Zimbos in the UK : Season 2015

[GregorPJ]

http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ ... 5347.shtml

I seen the game. He bowled very well and got the man who was well set out. Couple of nicks for 4 dented his figures.

[jaybro]

Sam Curran takes 8 wickets on first class debut, batting @11 I thought he was more of a batsman .....

Tom Curran also bowling well .....

[foreignfield]

Sam Curran takes 8 wickets on first class debut, batting @11 I thought he was more of a batsman .....

Tom Curran also bowling well .....

Wow, the Currans taking the new ball together, 5-fer on debut for Sam, and a FC batting average better than the Don's = 18* = infinite I'm sure he'll work his way up the batting order with time, Surrey had Batty at 9 who could easily bat at 7 as well.

The Guardian's just as impressed with Sam the batsman:

That Curran’s second wave of contributions began just as this match was preparing to drift towards a draw says as much of his chutzpah as it does of his skill. Replacing Sangakkara at the crease with Surrey still 48 shy of Kent’s total, he laced a cover drive, flicked to fine leg and rolled his wrists on a wonderful pull in the space of four Matt Coles deliveries.

And from yesterday's Guardian live blog

Well, Scurran, as I’m going to refer to the younger of the two got off the mark in Champo cricket with a sensational cover drive, then followed it up with a flick to fine leg for four more as if he hadn’t a care in the world. He’s a nice looking leftie, who is quite crouched as the bowler runs in and leaves the ball with a bit of a flourish. Definitely has massive lower-middle-order stylist potential. Oh and now he’s gona and just rolled the wrists on a pull to earn his team a point. Three boundaries in an over off Coles will do just fine.
...
Right so this Scurran cat has plenty about him. He got a five wicket haul in the first innings on his Championship bow, then came out and played some delicious shots at No11 earlier and now he’s reduced Kent to 9 for 2 with his first two overs. He bustles in really smoothly and delivers his left-armers – they’re really not that quick yet but they sure as hell will be – and when he gets to the crease he skips rather than leaps, like his brother. It’s certainly not a high action, but is a lovely one.

He had Daniel Bell-Drummond so plumb with the sixth ball of his first over that he didn’t even turn round to see if the umpire had given it, he just celebrated and set off to the slips. World class celebrappealling; Stuart Broad would be proud. Then, next over, Adam Ball top-edged a pull straight to Sibley at a closeish midwicket.

[totoro]

Edward Byrom scores 179 for Somerset Second XI

https://www.totalcricketscorer.com/TCSL ... x?id=36940

[SpitfiresKent]

Edward Byrom scores 179 for Somerset Second XI

https://www.totalcricketscorer.com/TCSL ... x?id=36940

Good on him. And a half century in the 2nd innings.

What's the status of this guy? Is he pretty much lost to Zimbabwe cricket?

[Googly]

I think all these boys want to ensure permanent eligibility for County before they reconsider their position regarding Zim. The issue is mostly a monetary one, which as we all know is all-important. To get a County contract is almost a necessity as it's almost impossible to make a living from cricket here unless you are in the national side, and even then it's barely viable.
Byrom, Welch and Evans are all good enough to play County Firsts within the next 1-4 years with hard work and a bit of luck because they are all tremendously talented. The fact that they are over there also indicates that they are intent upon a professional career. The odds of them all getting a Brit passport, becoming eligible for England and getting picked are pretty slim. In due course I would think they will see Zim as an opportunity to play international cricket and will return here significantly better than if they had stayed and probably not even have gotten a franchise game which surely bodes well for Zim cricket? Do I think any of them may have the ability to one day be in the sights of the English selectors? I think it's early days and only time will tell. It's a hard slog to hang in there and do well enough year in and year out, especially without a real support base, which none of them really have. I also think they will realise that and will all try and enrol in a university there. Their schools help them to some extent in enrolling in tertiary education and they will quickly figure out (if they haven't already) that it's necessary to have some skills outside of cricket.

[Googly]

I think EB's recent innings has put him on the County radar in a big way. NW has had a great season of many hundreds and match winning innings for his school but can't play County until he qualifies, which is soon I believe. He did play a few games at U17 level and did well, but it was not enough to get him a bat up front, which he found frustrating. He said he had had a call up for them earlier on but was unable to play due to a school game and the guy they picked in his place to open made a hundred on debut, which is how the cookie crumbles in cricket. I spoke to him last week and he said he started out too hard at the beginning of the season when the ball was nipping otherwise he would have done better. He got back to back hundreds in his first two games and thought it was going to be a duck shoot and had a few poor innings adjusting thereafter. He says Surrey is probably the most competitive County to be noticed as a schoolboy and that he needs a massive season next year to get any games for Seconds, basically do or die because to be relegated to Club cricket means you will probably never make the jump unless you have a massive season. It has dawned on him that it is possible to be an exceptional player and not get the right breaks, which he is finding very disconcerting.

[dang8811]

but can't play County until he qualifies, which is soon I believe.

Excuse my ignorance, but how do they qualify for county cricket? Is it to do with time spent in the UK in recent years?

[Googly]

If you get there as a schoolboy and you have not turned 18 then you need do be there for more than half the year for 4 consecutive years. If you get there after you are 18 then it takes 7 years to qualify. That's it more or less, there's a few other provisos. Basically you have to fulfil their residency requirements. They don't like you to have played at u19 level either, I think that pushes it out t 7 years as well. I heard they played NW once or twice and then had to pay a fine, but apparently he's shortly eligible for a passport through ancestry or something similar. He's been practicing with them from the first week he was in England and has full sponsorship and all. Batters like him are few and far between, I'm sure they are waiting impatiently for the day he becomes eligible. You can play as an international player, one per County, and you can register and play as a Kolpak player. There's a few ways. Basically if you are not a Brit you have to be top drawer to get picked though.

[sloandog]

Anybody watching Sam curran right now on sky sports?.....holy.....f[]}#** shit! 86mph?! At just 17? Seriously? I thought he was a batter? Tom curran looks good as well, though his pace seems down a little bit. Sam curran will play for England one day judging by what I'm seeing. I'm so excited