Campbell averages 30.63 in one-dayers
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Zimbabwe have been given permission to draft former captain Alistair Campbell into their World Cup squad.
The Event Technical Committee (ETC) has approved the inclusion of Campbell and Stuart Matsikenyeri as replacements for Mark Vermeulen and Brian Murphy.
Vermeulen suffered a hairline skull fracture after being hit above the left eye during a net session.
And spin bowler Murphy damaged a hamstring while warming up between innings during the game against New Zealand.
Campbell was a surprise omission from the original squad and has been working at the World Cup as a broadcaster and analyst.
He practised with the team on Monday, the first time he had held a bat for six weeks - a bat borrowed from teammate Andy Flower.
"I was hitting them quite well. It must be Andy Flower's bat.
But he won't let me have his good one.
"Still it's one thing hitting them well in the nets, another
thing out in the middle," he said.
Campbell's wife is sending his own equipment from Zimbabwe and he is confident that he is in the right physical condition, having attended the team's pre-tournament training camp.
I haven't been eating pie and chips and drinking 20 pints
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Campbell has not played a competitive innings for six weeks.
"My last match was for Manicaland against Matabeland in our
one-day competition. I made five which was quite good - it only took
me two balls," the left-hander joked.
Matsikinyeri attended the same school, Churchill, as teammate Tatenda Taibu.
He has been a regular member of the Zimbabwe A team and made his one-day international debut against Pakistan last November, opening the batting with Campbell in Bulawayo.
The 19-year-old was dismissed for one and was left out of the team after two appearances.