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Heath Streak has called on Zimbabwe two focus on a pace attack during the upcoming series against Bangladesh, instead of going with the expected 3-spinners approach of Utseya, Price and Cremer. In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, Streak points out that Bangladesh have traditionally struggled against pace:

"Bangladesh always struggled against quick bowling when we played. If we use slow and turning wickets it gives them confidence. It puts them at ease. When we played them we tried to expose them to conditions they were not comfortable playing in."

That said, all five ODIs in the series are to be played at Queen's Sports Club, which is considered a spin-friendly ground (and one on which Zimbabwe have struggled in recent years), so this is an issue that may well spark some debate.

The interview also revealed that Streak's role with ZC - he had been expected to join the 'A' setup - may well not yet be finalised:

"Look, I had dialogue with ZC but I’m still waiting for them to get back to me on a few issues."

Hopefully, that's not an ominous sign...
Zimbabwe Independent - Go for Pace –– Streak

Fixtures have been announced for Bangladesh's upcoming tour of Zimbabwe. There will be 5 ODIs played, all at Queen's Sports Club in Bulawayo.

Sunday 9 August         1st ODI
Tuesday 11 August       2nd ODI
Friday 14 August        3rd ODI
Sunday 16 August        4th ODI
Tuesday 18 August       5th ODI

ZC have confirmed to CricInfo that, in accordance with the recent ICC report on how best to achieve a return to Test status, they have entered the Zimbabwe 'A' side into this year's Intercontinental Cup competition. No fixtures for the side have yet been released as, along with Afghanistan, there's some uncertainty over where their matches will be played - it's considered possible that there may be issues with Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland over allowing their sides to visit or host Zimbabwe, and if so those issues would need to be addressed first, possibly by arranging for the affected matches to be played at a neutral venue.
CricInfo - Zimbabwe enters side into ICC competition

ZC have confirmed the full list of franchise CEOs, who are:
Stanley Staddon (Westerns)
Hugo Ribatika (Northerns)
Philip Senzani (Easterns)
Givemore Makoni (Southerns)
Kenyon Ziehl (Centrals)
Philip Senzai at Easterns is the final piece in the puzzle and a surprise pick, with early rumours having pinpointed Tichafa Matambanadzo as the likley candidate. The appointments are for an interim 7-month period.

The Sunday News have picked up on what everyone else is thinking, meanwhile, and have queried the selection process used to pick the candidates, with ZC CEO Ozias Bvute unsurprisingly confirming that there was no open competition for the jobs:

"Advertising is not the only way of recruiting. Because of the time constraints, the five chief executive officers were head hunted and we think those five are the best to run those franchises in the interim, when the contracts expire the posts would be advertised."

It seems that the true test of the openness of the process will be when the interim appointments expire, then, and ZC come to fill the posts on a permanent basis - but when usually friendly papers like the Sunday News start querying the process, ZC should probably take the hint and do it properly next time...
Sunday News - ZC confirms franchise CEOs’ appointment

The Sunday Mail takes a look at Alester Maregwede's form in Australia, where the batsman, who is on the edges of the national scene, has hit form for his club side, Roseville, winning the club's Cricketer of the Year award for the 2008/09 season, the best batsman at the club and two floating trophies for the two centuries that he scored during the season. Maregwede finished the season on 600 runs with an average of 45 runs in 13 matches, and was very happy with his performances, hoping they'll give him an opportunity to reclaim a place in the national side:

"I am very happy with my achievements because I have been working really hard, so it’s good to see my efforts being recognised as this motivates one to work even harder in future. I have been in touch with the coaching staff and the national team manager and have made myself available for selection based on my current form and performances of course."

Maragwede's Australian career hasn't always been so sunny - he faced rape charges during 2008, while playing for Mildura Settlers, but appears to have put that time behind him now.
Sunday News - Maregwede shines in Aussie

The Zimbabwe Independent carries ZC's announcement of four of the five franchise CEOs, who are as we named them last week: Kenyon Ziehl at Centrals, Hugo Ribatika at Northerns, Givemore Makoni at Southerns and Stanley Staddon at Westerns, who have lodged a formal application with ZC to be renamed the far more impressive-sounding Matabeleland Warriors. The paper names Heath Streak as front-runner for the franchise's coach position, which on top of his expected appointment to the U19 team and other work he's doing in Matabeleland means he's going to be a very busy man if it all comes together.

The paper notes that Ziehl and Makoni have resigned their existing posts at ZC, with Jackie du Preez named Head of Selectors in Ziehl's place. The remaining members of the selection panel will be nominated in due course, one by each franchise. The CEO for the Easterns franchise has yet to be named.

CricInfo have noted that there's scepticism about the franchise structure, in no small part due to the CEOs all being strongly linked with ZC:

"We have to see how this works out, but the worry is that this is little more than shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic," one former administrator said. "The same old faces are all here, but while the board is controlled by the elite who have been running it for so long, why should we expect miracles."

That scepticism probably isn't entirely misplaced, but Matabeleland certainly seem to have hit the ground running - we just need to wait and see what the other sides can come up with.
Zimbabwe Independent - Zim Cricket Rings More Changes | CricInfo - Concerns as Zimbabwe's franchise heads are named

Old Hararians Sports Club will this weekend host a Twenty20 Abid Hamid Shield in memory of the dedicated cricket administrator, who died after playing in a league match in March at the age of 51. The four-team tournament will be contested by OH, Takashinga, Uprising and Royal. The clubs will be allowed to field players from other teams.
Zimbabwe Independent - Hamid Remembered

The Chronicle reports that Bulawayo Metropolitan CA are holding Zimbabwe's first ever coaching course for women at Queens Sports Club next week (9-13 June). The course is part of the province's regeneration plan, and they hope it will lead to the reintroduction of a womens' league in the province, according to ZC's regional manager Joshua Paul:

"We do not have any women's clubs in our region. Now what we want to do is to come up with a league for women and it starts by setting up proper structures and we believe that the course will help create awareness and mobilise women with the love for the sport."

Westerns apparently lifted the womens' inter-provincial title back in April, beating Northerns in the tournament final (not that you'd have noticed, from all the publicity ZC didn't give the event), and are now looking to build on that success. Good luck to them.
The Chronicle - ZC on revival of women cricket

Former Zim captain Heath Streak has been released from his Indian Cricket League contract, paving the way for his return to the ZC fold. A report in the weekend Sunday News indicates that Streak, who was recently named as part of a taskforce to improve the cricketing infrastructure in Matabeleland, has already held discussions with ZC about taking a coaching role with the organisation, possibly with the U19 side ahead of next year's U19 World Cup. Streak believes his playing days are behind him, at least at international level, but has other things to offer:

"I asked to be released from my ICL contract and that was granted and I can get involved with formal cricket in Zimbabwe. At 35, I do not think I am fit enough to play so my first priority is coaching."

Kevin Curran is the current U19 coach, and Streak, if his return is agreed, is likely to be named his assistant. After a long history of over-achievement at the U19 level, Zimbabwe's last appearance in the U19 World Cup was little short of disastrous, with Zim managing to win only one warm-up match (against Nepal). His return - the latest in a string of returns at coaching level - can only help Zim's efforts at rebuilding. Here's hoping it's finalised soon.
Sunday News - Heath Streak renounces ICL contract

Every website needs a refresh every now and then to keep it looking fresh - I've done it for ZCN several times in the past, and if you've visited the Zimbabwe Cricket website in the past few days you'll see they're displaying an Under Construction banner with a sneak preview of their redesign. Protip for ZC & their web designers: Under Construction pages are very bad form. Much as I hate to sing CricInfo's praises, you should really take some lessons from their relaunch, especially the "no downtime" bit.

Anyway. The ZC holding page doesn't show you that much of the incoming site, but brmtaylor.com were able to get hold of a screenshot of the new look. Their original article appears to have been pulled, but I did get to see the screenshot before it went and I have to say, I like the new look - all that remains is for ZC to a) go public with it, and b) keep it properly updated. Can't be that hard, surely..?