2nd ODI ZIMBABWE VS SRILANKA

[sloandog]

Amazing win boys. Been teaching all day so I haven't watched a single ball, but having read the comme to it looks like we've pulled off a tight victory, and a well deserved one too!

[grant]

Afghanistan u19 all out 200 after 38. That is bizarre.
Eeish we should have played them first game

wtf. How have they been bowled out by that PNG team

So i took a look at their wk and he made his FC debut in 2018 and he is currently 16 years old:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/moh ... aq-1076579

Make of that what you want but eish!

That means he was 14-15 in his cricinfo profile picture!

[lobsang]

In a way losing Williams would have been more catastrophic than BT.

Imagine a BT there instead of burl who looks like a weaklink

Yes to me that is the most painful part. I really thought we were close to figuring it all out for once. BT added so much to the team and on a pitch like what we have seen today he would have dominated. I wonder if he has any regrets? Regis kicking on. 2 decent fast bowlers. Kaitano coming through nicely. With him in the team I think we would have been a competitive unit at full strength. Wes and Shumba need another 2 years for them to become reliable

Burl is 27 right? No one in this squad burst onto the international scene like the world conquerer. Williams' formative or maturing years are in his early career. He started performing probably after 2011 or thereabout and it took years for him to convert his potentials into on-field performances . You gotta show some empathy to Burl, the lad has like 17 to 18 matches under his belt, how many Chibhabha or Maruma. Regis started his career in 2010 or thereabouts and how many years it took for him to come good?. Give Burl a year or two and he will grow a mature head over his shoulder and start showing some consistency.

[secretzimbo]

Burl is 27 right? No one in this squad burst onto the international scene like the world conquerer. Williams' formative or maturing years are in his early career. He started performing probably after 2011 or thereabout and it took years for him to convert his potentials into on-field performances . You gotta show some empathy to Burl, the lad has like 17 to 18 matches under his belt, how many Chibhabha or Maruma. Regis started his career in 2010 or thereabouts and how many years it took for him to come good?. Give Burl a year or two and he will grow a mature head over his shoulder and start showing some consistency.

Yeah good point, agree. But what is his role? There isn't really any vacancies in the top 6. So as it stands he's batting at 7 and not really bowling. That's a luxury player. If he's not bowling and he's coming in at 7, then he's going to need to absolutely smash it with the bat almost every time. And he's not currently.

Difficult. I hope he makes it, but he needs to find a role and he needs to do it really well.

[secretzimbo]

Are we behind the over rate? Noticed Reggie calling for a quick change at the end of the last two overs. Don't want to end up being deducted points ffs

Investigated this, and turns out we were 3 overs behind at the cut off point......


Might be on for a 2 point deduction if the ICC bother.....

[Googly]

Burl is 27 right? No one in this squad burst onto the international scene like the world conquerer. Williams' formative or maturing years are in his early career. He started performing probably after 2011 or thereabout and it took years for him to convert his potentials into on-field performances . You gotta show some empathy to Burl, the lad has like 17 to 18 matches under his belt, how many Chibhabha or Maruma. Regis started his career in 2010 or thereabouts and how many years it took for him to come good?. Give Burl a year or two and he will grow a mature head over his shoulder and start showing some consistency.

Yeah good point, agree. But what is his role? There isn't really any vacancies in the top 6. So as it stands he's batting at 7 and not really bowling. That's a luxury player. If he's not bowling and he's coming in at 7, then he's going to need to absolutely smash it with the bat almost every time. And he's not currently.

Difficult. I hope he makes it, but he needs to find a role and he needs to do it really well.

He's a spinning all rounder and supposed to be an innings closer with the bat. We've also got Shumba and Madhevere as spinning all rounders but will bat ahead of Burl. That's 5 batsmen who also are called on to bowl spin which is a lot in one team if you include Williams and Raza. We're long in what I'd describe as journeymen spinners in the National side and in the U19's.
Most other sides have a few seaming all rounders to call on and we're down to Jongwe and presumably at some point Evans if he does well domestically.

Was Burl given the opportunities up front that Madhevere has? I'm sure someone here knows how many opportunities he's had from 1-4.
Madhevere and Shumba are good players but ZC is almost banking on them to be at least as good as Taylor and Ervine. That's a tall order and from what I've seen is looking increasingly unlikely. International cricket is a tough place to shine, you need to be really special.

[Googly]

There's definitely a spot that Evans can cement for himself as an all rounder, whether its as a batting all-rounder or a seaming all-rounder remains to be seen and is up to him at the end of the day- how much work he's prepared to put in.

[Googly]

I'd be interested to see what people think about who's the best pick out of Burl, Shumba and Madhevere. I'd like to see Shumba have a few games before I put my head on a block, but I think Burl is the best of these 3. I'm sure there aren't too many in agreement.

[Googly]

I've just read this article about Madhevere

https://www.thezimbabwemail.com/sports/ ... e-cricket/

Thats a tough act to follow. Some early success at a young age is usually followed by a bit of a slump and it's how you sort that out and make the necessary technical and mental adjustments. How will he regroup if he has a really poor run and they either continue picking him or give him time to improve in our domestic league (don't think you can!) Zim cricket is not an easy environment to become a world class player.

Someone mentioned Masakanda the other day. Thats one of the biggest implosions of form I've seen. I really feel for the guy.

[secretzimbo]

Hard to compare really. I can foresee Shumba slowly giving up his bowling over time and specialising as a batsman. Probably Craig's replacement at 3 eventually.

With Wes and Burl, Burl is 6 years older and made his domestic debut six years earlier as well, so you'd expect him to be far ahead by now. Give Wes another six years experience and maturity and I'd hope he turns out a better play than Burl is currently. He might not, but I hope so.

Burl has been batting number 4 for Rhinos all season and I think last season too. Averages 16 from 8 innings in List A this season. But Wes & Shumba only averaging 21 each too. None of them have been in great form, but you'd expect Burl at his age and experience to be starting to dominate.

In around 18 months, post WC/WCQ, we are going to have all of Ervine, Williams, Raza and Chakabva retiring at once. Scary. Then Burl will be the most senior batsman in the team and will probably get chances higher up the order. Until then he needs to stay in the team somehow and I guess he has to find a way to make his bowling more reliable and his batting more explosive at number 7.