CAPE TOWN, Aug 15: Heath Streak says recent changes at the national cricket board were a major factor in his decision to resume as Zimbabwe captain for the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka next month.

The position has become a poisoned chalice in recent times, with five other players leading Zimbabwe since June last year when Grant Flower stepped in for Streak for a one-dayer against the West Indies in Harare.

Streak resigned shortly before the toss in protest at his lack of input in team selection.

Although Streak reassumed the captaincy for Zimbabwe’s next game, he then resigned again in October when young leg-spinner Brian Murphy was the surprise choice as his successor.

Guy Whittall, Alistair Campbell and Stuart Carlisle, from whom Streak now takes over, have also captained the team over the past 14 months.

“There’s been some positive stuff that’s happened in the cricket union,” Streak said. “There’s much better support for the captain now with (coach) Geoff Marsh at the helm and Kevin Curran assisting. That’s a lot better.

“Things are running a lot more professionally under the new chief executive Vince Hogg and there’s just a lot more support for the captain, which was one of my problems and I felt it was starting to tell on my own game.

“Hopefully I can focus now on the job of leading the guys and assessing things on the field, rather than worrying about what’s going on off the field.”

Streak, who was celebrating the birth of his first child Charlotte on Wednesday, was confident Zimbabwe would put in a good showing at the Champions Trophy.

“We ended off well last season in the one-day game, going down 3-2 to India in a series we could have won and we’ve got guys like Shaun Irvine and Guy Whittall back in the squad so there’s a good blend of youth and experience,” he said.

“Half the guys have been overseas and the rest of us have had a strenuous fitness regime that we’ve been following so hopefully...we’ll be pretty well prepared.

“We’re fit and fresh and especially with the World Cup coming up we need to get off to a good start this season and get some confidence up.

Zimbabwe are grouped with England and India at the Champions Trophy, which starts on Sept 12 in Colombo.

Zimbabwe squad: Heath Streak (captain), Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Douglas Hondo, Stuart Irvine, Douglas Marillier, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Henry Olonga, Tatenda Taibu, Guy Whittall.—Reuters