Both Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura will no doubt be relieved that they returned to some sort of form all be it at the end of the tour.

Masakadza's contributions of 53 and 62 showed that he is more than capable of scoring runs at the highest level in international Twenty20 and that his exploits are not limited to the domestic version of the game, while Chigumbura was back to his very best with scores of 48 runs off just 24 balls and 29 runs off 16 balls.

Both of these were unbeaten and with a strike rate of more than 200% gave the innings the perfect finish.

Looking back at some of the areas of concern, it was very clear to see that the batsmen really struggled with the bounce and movement the New Zealand bowlers were able to extract.

So, is it at all possible for groundsmen around the country to prepare pitches that will have more pace and bounce?

Even if this was possible the batsmen and indeed players in general desperately need to be exposed to pitches that assist fast bowling.

When Zimbabwe first entered the test arena back in 1992, players such as Dave Houghton, the Flower Brothers, Eddo Brandes and Heath Streak were all fortunate enough to have gained invaluable experience by playing club cricket in England during Zimbabwe's off season.

This would most definitely be the way to go if our players are going to progress and now that the domestic season is drawing to a close, players will be well served to play as much club cricket as they can if offered the opportunity to do so.

When the 2012/2013 season starts, franchises may want to look at employing the services of pace bowlers when purchasing their international players. For the last two seasons, we have seen that most of the international players are top order batsmen.

Having a couple of out-and-out quick bowlers around the country will not only test the techniques of the countries opening batsmen, but may also encourage our own younger bowlers to step up to the plate.

Dean du Plessis.