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I have been trying to investigate what the situation is regarding Ryan Burl. The Tuskers guys don't seem to know very much, or prefer not to say. But I got some more information from Darlington Majonga, head of ZC media department.

He says Ryan offered his services to all four provinces, but on condition that he opened the batting, no doubt seeing this as almost his only chance of winning a place in the national side. Darlington says they all turned him down because of this condition, claiming they already had a settled opening pair. This may be true of the other three provinces, but is certainly not true for Tuskers, whose tail seems to consist of the five men at the bottom plus the two at the top.

So there must be some other reason why he can't get in with Tuskers - somebody else told me that Vumi Moyo there was blocking him, but didn't know why. Darlington says that ZC has decided to step in and insist that one of the franchises play him, but it's almost too late for Logan Cup now. Perhaps after the Tuskers disaster with the bat against Mountaineers today some sense might be seen.

Thank you for the insights, John, much appreciated.

That's absolutely disgraceful; they all have "settled opening pairs", how laughable.

I'll start by thanking John for his work and insights

I'll then say well done to Ryan Burl for either acknowledging that he needs to open to make the national side, or if he was instructed by the coach Rajpot that opening would be his best chance again well done to him for wanting to do so.

The fact that these idiots running the franchises would say no to him is very frustrating for a number of reasons, firstly because as we all know batting is thin throughout the Logan Cup and although you could argue the Goats and Eagles have plenty of openers on their books none have an opener who averages over 40 in First Class cricket, If Bothwell Chapungu is opening for the Rhinos then surely Burl could have been used there, Chapungu is a 'never gonna make it' player clogging up the system.

The next reason which would be most distressing is that if Rajpot has told Burl he needs to open and the franchises have refused his services it shows a total dis-connect from the National Coach to the domestic system, remembering ZC funds the Franchises which in truth aren't actually franchises anymore, so if ZC are paying the bills and the head coach of ZC wants Player A to play a role then the Domestic side's coach should oblige. It should be the number 1 priority for the domestic sides to produce international players, in Australia the state sides take directions from CA in most instances with a number of experienced players being left out of state sides because CA didn't see these guys as being possible Test players due to their age i.e. Cam White, Michael Klinger, Ed Cowan etc.

This is very frustrating news indeed although if the news is correct that ZC have stepped in and demanded someone play him it shows at least the guys at ZC are starting to get on the right track

I agree with everything there.
Look at PJ. He's been given the captaincy and a place in the top order...is this a sign of things to come for the national side

Thanks for the update John. This is a distressing news. I never thought Burl would actually take up the challenge and try to force his way into the national setup using the opening spot unlike Tari. But great to know he has made an attempt. But the way the provinces have turned him away is disgusting. "Settles opening pairs?" What nonsense? None of them have it. Not even Mountaineers. All of them could do with a guy averaging 40+ in FC cricket opening for them.

Matsi being the coach of Eagles has taken along many of the Stars to Eagles, why not Burl who was already there? What exactly is the "settled opening pair" of the Eagles?

How sad.

Burl has not played the political game behind the scenes and seemingly has no allies in Zimbabwean cricket.

foreignfield wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 03, 2019 9:09 pm

Thank you for the insights, John, much appreciated.

That's absolutely disgraceful; they all have "settled opening pairs", how laughable.

+1

On a side note concerning Burl, did he strike with BT & co?

I know he played a couple of t20’s but didn’t feature again for the home series. I was away on holidays so I wasn’t paying my usual close attention to the happenings of ZC

Maybe it was a case of the franchises not liking being dictated to by a player. They may not take kindly to a player emailing the coach ‘I will play for you, but I’m only going to if I open the batting habib’.
Just a guess.

No he’s had problems for a while. I mentioned before that he had contractual issues, it’s the other way around.
My guess is that his national contract has not been honoured and you’re supposed to suck that up and he hasn’t.
I really don’t see him being in the system for much longer.

I’d actually written a couple of other things, but it’s just so boring going over the same old stuff. We’re in the final countdown, I think I’ll just sit back and watch, or better still- not watch.