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Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 6:43 pm
by ahmed
I think the best batsman is Sean Williams and Tatenda Taibu and after them two probably Brendan Taylor. Sean Williams always performs in the big matches for example against the West Indies in the world cup and he also performed in the last Pakistan tour. Taibu and Taylor are pure brilliant batsmen as well. :D

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 11:33 pm
by CrimsonAvenger
Sean Williams is by far the best in the business now. He has class, tempremant, and knows his limitations. Tatenda Taibu follows close behind in terms of class, but can get overambitious at times and throw his wicket away. Brendan Taylor sure is pretty good, but can get a bit flashy and not very tight with his technique. If he can improve that, he can become much better. Vusi Sibanda also has good technique, but falis more often in his quest to do too much too soon in his knocks. Hamilton Masakadza is another player who knows his limitations and plays accordingly.

So, currently the best batsmen in Zimbabwe in my view are in this order:

Williams
Taibu
Taylor
Sibanda
Masakadza

Hope to see Chakabva join the list soon...

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:27 am
by brmtaylor.com admin
There are certain batsmen that you feel comfortable with at the crease. Ala, you don't feel as if they will be out for a first ball duck.

Vusi Sibanda is one of those players, although I don't have confidence in him going on to make a big score. He consistently makes 15's and 20's without really sticking around. Brendan Taylor is another, when he is batting you can be quite confident of a 25 or 30. I also expect Gary Brent to stick around when batting.

On the flipside, Matsikenyeri, Chigumbura and to an extent Taibu all worry me a bit. I think those are the guys more likely to make a duck...

Masakadza has a strong technique, and has become a very good ODI batsman in recent times. It's been a long time since I've seen Sean Williams bat, and I haven't seen enough of him to make a qualified comment, but from everything I've read and heard he's by far our best batsman.

So, I think Sean Williams is the best batsman in the team, although Hamilton Masakadza would probably be our best Test batsman when Zimbabwe return to that format. I think Brendan Taylor is our most exciting player, by a long way. When he's on song, the Twenty20 World Cup for a start, he's as good as any other player in world cricket. When Ricky Ponting says other batsmen should play like you, you know you're doing something right.

Who would I rely on to make a hundred in any situation? Sean Williams
Who would I rely on to hit a six off the last ball? Brendan Taylor
Who would I rely on to defend at one end while a recognised batsman wins the match? Gary Brent\
Who could consistently score runs in Test matches? Hamilton Masakadza

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:11 pm
by zulu
In My opinion Sibanda has the best technique in the side he looks brilliant when he plays straight and sqaure of the wicket but he fails to produce big scores robin brown needs to sit down and talk to him i think its a mental problem. ATM taibu is the best batsman in terms of scoring runs in the side but give it a year or 2 when williams is at his peak of his career because he still has a bit to learn and he will definatly be the best batsman in zimbabwe im sure of that.

we are already seeing batsman like matsikenyeri, Taylor and Masakadza improving and scoring runs more consistantly its only a matter of time before all these players reach their peak and zim will have a strong batting line up.

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:54 pm
by brmtaylor.com admin
As I've been saying for a few years, cricketers reach their peak between 27 and 32. The average age of the Zimbabwe team is about 23. The key players (Taylor, Williams, Utseya) are still about 6 or 7 years from the peak, and providing they stick together as a squad, by this time Zimbabwe could potentially be the best team in the world. Really.

Australia, and quite a few other strong nations, don't debut players until they are between 26 and 30, so when the average age of the Zimbabwe squad is in that bracket, the players will have a 10 year international cricket head start on the young and inexperienced squads from the other countries.

Skill is one thing, and experience is another. Luckily, Zimbabwe have many young promising players. Guys like Taibu, Williams, Taylor... they should all become world class players by the end of their career. But to have a lot of experience behind them will help immensely in the next few years.

When Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc (who have aging squads) start rebuilding in the next few years, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will be formidable opponents. As it stands, both teams have young squads with a lot of potential, and should be right up there in a couple of years time. India have started rebuilding now, so they will definitely be a World Cup contender in a few years.

It is probably unrealistic for Bangladesh or Zimbabwe will be contenders for the World Cup any time soon, as that minnow tag seems to hang over their heads seemingly forever, but certainly semi-finals should be a goal.

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:58 pm
by Detective RDS
At this moment in my opinion Tatenda Taibu is the best batsman in the Zimbabwe team.Then comes Sean Williams and Hamilton Masakadza.

Tatenda Taibu who is 25 years old is the most experienced batsman and the backbone of Zimbabwean batting line up too.His international career seems impressive comparing with others also.He has the most test appearance from the current Zimbabwean squad.He has played 24 tests scoring 1273 runs at an average of 29.60 with 9X50,1X100 and a best score of 153.In 103 ODIs he has scored 1990 runs at an average of 27.26 with 10X50,1X100 and a best score of 107*.His domestic record also seems preety good.Playing 88 FC matches he scored 4694 runs at an average of 35.29 with 23X50,9X100 and a best score of 175*.In 166 List A matches he scored 3535 runs at an average of 29.70 with 18X50,3X100 and a best score of 121*.I dont know why he didnt find a first class domestic team to play when he made himself ruled out from the national side.I think he is a class player.His reverse sweep against Muraili and Mendis in the home series against Sri Lanka was an attracktive thing to watch out for.He is a superb runner between the wicket and I think worlds one of the best.He is only Zimbabwean to play in the IPL season 1 where he played for 'Kolkatta Knight Riders'.

Sean Williams who is 22 years old is my 2nd choice.It is said that he has got the best batting technique of Zimbabwe,I agree with it too.He has played 26 ODIs scoring runs at an average of 29.42 with 7X50 and a best score of 71.His first class record seems very impressive.Playing 16 FC matches he scored 1229 runs at an average of 45.51 with 9X50,2X100 and a best score of 129.In 49 List A match he scored 1110 runs at an average of 27.07 with 9X50,1X100 and a best score of 102.I dont know after playing the 2nd and 3rd ODI against Sri Lanka why he wasnt picked for the last 2 ODIs.He must be allowed to bat at no 3rd or 4th spot.He is a promising young player with a solid batting technique and definitely be a future batting star of Zimbabwe.

Hamilton Masakadza is my 3rd choice.Well,he will be an important batsman of Zimbabwe when Zimbabwe will return to the test format.He has played 15 tests scoring 785 runs at an average of 27.06 with 3X50,1X100 and a best score of 119.He is very inconsistent in the ODIs although he scored a 77 in the 3rd 0DI against Sri Lanka in the last home series.In 58 ODIs he scored 1243 at an average of 22.19 with 9X50 and a best score of 87.His ODI average 22.19 is less as an opener and it must be improved and he is yet to make an ODI century.His FC record is good averaging 34.50 but List A average is under 30s which is 28.25.

Vusimuzi Sibanda is very inconsistent.He used to make between 15 to 20s and gets out.But his off side drives r impressive to watch especially in the T20s.

Stuart Matsikenyeri is inconsistent too.After playing 78 ODIs an average of 20.50 isnt good at all!!!!I cant say he is a class player.

Elton Chigumbura is a talented player.But he has to be consistent and should improve his batting too.

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:08 am
by Abbala
I like Tatenda Taibu is the best batsman in the Zimbabwe team.

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 1:53 pm
by Conant
Sean Williams, for the simple reason that he comes in and makes batting look so easy, while the rest of his team mates are struggling.

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 6:34 pm
by kartik
For me Tatenda taibu is the best we have rite now but Forster mutizwa is the one to watch out for in the future.

Re: Who is the best batsman in the zimbabwe team?

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:39 am
by jamthala
Masakadza is best i think.