ZIMBABWE captain Heath Streak last night gave his Lord's flops the opportunity to make amends at the Riverside.

Streak confirmed Zimbabwe will field an unchanged team in Durham's debut Test after their innings defeat inside three days last month.

He said: "We've got confidence in the side that played in the first Test and we're going with the same side.

"A lot of positives came out of the game for us. Obviously we got beat fairly convincingly, but we feel that's our best XI.

"We made our mistakes and we've got to put things right in this game.

"We've got to show a bit of confidence in the guys to do the job for us; we can't keep chopping and changing every time we lose a game.

"It's always tough coming back from a loss in your first Test, but we've got to show a bit of character and dig deep.

"The batters showed a bit of application in our game against Middlesex and we'll be looking for them to do the same here.

"We've got to brush up a bit in the bowling department as well, but we're ready for this game.

"We lost the first Test in England in 2000 and then came back strongly in the second Test, and obviously we want to emulate that.

"We had a great game here against the West Indies in the one-day series three years ago.

"It's always good to know you got runs the last time you played at a ground, and hopefully we can draw a bit of encouragement from that."

Streak insists the recent increase in violence in Zimbabwe following demonstrations against President Robert Mugabe had not affected his team's build-up.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested and then released as a week of protests swept the country.

But Streak said: "Information has trickled in about what's going on, but we haven't really seen a lot on the news of what's going on at home.

"The guys have been pretty busy with the travelling and playing, and then preparing for this Test match. There are concerns about what's going on but the guys here are focusing on getting things right.

"There's been a lot happening in Zimbabwe over the last few years, but the guys have been pretty good in keeping external issues out of the game of cricket."