Confirmed in commentary: Sibanda leaving

[sscricket]

Obviously Meth.
I have not seen Vitori bowl so I am not going to jump to conclusions about whether he can or not.
Jarvis will be a 50% chance ( he does bowl reverse swing very well ).
I may not choose to play one of Mpofu or Price.

[Flower power]

I would keep Price , he can become the attacking or pressure spinner , evidence being the Test in Bulawayo , Price created the pressure and the other bowlers made the breaches .
Unfortunately Mpofu is slowly becoming obsolete with every day passing unless he starts doing some special things .....If I was Zim cricket I would organise an A game with Namibia or Kenya (becoz of proximity ) in that Zim A thats were we can throw all our experiments

[foreignfield]

The NZ pitches offer something throughout the test for both bowlers and batsmen. We saw Asif and Amir couple of years ago when they were moving the ball for 5 days and the average NZ team having no clue about playing them. NZ also bowled suprisingly well.

The grounds are small so there is a lot of boundaries scored. Anyhow I think if Zimbabwe can put together a good team , a winning team not a 80% good team then it will be very very interesting to watch.

The test match is played at Napier's McLean Park, which is the most placid wicket in NZ. It might do something on the first morning (much like HSC), but apart from that it's a road and not your stereotypical NZ pitch. Pakistan's Asif & Aamir found the going much tougher at Napier.

When Pakistan played there and drew in 2009 they suffered on the first morning, then NZ racked up 471 with Kaneria taking 7-168, and Pakistan replied with 455 in the second dig (3 wickets for Guptill!): http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/ ... 23780.html

Earlier in 2009 against India (http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/ ... 86496.html) NZ lost three quick wickets on the first morning, before Taylor, Ryder and McCullum took them to 619. India followed on but comfortably secured the draw. The match yielded 4 tons, and one double-hundred.

[sscricket]

Sounds like a belter. But there will always be a bit of swing and reverse based on who is bowling I hope.

[hhm]

I don't see why such things should be an issue. Everytime you pick a squad you select the best four seamers and best two spinners all the time. For the playing XI, if you have concerns and want to go defensive or contain, you bring in an extra specialist spinner. For all his ability to swing the ball Meth won't be picked ahead of Jarvis, and I doubt they would leave out Vitori for a safer option like Rainsford. As an example, Aus will go with their present best of Mitch-Harris-Siddle-Lyon all the time and perhaps throw in Copeland/Beer in place of Siddle so they can contain in the subcontinent. SA will go with Steyn-Morkel-Tahir with Kallis as the thrid seamer, and perhaps drop a batsman for Tsotsobe/Harris/Botha if they want someone to contain. It all depends on priorities, I don't believe teams look at conditions first. I doubt the Saffers would ever drop Morkel for Tsotsobe under conditions which favour Lopsy. The 5th & 6th bowler, for whatever reason, is statistically almost always suprlus to requirements from a wicket-taking point of view! For example, I'd have Mpofu+Rainsford+Elton+Price EVERYWHERE! Question is what is your best 3 seamers with a 1 or 2 spinner combination? Then use that everywhere unless EXTREME pitch conditions, amount of LH batsmen etc, really dictate changes. How many times do we hear pitch commentators says the pitch is either that or this and that's never the case. The 5th day QSC pitch was said to be the best condition of the whole Test match!

[sscricket]

I dont see Zimbabwe winning without Meth in it. They will maintain the status quo which is to lose closely to NZ and get whipped by the other top 7 teams if they ever get to play them.

[sscricket]

I would not watch the game if the bowling attack looks like Mpofu+Rainsford+Elton+Price

I would go the bet365 and wager 100 bucks on Zim losing the game.

[sscricket]

I think Zim should not take the example of South Africa. They have the reputation of chokers and always perform well under their true potential. Look at India. Dropping "Harbhajan singh" and Praveen kumar. Gotta give it to the selectors.
Everything they touch turns to gold. They are not rocket scientists, they just go for the guy who is no 1 bowler or bat at domestic level. Clear and simple.

[hhm]

I would not watch the game if the bowling attack looks like Mpofu+Rainsford+Elton+Price

I would go the bet365 and wager 100 bucks on Zim losing the game.

We lost one with Jarvis+Vitori+Mpofu+Lamb+Price! I don't see us wining much with Jarvis+Vitori+Ncube+Cremer either.

I think you guys are guilty of overrating Zim as a result of these recent games where we 'pushed teams close'. It appears you quickly forget how much these boys were hammered in the limited over games and assume they will fare better against Test batsmen who seek to dominate them. Look at the WI, had Sehwag&Gambhir stayed on for another 20-30 overs what would we be talking of now. Yes Fidel had chances off both batsmen, just like Jarvis has his chances, but guess who came to the rescue slow, poor and uninteresting Sammy. Let's be realistic our youngsters are not yet good enough! Jarvis&Vitori are far from being Fidel&Rampaul/young Roach! Roach's youth, promise and pace didn't prevent the mature Fidel & Rampaul coming from nowhere to displace him, and Sammy continues to keep him out not only because he's captain but he gets the job done wth no frils.

Just like you, I watch the same cricket games Zim play with my colleagues - black, white, asian, coloured, local or foreign, young&old - I heard none of them saying anything about our bowlers except than NZ have gone backwards, McCullum & Ross missed out etc. If your friends are saying anything different it's not respect for Zim, it's sympathy!

[Jemisi]

I'd missed the fact that we were playing at Napier. That may make the spinner more crucial than I was thinking for this test.