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Elton Chigumbura's spell with Northamptonshire is now well underway - to mixed results, it has to be said - and the new Zimbabwe captain is making use of the opportunities for self-promotion that being in England presents. Cricinfo have a lenghty interview with him, in which he indicates that he feels that both he and his side still have plenty of room for improvement:

"I'd like to become one of the best allrounders in the world, and one that will be recognised even after I retire. I'm still working towards that. I'd also like to see a Zimbabwe team that will start winning games and a team that other countries will love playing against. If we can achieve that then we can set further goals after that."

Playing county cricket has long been seen as a good way for promising players to get essential experience at the top level, and it's something that Elton has been hoping to do for some time:

"When I was growing up, I wanted to play county cricket. It was one of my dreams, after playing for my nation, and now it has come to reality. So I take this as a big opportunity. I'm honoured to be here and hopefully I'll have success and so help the team to win. I'll take my experience here and help the guys who are playing back home."

He's also looking forward to Zimbabwe's return to Test cricket, and agrees with David Houghton's assessment that the best 'preparation' for Test cricket is to get out and play it:

"I'm looking forward to leading Zimbabwe in Test cricket. I think it's an honour to lead any team, and if you play well, you can say I led this team to become a better team or to be recognised as one of the best teams in the world. I'm looking forward to it and looking forward to pushing the guys back home to become more competitive and start winning games. I know Test cricket is hard, but you can only improve at it by playing."

That's just a small selection of quotable quotes from his interview - it's well worth taking the time to read the full thing. Elton certainly got his captaincy off to a good start, upsetting two Full Member sides in his first series in charge, so here's hoping his good run of form can continue when the national side get back into action in September.
CricInfo - 'I'd like to become one of the world's best allrounders'