Major honours
Zimbabwe first announced itself to the world as an Associate nation at the 1983 World Cup, stunning Australia at Trent Bridge, and became the ninth Test nation in 1992. Its first Test, against India in Harare, ended in a draw built on David Houghton's 121. Its peak came in the late 1990s: Andy Flower was briefly the world's top-ranked batsman, Heath Streak finished with 216 Test wickets, and the team reached the Super Six stage of the 1999 and 2003 World Cups. At the 2003 World Cup, Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands to mourn the death of democracy in their country — one of the sport's most famous political statements — and both players left the country soon after. The player exodus and financial trouble that followed led Zimbabwe to voluntarily suspend Test cricket from 2006 to 2011. In 2023 it failed to qualify for the World Cup, losing to Scotland at a home qualifier.
Record comparison
Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.
Club legends
Rivalry
The gap with neighboring South Africa is wide but the fixture carries regional weight, while Bangladesh has long been Zimbabwe's most realistic path to a win as the two have fought over the bottom of the Test table.