The Streak-Taibu Scrutiny

[CrimsonAvenger]

Having been former legends of the game in the country, it was clear from the word go that Streak and Taibu's involvement would receive both immense support as well as heightened scrutiny. Here are some of my thoughts on their contribution so far. What are your thoughts? (Restricting this to national team fortunes)

The good things from Streak and Taibu:

1. Bringing back Taylor and Jarvis - This could not have happened if not for Streak and Taibu at the helm as that gave those two guys a sense of genuineness about ZC. It is not just about them coming back, but also about creating a positive atmosphere so that other youngsters who are planning to leave are made to think twice, by reinforcing that ZC would invest in quality. A lot has been already said about the positive impact of this move. So, not elaborating further.
2. Getting rid of Chigumbura - Clearly he was going through the motions and had no interest in the game anymore, if you see what he has done after being dropped. Nothing much.
3. Introducing Blessing Muzarabani - What a great investment this one is looking like! He has everything it takes to be successful at the highest level and is learning very fast.
4. Introducing Carl Mumba - Another inspired selection, unfortunately cut short by injuries, but he is still very much in the minds of Taibu and Streak as they keep mentioning him in the interviews.
5. Getting rid of trundlers - Guys like Taurai Muzarabani, Mike Chinouya who had no chance of winning the match on their day are out and we are back with a pace battery of Chatara, Jarvis, Blessing and Vitori. All potential match winners on their day, with well defined roles.
6. Moving on from Vusi, Chamu - This was also necessary, as they have had umpteen comebacks but nothing to show for it. Just that our replacements have been not very flashy either.
7. The 8-3 success formula - Let's face it, it did its job. Winning the SL ODI series, running SL close in the test at their home, and drawing a test at home against the WI.

The questionable things from Streak and Taibu:

1. Introducing Richard Ngarava - Just the desire for a left arm pacer in Vitori's absence. He quickly showed that he had a lot of work to do and wasn't learning fast too.
2. Taking Brandon Mavuta, Ryan Murray on the BD tour - what was the point overall? It would have made sense if they got a game, but it was bizarre.
3. Lack of opportunities for the genuine second spinner - Tendai Chisoro and Wellington Masakadza have suffered without much game time.
4. Carrying on with Malcolm Waller - This is now a disaster of epic proportions, although one might argue that the lack of power hitting options are keeping him in the team.

Could be seen from either angle:

1. Introducing Ryan Burl, Tarisai Musakanda - Given their obvious potential, they could have done better. One can't fault the selectors for giving them a go out of pure hunch. They might still succeed in the future.
2. Being harsh on Tino Mawoyo in the test team selection - not sure if it was fitness or it was a case of looking beyond him, but he could have probably added some solidity at the top.
3. Sidelining Tiripano - the man did a job most of the time he was in the setup, but the newer aggressive scheme of things meant he had to sidelined.
4. The Mpofu favoritism - While clearly they were favoring Mpofu over Tiripano initially and Chatara later, can't blame them much as Mpofu did produce some decent results along the way to keep his place.

Also, we tend to forget that the A squad picked for UAE had all the domestic / ZRS performers / former internationals in it - Kasuza, Mashinge, Prince, Madziva, Chamu, Maruma etc. None of them made a case for themselves except a couple of decent knocks from Prince. One good knock each from Moor, Burl and Tari retained them in national contention. It was questionable from the point of view of exclusion of Mutizwa and Mutombodzi though.

[Black Mamba]

The gamble they took on Ngarava & Blessing Muzarabani is quite same, that is introduction of someone who is tall, hit thd deck bowler with pace, Ngarava failed because of his poor line & length and Blessing getting success for bowling in correct length, though he needs to improve more, once he spend some time in Zym, his pace will increase and he will tufn up as real match winner.Ngarava needs to correct his length and try to swing the bowl.

Brandon Mavuta & Ryan Murray 's slection might be to assure them they are in Zimbabwe scheme of thngs for next level cricket so that he can't think for other country, particularly Murray, he is sure going to be the next great talent, Mavuta could also be a great option if he improves his batting and bowl his wrist spin with tight line & length.

Malcolm Waller's time is over now, he is in the side just because of his past deeds like that happened in case of Sibanda, Chigumbura, Chibhabha who played lot of games just for a belief that they will do well.Burl, Musakanda, Moor have talents but they needs to work on consistency, they are massively inconsistent.

Taibu needs to show some impact in selecting proper team for Zimbabwe A now. Players like Chari, Maruma, Chibhabha, Chakabva got more chance they deserved, and every time they score runs for A teams and make comebacks, they proves they are not made for tol level cricket.

[ZIMDOGGY]

It’s been a success for sure.
The thing some people I suspect people don’t understand is we can’t really afford anymore to recall the people crimson listed as punted by streak and taibu.
We have too many people entering the mid thirties region as I t is it’s frightening. More than half the team are 32 plus!
They will all retire in one hit and that will be disaster and all these discarded players are also in this range.
I’d never advocate for getting rid of a performing player (or performing by zim stabdards) but because of this it means we can’t proceed with the failed fringe players

[Kriterion_BD]

They have assembled the best possible side for the WCQs. Thats really the most important thing moving forward.

[zimbos_05]

Can we add coaching, tactics, and game plan to the questionable section.

[Jemisi]

It’s been a success for sure.
The thing some people I suspect people don’t understand is we can’t really afford anymore to recall the people crimson listed as punted by streak and taibu.
We have too many people entering the mid thirties region as I t is it’s frightening. More than half the team are 32 plus!
They will all retire in one hit and that will be disaster and all these discarded players are also in this range.
I’d never advocate for getting rid of a performing player (or performing by zim stabdards) but because of this it means we can’t proceed with the failed fringe players

This

[zimbos_05]

It’s been a success for sure.
The thing some people I suspect people don’t understand is we can’t really afford anymore to recall the people crimson listed as punted by streak and taibu.
We have too many people entering the mid thirties region as I t is it’s frightening. More than half the team are 32 plus!
They will all retire in one hit and that will be disaster and all these discarded players are also in this range.
I’d never advocate for getting rid of a performing player (or performing by zim stabdards) but because of this it means we can’t proceed with the failed fringe players

But then what is the solution and what is being done about it? Are the youth being bled for the first team and are they being coached to that standard? Are we throwing them in the deep end and expecting them to perform? When all these players leave, then what happens?

[Googly]

I’m wondering what impact non qualification will have, not only for what Cricket lies ahead, but also whether that will make some players consider retiring earlier than they’d planned.
Also it would mean even less inclination to fund FC which may make the older players there have a rethink. We could end up with a weaker domestic league than we’ve already got, which as it stands is not providing the level of cricket that can remotely prepare a player for international cricket. They’ve swung the rescue plan into action already- RS and more effort with the u19’s. As I’ve said it can only be really effective if you start with a seriously good player. They need to focus on the age group guys urgently. As I said earlier there are a few guys that you can really do something with. ZC have a mountain to climb and they’re simply not equipped to deal with the problems.

[tawac]

When did we get rid of Chibhabha I thought he played in the last test? Oh, that was a nightmare.

The selection policies adapted by Streak and Taibu haven't been the best. We can be critical of players like Vusi and Elton but Moor, Waller easily fall into the same bracket. But then again someone like Elton actually did come good from time to time. The things Googly talks about are really scary. If we don't qualify then Streak and Taibu would have failed. They should have insured that going into the qualifiers we have a well prepped team but as it stands. We have one played who hasn't played a single game and another one who isn't 100% fit.

[jaybro]

I agree with most of what you’ve said Crimson except for the Ngarava one, he did really well against Afghanistan but obviously had that poor match against Scotland.

I feel Streak & Taibu are copping a lot of criticism for the sides poor performances in the last two series, but again the critics don’t have many good ideas of their own. Mehluhi Sibanda is a massive critic of Taibu but his ‘bright idea’ was to bring back Tymcen Maruma that Sibanda is a moron don’t see how he can possibly be the leading sports writer in the country all his articles are so basic.

But back to Streak & Taibu I think they’ve done well as the guys have said they’ve put together the best side we could have wished for and we won a series in Sri Lanka.