In early February, Zimbabwe broke a 13-match losing sequence by beating Bangladesh, leaving their record going into the World Cup standing at 15 defeats in 16 matches.

All of those defeats were against Kenya, Bangladesh and South Africa's second string and included a 5-0 whitewash in Bangladesh at the end of 2006.

Gone are the days of former skipper Heath Streak, with his 237 wickets and almost 3,000 runs.

Gone also are Andy Flower and Henry Olonga who fled their country after the 2003 World Cup in fear of their lives after staging their high-profile "death of democracy" protest aimed at exposing the brutality of the Mugabe regime.

Zimbabwe has lost roughly the equivalent of an entire team in the years since the last World Cup. They have also lost their Test status after a series of disputes between Cricket Zimbabwe and senior players.

Key players have all been purged from the squad.

This impoverished country, with its 1,600-percent inflation, has been left with mostly raw youngsters to represent the team.

Very few of its 15-man squad have proper experience. Only captain Prosper Utseya and Gary Brent have played more than 50 ODIs.

Sometimes one has an outstanding performance, such as opening batsman Vusi Sibanda who averaged over 100 in the first three matches against Bangladesh, boosted by a 93 not out; Elton Chigumbura smashed them for seven sixes in one innings.

But they are rare bright spots.

Despite the gloom, coach Kevin Curran has faith in his rookies.

"We have a lot of youngsters playing good cricket," said the former Test player.

"We have a pretty sharp front line attack in Anthony Ireland, Chris Mpofu and Edward Rainsford. And there has been some fine batting performances lately, notably by Sibanda, Chigumbura and Terrence Duffin. I believe we can be very competitive all round."

But lurking in the background are the memories of the embarrassing 35 and 38 run totals, both against Sri Lanka only a couple of years ago, and their 85 against West Indies and 94 against Pakistan.

Only three Zimbabwe batsmen have scored more than 1,000 runs; the best average is a meagre 28 by Brendan Taylor. Only two bowlers have taken more than 30 wickets.

In an effort to keep the better Zimbabwe players in the country after the World Cup, Zimbabwe Cricket is believed to be offering attractive four-year contracts.

But the players will have to earn them with some tough assignments on the horizon.

"Our warm-up games against Bermuda and Australia are ideal for us because they are so different," added Curran.

"I expect our lads to beat Bermuda and to be competitive against Australia.

"I believe that if we had Andy Flower, Heath Streak and just a couple of others from those earlier days, we we would be better overall today than the Zimbabwe team of that time.

"There's no reason at all why we shouldn't beat Ireland (in their first Group D match). They are on a level with Scotland and Canada. As for West Indies and Pakistan, these are great sides.

"But they can both be unpredictable and we might just catch one of them on a bad day.

"Whether we get through to the Super Eight has to be doubtful, but I think we will leave the World Cup with honour."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)