‘The gulf is still huge, but we are growing’- Dave Houghton

DaveHoughton ZimbabweCricket — Dave Houghton PIC: Twitter/Zimbabwe Cricket

Zimbabwe Head Coach Dave Houghton has refused to be lulled into believing his side is closer to the big teams after their historic three-wicket victory over Australia in the third One-Day-International on Saturday.

Speaking to the Australian media, Houghton said, “I think the gap iishuge, you know, I think. I’ll be honest with you, I think if we’d lost the Toss today, we would have seen the game similar to the second game. And then you’re looking at it from a completely different angle.”

He then added that his side would struggle to beat some of the state sides but insisted was a work in progress.

“We are growing and hopefully we grow quite quickly. And the amount of cricket we are starting to play and the fact that we are getting a few results like this.”

He made reference to the T20 and ODI series wins over Bangladesh and nearly beating India in Harare.

Houghton said results helped his charges believe that their processes were improving them.

“It’s really good in enforcing the what we’re trying to do with the team and with their tactics and with the skills that they have, because there’s nothing worse than working really hard on something and getting absolutely no reward for it. So it’s nice to get these little reward top apps to show the guys of what they’re doing is working,” said Houghton.

The former Zimbabwe captain further added that he hoped good performances and results would make his side more attractive to play against for the big boys.

“The more wins we can get them in places like this, the more that our chances are of getting some bigger countries on a regular basis,” he said.

Now Houghton focuses on the T20 World Cup or which he said there might be a Pakistan ‘A’ side visiting to assist with preparations.