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ODIs Since 1 January 2016:
PLAYER MAT RUN AVG
Hami 16 593 37.06
Raza 18 452 37.66
Craig 18 402 26.80
MW 14 299 24.91
Moor 19 291 17.11
Sean 14 272 20.92
Tari 09 229 28.62
Burl 07 116 19.33
Vusi 03 096 32.00
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T20Is Since 1 January 2016:
PLAYER MAT RUN AVG SR
Hami 12 411 37.36 137.45
MW 12 277 25.18 127.06
Vusi 08 219 27.37 111.73
Elton 10 154 22.00 126.22
Moor 08 120 24.00 111.11
Sean 06 119 19.83 123.95
Raza 10 083 08.30 089.00
As poor as
Sean Williams has been with the bat in ODIs, his impotent bowling has somehow kept him in the side. But on top of his batting, his T20 bowling does not help merit his selection.
Malcolm Waller has
not bowled in a T20 in this period.
I don't have the figures anymore, but
no one can deny that in FC (Domestic, Zim A, Zim XI, Zim Pres XI etc) Vusi Sibanda is easily Zimbabwe's best run scorer batting at #4 and #5. Somehow you believe his one innings in the middle order - at number 6 in Test when he scored 10 - is enough to decide if he can bat there or not. I've been following cricket for many years but apart from Alviro, I can think of no other top FC player who has been blocked from batting in the middle order in internationals like Vusi, and those of you follow County cricket can tell us just how much of a beast Alviro has been there. Hami is next to Vusi(and ahead of Matsi, Taylor and Vermeulen, but that's because Taylor and Vermeulen opened a lot), but like Vermeulen, Hami batted maybe 50% of his innings at number 3 too. Anyway, Vusi is like Australia picking Voges and making him open in Tests!
But once again facts say
Hami averages 11 opening in 9 Tests. He averages 36 batting at number 3 in 19 Tests (and 30 at number 4 in 7 Tests).
Craig Ervine averages 53 at number 3 in 6 Tests(thanks to that recent 160, but awful overall prior to that), while
Sean Williams averages 25 at 5 in 5 Tests (and 24 at number 6 in 3 Tests).
Malcolm Waller averages 21 at number 6 in 6 Tests.
Of course
Raza hadn’t played many Tests, but he
opened in 3 Tests and scored 3 fifties in 5 innings to average 44. That’s a big sign!
Lastly
Regis Chakabva averages 36 at number 7 in 5 Tests (and 60 at number 5 in 3 Tests).
Facts dictate that Hami should bat 3, Regis 7. So why were they opening? What is the basis for coaches or fans "feeling" Hami will do better opening in Tests?
So Jaybro,
facts are not subject to opinion, neither can they be shoved down anyone’s throat. They’re just indisputably out there, and there to be applied logically or illogically. They don’t amount to a balance of probabilities, but are pretty much beyond reasonable doubt.
Misbah ul Haq for years dominated FC in Pakistan. Highly educated and independent thinker. He was initially picked and forced to open or bat at 3 and failed then dropped. He didn’t want to bat there. He was eventually picked - and perhaps deliberately - allowed to bat in his number 5 position but struggled in a couple of Tests – which was to be expected against that Australia side, and was swiftly dropped. Even if there were vacancies in the top order for Pakistan he was not interested.
5 or 6 years later Pakistan had to pick him again when he was 34-35 yrs old, in his middle order position, the rest is history.