Page 1 of 2

Carlisle thing

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 7:40 pm
by ZIMDOGGY
This randomly popped up in my email (cookies a hell of a thing) where someone asked who's is your favourite player of all time' and this write up popped up from an Indian bloke. Probably an old article rehashed but it reminded me of exactly why I think Stuart doesn't get the love he deserves here. I get that people don't mind him, but no one has him in the conversation as one of our best which surprises me.
-------------
Who is your favourite Zimbabwean cricketer of all time?
Stuart Carlisle, Zimbabwe's utility batsman who was moved up and down the batting order without getting a good run in any spot.

Carlisle was Zimbabwe’s Shoaib Malik, who represented the Chevrons in 37 Tests and 111 ODIs - he played in all positions from No 1 to No 7 in the batting order. Perhaps this was one of the reasons he did not score as many runs as he should have, given the instability in his batting position.

He was also an excellent fielder, particularly square of the wicket, where he held many stunning catches in Test (34) and one-day cricket (39).

Carlisle inherited the captaincy at the end of a turbulent five-week period in early 2002, after Brian Murphy, Guy Whittall, Heath Streak and Alistair Campbell had all been removed from the post for one reason or another. He lost five out of his six Tests in charge and was sacked and dropped for the 2003 World Cup.

He returned for the England tour later that year, and though he broke his hand during the NatWest series he bounced back with his first Test century in October 2003, against Australia in Sydney.

One of Carlisle’s finest innings came in the 2001 triangular series in Australia where he almost took Zimbabwe home with a century under pressure, after the hosts had put on 303 on the board. Zimbabwe were to fall just two runs short of what would have been an incredible chase, which was majorly due to Carlisle, who scored 119 off 114 balls. Earlier in the tournament, he had pummeled Shane Warne for a couple of half-a-dozens and had invited the foul-mouthed wrath of the bowler, which was caught by the stump microphone and broadcast around the world, much to Warne’s embarrassment.

Stuart Carlisle was finally sickened of the internal strugglesof Zimbabwe Cricket and retired from all forms of the game in September 2005.

Stuart Carlisle was unfortunate to have played for a country that was grappling with political turmoil for the best part of his peak years, Carlisle was denied the opportunity to realise his true potential.

Carlisle took parting shots at the Zimbabwean cricket board, saying, “We can’t be having people who do not know which side of the bat is up at the helm of cricket.”

He also sympathised with the second-string team that was put together by the board following the fallout: “As for the players, it’s not their fault. You cannot expect them to perform when all this is happening around them. I feel sorry for the younger players, they have nothing else to do outside cricket.”

Carlisle chose to highlight the positive memories of his near decade-long career. “We definitely had some good times, as an individual and with the team. I’m proud to be the only Zimbabwean to score an ODI and Test hundred against Australia, and my three ODI hundreds have been very special.”

Unknown to many, Carlisle went to University (Technikon Natal now a part of the Durban University of Technology) and has a degree in marketing, and had become a businessman post retirement from cricket. He revealed to the Zimbabwe Open magazine that he was offered to play in Australia for six months after his retirement, but chose against it because his oldest daughter was due to begin school and “the continued travelling would be unsettling for her.”

Carlisle chose to use his marketing skills and started a business of importing food products to help the cause of his hunger-torn country. However, in 2009, when the Zimbabwean economy opened up, the business was taken over by bigger corporates.

Carlisle then decided to go into sports manufacturing. “We wanted to focus on supplying top-quality goods that would not only last longer but would offer better performance, specifically for our kids market.”

Today, Carlisle runs Absolute Sports, a golf store attached to the Royal Harare Golf Club, which hosts the Zimbabwe Open. Carlisle’s company also sponsors young Zimbabwean golfer Ryan Cairns, who finished the 2013 edition of the tournament in joint-seventh position.

Carlisle has been married to wife Tracy for 18 years and the couple is blessed with two daughters Jay (17)and Jordan (10) who are already taking the route of hockey at their respective schools Peterhouse Girls and Chisipite Junior School.

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 8:14 pm
by foreignfield
Stuart Carlisle, Zimbabwe's utility batsman who was moved up and down the batting order without getting a good run in any spot.
Carlisle was one of my favourite players when I first discovered my love for cricket and Zim around the turn of the millenium; exactly for the reason quoted above. I think I still had him in my top three Zim players when I joined the forum in 2011 and we did one of those fav players threads. But tbh, those were the days before streams, so I never really saw him play.

My impression is that Stu gets a lot of love in this forum, especially from the Aussie section because he did very well down under against the Aussies. I still remember the agony of his 119 with the short run, and Zim going on to loose by one run at the WACA

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 9:01 pm
by jward
Yes, I remember Stuey did not always look assured at the crease, but I remember two occasions in particular I saw him when he was confident and determined, and showed himself a player of real class.

Zimbabwe v India, June 2001, at Harare Sports Club. Zimbabwe needed to score 157 to beat India, a nervy situation, especially as Andy Flower was injured. Stuey came in at three, determined to see Zimbabwe through to victory, and he did so, 62 not out, playing his innings to perfection and better than most Test centuries.

Zimbabwe v Bangladesh, February 2004, at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. Incredible rain had washed out the first three days, so there was no chance of a result. But Stuey set out his stall for a Test century in the time available, and achieved it very securely.

Obviously there was his Test century in Australia, which must have been an outstanding innings also, but unfortunately I never got to see that one.

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:45 pm
by ZIMDOGGY
My recollection of that test century John missed was Stu came out to the usual commentator praise he would get. He started very nervously and cautiously and I could see he was very 'wise eyed' at the crease. Concentration nerves and fear. He got dropped through slips (or confusion from the keeper and slip) somewhere between 10-20 that would have been easily caught 99/100, especially with that Aussie teams fielding skills, but he got the rub of the green that day. He relaxed a bit and kicked on from there but didn't look slick if I recall.

Strangely, I was always so confident he would get a century. Because he did it the tour before I think at the same ground or at least I thought so at the time. That's why I remember it at all. I just had this assures feeling he would Ton. Like it was meant to be. It was before I discovered sports betting seriously but I would have gambled on it I felt so confident. I was right. Bouncy fast must have just suited his style.

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 2:09 am
by jaybro
Yeup an all-time favourite of mine and I always had a high opinion of him due to his success in Australia which included One Test century, two ODI centuries and one List A century against Aus A.

We always talk bout Sean Ervine being the biggest loss from the player rebellion, but Stu Carlisle probably lost the most from the rebellion as he had just entered the 'sweet spot' of his career. Just prior to the rebellion he had scored four tons for Zimbabwe along with some handy 50 plus scores as well, he was definitely at the peak of his powers when it all came crashing down.

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 7:13 am
by ZIMDOGGY
Yeah I honestly think Carlisle was heading towards genuine international class status as he was killing it in the year beforehand and obviously coming to his peak.
Sport at the elite level is tight so if you interrupt it you fall behind massively and no surprises this killed the momentum of the Carlisle train.

I remember that 2001 chase and he was in control and pickoff up the tempo and was placing the ball in all corners and was coming in to a grandstand finish. I was so pissed off when he got ran out as I am certain we were about to see one of the all time single handed run chases in the history of cricket.

Remember chasing 303 in 2001 is equivalent of chasing 380 today.

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:37 am
by foreignfield
ZIMDOGGY wrote:
Mon Jul 20, 2020 7:13 am
Remember chasing 303 in 2001 is equivalent of chasing 380 today.
And against a decent attack too. Brett Lee was never again taken to the cleaners as on that day, economy rate of 9.00. In fact his two worst outings in terms of econ. came both came against Zim in that series: https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engin ... ew=innings

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:11 pm
by eugene
Carlisle was a very good contributor but he wasn't always the best at rotating the strike. For me he was a class below the Flowers.

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 4:16 am
by jaybro
foreignfield wrote:
Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:37 am
ZIMDOGGY wrote:
Mon Jul 20, 2020 7:13 am
Remember chasing 303 in 2001 is equivalent of chasing 380 today.
And against a decent attack too. Brett Lee was never again taken to the cleaners as on that day, economy rate of 9.00. In fact his two worst outings in terms of econ. came both came against Zim in that series: https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engin ... ew=innings
One of very few Zimbabwean batsman who seemed to enjoy facing fast bowling, he was a great 'deflector' of the ball as he mastered the art of using the bowlers' speed to his advantage. During the 2003/04 VB series he mastered the 'cut for six' over the slip corden, really remarkable shot I'd love to see vision of it again.

Re: Carlisle thing

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:07 pm
by ZIMDOGGY
I know the shot Jaybro, it was the first time I had ever anyone cut for six. The days of the old bats remember.as a kid I used to wonder if it was possible and Stu made it look simple. Went high and far into the crowd too.