Standard of the Zimbabwean First Class competition

[ljriley90]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick one.

In comparison where does the standard of the First Class competition in Zimbabwe sit in comparison to other Top 10 ICC ranked competitions?

I'm guessing with the close proximity to South Africa it matches the 3 day Provincial comp they run below the franchises which classed as FC right?

Would we say it's as good as the West Indian and Sri Lankan comp? Surely it's better than the Bangladeshi and Afghan 4 day comps? Although the Afghans are on the up and their 4 day comp is earning FC status it cant be that strong because the guys who play for the international side and A teams are blitzing hundreds every other innings - even the international bowlers...

Just curious. Thanks

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I don't think any of the Zim domestic teams could win a match against a domestic team from any other country.
The only exception maybe being a full strength Rhinos team (Cremer, Taylor, Moor, Panyangara, etc), but how often do they all play together? Not very.

[ljriley90]

I don't think any of the Zim domestic teams could win a match against a domestic team from any other country.
The only exception maybe being a full strength Rhinos team (Cremer, Taylor, Moor, Panyangara, etc), but how often do they all play together? Not very.

In what comp would that be in - the South African Provincial Comp do you mean?

[The Robot]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick one.

In comparison where does the standard of the First Class competition in Zimbabwe sit in comparison to other Top 10 ICC ranked competitions?

I'm guessing with the close proximity to South Africa it matches the 3 day Provincial comp they run below the franchises which classed as FC right?

Would we say it's as good as the West Indian and Sri Lankan comp? Surely it's better than the Bangladeshi and Afghan 4 day comps? Although the Afghans are on the up and their 4 day comp is earning FC status it cant be that strong because the guys who play for the international side and A teams are blitzing hundreds every other innings - even the international bowlers...

Just curious. Thanks

You have gone mad. Comparing domestic cricket infrastructure of a top team like South Africa with Zimbabwe is simply nonsense. South Africa Cricket grooms their under 17s & under 19s by throwing them at their top level domestic cricket.

For example, half of the sides who will represent South Africa Under 19s in 2018 U19 World Cup has started to gain experience with the seniors and national team players, whereas in Zimbabwe talents runs away to other nations pursuing their cricket career seeking better infrastructure.

Zimbabwe had better domestic infrastructure back in the 90s where foreign players use to take part and the games were much compatative then now. Fund problems, payment issues, players strike has been common in Zimbabwe throught their cricket history. Four team franchises with most of the players being over 30s and failures.Franchises are least intetested in signing youths. ZC has been a major failure keeping talents in the country and improving the domestic infrastructure by including two or more teams. Domestic Cricket is only the way to get talents for future and Zimbabwe Cricket system of organizing the games is just a big joke.

[ljriley90]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick one.

In comparison where does the standard of the First Class competition in Zimbabwe sit in comparison to other Top 10 ICC ranked competitions?

I'm guessing with the close proximity to South Africa it matches the 3 day Provincial comp they run below the franchises which classed as FC right?

Would we say it's as good as the West Indian and Sri Lankan comp? Surely it's better than the Bangladeshi and Afghan 4 day comps? Although the Afghans are on the up and their 4 day comp is earning FC status it cant be that strong because the guys who play for the international side and A teams are blitzing hundreds every other innings - even the international bowlers...

Just curious. Thanks

You have gone mad. Comparing domestic cricket infrastructure of a top team like South Africa with Zimbabwe is simply nonsense. South Africa Cricket grooms their under 17s & under 19s by throwing them at their top level domestic cricket.

For example, half of the sides who will represent South Africa Under 19s in 2018 U19 World Cup has started to gain experience with the seniors and national team players, whereas in Zimbabwe talents runs away to other nations pursuing their cricket career seeking better infrastructure.

Zimbabwe had better domestic infrastructure back in the 90s where foreign players use to take part and the games were much compatative then now. Fund problems, payment issues, players strike has been common in Zimbabwe throught their cricket history. Four team franchises with most of the players being over 30s and failures.Franchises are least intetested in signing youths. ZC has been a major failure keeping talents in the country and improving the domestic infrastructure by including two or more teams. Domestic Cricket is only the way to get talents for future and Zimbabwe Cricket system of organizing the games is just a big joke.

Thanks for preaching at me but I was just interested in how the standards compare, not whom and at what age players are playing FC cricket.

[zimfan1]

No way near the Bangladesh standard, look at the difficulties Masakadza has had over there. I suspect most of the Afghan 4 day stuff is of a higher standard as well.

Best estimate would be similar to the top standard of UK club cricket or the South African provincial comp.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I don't think any of the Zim domestic teams could win a match against a domestic team from any other country.
The only exception maybe being a full strength Rhinos team (Cremer, Taylor, Moor, Panyangara, etc), but how often do they all play together? Not very.

In what comp would that be in - the South African Provincial Comp do you mean?

I'd back a team with GC/BT/PM/TP and some serviceable extras like James Bruce, Malcolm Waller and Mike Chinouya plus no more than a handful of no-names to beat either of the teams in this match: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/m ... 24857.html - ultimately it's half the Zim Test team against a group of amateurs in familiar conditions.

But if you took the group of players from the Rhinos game currently in progress - they'd lose heavily, no question.

An interesting hypothetical is could the Cremer led MWR team beat a Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi domestic team? If it was played in Zimbabwe, sure - I'd be pretty confident they'd win. If it was played overseas though I would rate their chances no better than 50/50. Zimbabwe players have had problems playing spin for a long time (not to mention a notoriously bad touring record), even some third rate no-name spinner from the subcontinent could easily pick up a cheap 8-fer.

[ljriley90]

I don't think any of the Zim domestic teams could win a match against a domestic team from any other country.
The only exception maybe being a full strength Rhinos team (Cremer, Taylor, Moor, Panyangara, etc), but how often do they all play together? Not very.

In what comp would that be in - the South African Provincial Comp do you mean?

I'd back a team with GC/BT/PM/TP and some serviceable extras like James Bruce, Malcolm Waller and Mike Chinouya plus no more than a handful of no-names to beat either of the teams in this match: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/m ... 24857.html - ultimately it's half the Zim Test team against a group of amateurs in familiar conditions.

But if you took the group of players from the Rhinos game currently in progress - they'd lose heavily, no question.

An interesting hypothetical is could the Cremer led MWR team beat a Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi domestic team? If it was played in Zimbabwe, sure - I'd be pretty confident they'd win. If it was played overseas though I would rate their chances no better than 50/50. Zimbabwe players have had problems playing spin for a long time (not to mention a notoriously bad touring record), even some third rate no-name spinner from the subcontinent could easily pick up a cheap 8-fer.

Thanks for the assessment bud. Much obliged

[dang8811]

I'd say that when with all the international players it's not too bad but that's rare. Otherwise, it's probably close to county 2nd XI in my opinion. Maybe they could compete with some of the weaker sides in Sri Lanka and the Dhaka Premier League but on balance it's probably the weakest of the 10 full members quite comfortably and quite possibly including Afghanistan and Ireland too. I think the SA provincial stuff is of higher quality.
Only my opinion of course but I follow global domestic cricket a fair bit!

[Robbo]

I would say it's comparable to top level English club cricket ( ECB Premier leagues) or maybe County 2nd XI. That's just an English comparison though. Not sure how it would stack against Australian grade cricket?