HARARE, Nov 8: Heightened security was in evidence at the Harare Sports Club (HSC) as weather disrupted preparations for the first Test between Zimbabwe and Pakistan, which starts here Saturday.

At least 30 guards ringed the Harare Sports Club (HSC) field this week while ground staff attempted to prepare the pitch between showers that began falling Tuesday and were forecast to continue through Friday.

“The guards are there because the last thing Zimbabwe needs with the World Cup coming up is a breach of security,” a Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) official who declined to be named told Reuters.

Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell said the wet weather would influence the way he approached the match.

“Even if there is sunshine now it’s going to be wet come Saturday morning, and the toss will be very interesting,” he told Reuters.

Campbell captained Zimbabwe from 1996 to 1999 before resigning to focus on his batting, but returned as skipper after Heath Streak dislocated his shoulder in a traffic accident during the Champions Trophy in Colombo in September.

Campbell said he now felt better equipped for the challenges of the job.

“I’ve matured a lot and learnt a lot, and I’ve learnt to cope better under pressure,” said Campbell, who will relinquish the captaincy to Streak when the latter regains his fitness.

Campbell expected Pakistan, who are smarting from a run of poor results including a 3-0 drubbing in a Test series against Australia, to play aggressive cricket in the two match series.

“They’re a strange side,” Campbell said of the visitors. “When they’re down they’re really down, but when they’re in a corner they come out all guns blazing.

“They are going to want to put in a big performance against us.”

Pakistan coach Richard Pybus felt inexperience at the crease was at the root of Pakistan’s problems against Australia, which included being dismissed for their lowest scores of 59 and 53 in the second Test at Sharjah.

“We just had a really young batting line up against Australia,” Pybus said.

“Having Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana back in the side will be good for our batting because our middle order will be a lot more stable.”

Pakistan will play five One-day Internationals after the Test series before moving on to South Africa for another two Tests and five One-day Internationals.

Teams (from):

Zimbabwe: Dion Ebrahim, Hamilton Masakadza, Alistair Campbell (captain), Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Guy Whittall, Tatenda Taibu, Andy Blignaut, Blessing Mahwire, Ray Price, Henry Olonga, Mark Vermeulen, Mluleki Nkala.

Pakistan: Waqar Younis (captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq, Taufiq Umar, Shahid Afridi, Saleem Elahi, Yousuf Youhana, Hasan Raza, Faisal Iqbal, Younis Khan, Rashid Latif, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Zahid, Saqlain Mushtaq.—Reuters