There can be no doubt about the sincerity and determination of Zimbabwe cricket to reclaim its place amongst the world's elite nations.  

   The appointments of Alan Butcher as head coach, alongside former national captain Heath Streak as bowling coach and Grant Flower as batting coach, are ample proof that no expense will be spared to reclaim the once proud status of  "underdog but potential giant killer".

    The last decade has been one of miserable decay but the silver lining to the darkest of clouds is the fact that Zimbabwe cricket reached its nadir -- which it had to do -- and has now been able to start the rebuilding process with a clean slate.

   Political agendas within the game remain an ongoing problem but the difference now, as opposed to in the past, is that they take a backseat to the majority of cricket-inspired people who believe that the game has a right to survive and prosper in whatever political climate it is forced to live in.

   The return of all rounder Andy Blignaut is the most significant piece of team news ahead of the tournament but there are still a couple of experienced stalwarts amongst the squad of 15 to help a majority of young and inexperienced players.

   Chief amongst them is former captain Tatenda Taibu who remains a top quality wicket keeper/batsmen capable of excelling just as often in the 20-over format as he is in any other.

   Captain Prosper Utseya still enjoys one of the lowest bowling economy rates in the world in the ODI format of the game and, although off spinners really flourish in the 20-over game, he remains one of the few with the ability to affect the outcome of a contest in his team's favour.

   Blignaut showed extraordinary batting form in Zimbabwe's inaugural domestic T20 tournament a couple of months ago despite not playing at any level for over four years following a fallout with the board and premature retirement. His bowling is likely to be rusty despite a determined effort to regain form and fitness but he still strikes the ball as cleanly as anybody.

   The "real deal" with bat and ball can be found in the form of Elton Chigumbura whose all round form has been good enough over recent years to persuade English county Northants to sign him as their overseas player for the current season.

   Other players to look out for include opening batsmen Hamilton Masakadza who enjoyed a prolific ODI season in 2009, leg spinner Graeme Cremer who is comfortable with at least four variations of deliveryand has a solid temperament, and top order batsmen Brendan Taylor.

   There is a distinct lack of strength in the fast bowling department of Zimbabwe cricket but, in some ways, that is made up for by the depth of the spinners. Ray Price has been ranked among the top five one-day spinners in the world for the last couple of years and the 33-year-old left armer can throttle any top order in the world on his day.

   This Zimbabwe team cannot be compared to the ones which routinely embarrassed top nations throughout the 1990s.  But they are already a great deal better than the outclassed squads which represented Zimbabwe through much of the 2000s and they have all of the required determination to be crowd-pleasing, giant-killing underdogs once again.