I'm ready for the World Cup - Mawoyo

Zimbabwe batsman Tino Mawoyo insists he is ready for the challenge of the World Cup after receiving a surprise call-up to replace Sean Ervine, who pulled out of the squad for the tournament due to personal reasons.

"I was both excited and a bit surprised when I got the news," said Mawoyo. "I was disappointed to have been left out at first just like all the players that have not been included, but despite having been left out I have been working hard all along so I think I will be as ready as the other guys when the World Cup starts."

Mawoyo, an opening batsman who played two one-day internationals against Bangladesh in 2006, has been one of the more consistent batsmen on the domestic limited-overs scene over the past two seasons. He furthered his claims for national selection with some impressive innings in the unofficial Test series against New Zealand in October last year, and his entry to the World Cup squad will also give the team more options at the top of the innings.

"There is a slight change in the dynamics of the side as we lost a batsman we could have got some seam from," explained national coach Alan Butcher. "On the other hand now we have a batsman who is used to opening the batting. I was comfortable with the options we had in that regard but now we have somebody who is used to taking the new ball at the top order and whose natural inclination is to play shots."

"Tino has done well to improve on his fitness, as asked to, and he has had some rewards for his hard work," added Butcher. "He has shed some weight and we can push that along for the next few weeks. Let's hope that he takes to our regime for people to become fit and strong and at the same time compete in that way against other teams. We'll get a good idea about how his attitude and mind work by the end of the tournament."

Mawoyo was in ebullient mood after being asked to join the squad and suggested that if Zimbabwe play to their strengths they could upset some of the bigger teams at the tournament. "We have always shown we are a good team," he said. "We can get positive results against some of the big guns in our group if we apply ourselves fully. Everybody is excited and raring to go so I have a feeling it will be a successful outing for us."

Mawoyo's words will have pleased Butcher, who expressed his hope that the Zimbabweans would approach the World Cup with a spirit of fun and adventure. "Pressure and opportunity are different sides of the same coin and I hope our people will look at it as an opportunity and an adventure rather than being under pressure," he said.

"There are other teams in the world cup that will be under more pressure than Zimbabwe and that is purely because their expectations will be greater. We have our own expectations but the more we can look at it as an opportunity to showcase individual and collective talent, rather than something that should stop us from performing, the better."

National team assistant coach Steven Mangongo added that he expected Mawoyo, who he suggested had been unlucky to miss out on selection in the past, to make the most of this opportunity. "It's a big opportunity for him to finally get his international career going," said Mangongo. "I always thought he was one player that had been left out who deserved to be in the squad. He is one of the few specialist openers that we have and we hope he takes this opportunity with both hands and does the job."