thanks mainly to seamer Al-Amin Hossain’s twelve wickets. He first ripped through the Chittagong lower order in the first innings, in which they scored just 200 runs, before leaving an even bigger impression in the second innings. Al-Amin finished with 7 for 36 in the second innings, with Chittagong getting bowled out for 144 runs on the third day. Nazmus Sadat’s quick half-century saw Khulna home inside three days.Rajshahi moved into the top four through an easy win over Dhaka, by nine wickets at the Abdur Rab Serniabad Stadium in Barisal. Winless Dhaka were shot out for 131 twice, a display that sums up the season for the biggest division in the country. Rajshahi made just 214 in their first innings, with Hamidul Islam scoring 57, but the defending champions’ bowling attack, led by left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib and seamer Delwar Hossain, ensured the fourth-innings target was a modest one and Rajshahi chased it easily.Sylhet are also in the top four, after a four-wicket win over Barisal at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. In a close game, Barisal’s Iftekhar Nayeem hammered 132 and 77 in each innings but it was not enough for the perennial underachievers. Sylhet banked largely on their seamers and Tapash Baisya and Abu Jayed took five wickets each in the first innings. Later it was left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jnr who took a seven-for to bowl Barisal out for 199 runs in the second innings. Nadif Chowdhury played an important hand as Sylhet chased down the 186-run target on the final day.

Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, has said that it was encouraging to see the Bangladesh batsmen playing their shots as it increased his chances of taking wickets. Fidel Edwards knocked over Bangladesh’s top and middle order with a spell of sustained fast bowling after Kirk Edwards anchored the West Indies innings with 121, his second Test century.Fidel Edwards picked up the wickets of Bangladesh’s top five batsmen to leave the hosts reeling at 59 for 5. He was partly helped by Bangladesh’s aggressive attitude, with the batsmen going for their shots. “They got off to a bit of a flyer but we came back well,” Fidel Edwards said. “The target will be to bowl them out tomorrow morning … It’s encouraging for me to see the batsmen playing more shots. The more shots they play the more chances of me taking a wicket.”I wouldn’t say the wicket here isn’t meant for fast bowling. We stuck to our plans and bowled accordingly. The plan was to be aggressive and take wickets and contain them. The containing part didn’t work but the wicket taking part did.”West Indies are currently ahead by 151 runs and will be confident of bowling out Bangladesh early on the third day. Kirk Edwards said that West Indies would look to set a target of around 350 to 400 for Bangladesh to chase in the fourth innings.”They have good players as well and these are their home conditions,” Kirk Edwards said. “The pitch looks about the same as it was yesterday but I do think it will get drier and we’ll have to play Shakib well. He’s a quality player. I find his bowling to be disciplined and he’s a really good cricketer.”Kirk Edwards, whose century set up West Indies’ total of 355, said that one always had to work hard for runs in Test cricket. “Test hundreds are never easy,” Kirk Edwards said. “The pitch was a bit faster this morning. Yesterday when Rubel was bowling the balls stood up and got tennis-ball bounce. Today it was faster and it skid through. Rubel bowled well.”I really don’t have too many innings to rate it against but my mind stood up well. I was able to pace my innings and do what the team required so I’m happy with the day’s effort.”

Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, has said his team will continue to play attacking, aggressive Test cricket, even though chasing a win instead of playing for the draw against New Zealand in Bulawayo may have cost them the match. New Zealand won by 34 runs after setting Zimbabwe a steep 366 to chase for victory.On a traditionally flat pitch, Zimbabwe decided to bat for a result, despite needing 305 on the final day with eight wickets standing. A century from Taylor and a half-century by Tatenda Taibu kept them in the hunt but a spectacular collapse, in which they lost six wickets for 44 runs, saw them end up on the losing side. Taylor said he had no regrets about thinking positively.”If we want to become better cricketers, we have to play like that,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “If you don’t test yourself, you won’t know how far you can go.”Taylor has only captained Zimbabwe in three Tests, but has already become known for brave decision making. In Zimbabwe’s comeback Test, against Bangladesh in Harare in August, Taylor declared Zimbabwe’s second innings on 291 for 5 early on the fourth day, setting Bangladesh 375 to win. Critics said Zimbabwe should have batted longer to ensure Bangladesh were out of the game but Taylor preferred to dangle the carrot instead. The result was a comprehensive 130-run win for Zimbabwe with two sessions to spare.When Taylor found himself in the opposite situation, with New Zealand leaving Zimbabwe a gettable target, he accepted the challenge. “You have to be realistic and we felt that it was realistic to go for the win.” Even though Zimbabwe have a short batting line-up, which Taylor admits “stops at No. 7,” Taylor felt that with two frontline batsmen occupying the crease for most of the day the target was within reach. He shared a 108-run fourth-wicket partnership with Taibu and believed one of them would take Zimbabwe over the line. “I wanted us both to spend a session or a session-and-a-half at the crease and thought that if one of us was there at the end, we could win.”It was when the pair were dismissed that the collapse began, which raised questions about Zimbabwe’s lack of stability in the lower-middle order. “We are missing some guys through injury,” Taylor said. “Elton Chigumbura is struggling with a hamstring injury and Graeme Cremer has been out for a while [with a knee injury]. They could really make a difference.”While the cricketing world was touched, disappointed and some even a little heartbroken for Zimbabwe after they lost, Taylor said the team were not overcome by a sense of gloom. “Within 20 minutes afterwards we were ok. We had a meeting and everyone was very praiseworthy of each other. We gave it our all; for five days we played good cricket and to take it late into the fifth day we knew we had done something right.”Since their return to Test cricket, Zimbabwe have won one Test and lost two, won four ODIs, including a record run-chase against New Zealand, but lost seven and been defeated in four Twenty20 internationals. Taylor said it’s not the numbers but the progress that matters.”To have won the third ODI against New Zealand gave us confidence and we came close in the Test. We can hold our heads high. The senior guys have performed and helped the younger guys.”The Test against New Zealand saw contributions from several of the more-experienced players in the team. Vusi Sibanda scored 93 in the first innings and Chris Mpofu showed an understanding of the conditions to take 4 for 92, before Taylor and Taibu shone on the final day. There were also impressive performances from some of the younger players: Kyle Jarvis took 5 for 64 and Malcolm Waller, on debut, scored an undefeated 72 in the first innings. “We can take positives out of all of these things,” Taylor said.Zimbabwe have a break for the next two months, during which the players will play in the local T20 competition. Their first assignment next year is a tour of New Zealand that consists of a one-off Test, three ODIs and two T20s. It will provide a barometer to measure how Zimbabwe cope in foreign conditions.