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So true to form we are having one week of Domestic T20 cricket. Well the 1st round that is. Will this change the situation with the "passengers" in the national side in the build up to the world cup. Im sure if Raza has his way we will be going with the "established" side regardless of the fact that we have players who just seem to be making the numbers, hardly contributing to the side. At the same time its difficult to come with names that should be given a chance meaning because we hardly play the format at domestic level. There are a few players that will be coming into the weeks competition with a bit of form whether they deserve national honours is a different conversation, Maunze, Arkam, Masukanda, Kamunhukamwe. On the other hand will players like A. Frost, N. Welch, Curran put theirs hands up in this round of games.

https://www.zimcricket.org/news/4415/Ex ... gs-to-life

I doubt they will change that squad unless someone really dominates. I would say Tony and Clive are the only ones at risk here. Clive because Maru can also keep.

It's a tough one because the truth is that if you going to change the squad now then BT would also be a potential casualty but we all know that won't happen. So how does it look if your drop out of form guys but then keep BT?

The other way if looking at it is that all those people that fans want in the team have to show up and score runs. No excuses about the rain or conditions. When you get your chance you need to show up.

Zimbabwe have just backed themselves into a corner. We seem to be stuck with no other options beyond the current team. T20 domestic games should be used to show case talent and reward those who perform. Yet ZC choose to ignore players like Brad and Maru whilst giving chances to Gumbie, Taitano, Gwandu who never came through. At the moment we hardly have any players raising their hands to stake a claim for national honours. Surely by the end of the week we should have one or two players putting pressure on the incumbents.

I've watched Maunze a lot over the years. He's always been a very good player, never really done himself enuf justice, these last few games has been the best he's played. Ive always thought he has tried to play too many shots instead of focusing on 3, maybe 4 scoring areas. He's looking in really good touch. Nice player, quite surpirised that in their endless quest for a quality black bat that he's never had a single cap yet.
Lets see how that translates to T20 this week.

This HSC pitch is going to be tricky this next week.

One more time- Madande is nowhere near international cricket in terms of ability or DF. Never will be, its not a crime.
There is just no way Taylor and Munyonga should go to the WC. It would be a travesty if they were selected.
You could make a slight argument for Taylor staying on the bench as a reserve keeper but he should never be in the starting line up. He needs to leave this format alone.
Myers and Musekiwa are marginal as well. How many chances do these guys deserve? Theyre not improving either.
They've wasting better players' careers, it's terrible whats going on here.

Why are you mentioning Faraz? Selected as a batsman? He can bat a bit, but there are plenty better than him.
He's been regularly bowling himself ahead of Matigimu. In what world? He sponsors the team though
Should a player sponsor his own team? We know the answer to that.

We've got good 'ol boys as captains/coaches of half these teams and weve gone backwards again.

The fact that they've moved this T20 forward means there's thankfully a question mark over a couple of players, but it's a year late, that's the vexing part right there. It's not vexing, it's just plain wrong.
A couple of players? There's maybe 5 guys.
The guys you can pen in are Bennett, Raza, Burl, Evans, Ngarava, Mazarabani.
Pencil in- Marumani, Maphosa....just...mmmm
The rest are nowhere, endless opportunities and they've done nothing.

So what happens if Chiorah from Mountaineers pinch hits well? He's nowhere near international cricket, but can make an impression in our domestic.
Its meaningless if Munyonga, Taylor or Musekiwa bang some runs next week. They can't do it when it counts.

I reckon our biggest problem is we type cast players as openers,finisher when we clearly dont have the luxury. The "Sponsor" strikes it at 136 odd in international T20i. I wonder who is ahead of him on that count alone. But obviously he will be selected for his bowling first before his batting. Come to think of it Musekiwa was a bowler who could bat a bit now he does neither. Clearly our biggest Achilles heal has been the batting at 6/7. All we need is a batter who connects more than he misses. We had a perfect opportunity to try different guys but now we have a new phenomenon of giving players a long run even when they dont deserve it hope by some luck they come good. and indeed the odd 20/30 score will normal give the some breathing space for another 10 or soo games. Myers was dropped for poor form he came back to the side with no change. Madande got injured yet walked straight back into the team as though he was MS or something.

There are two options, you either pick a front line player/s and stick him/them down the order and hope he/they are better than our current guys. The right guys blindfolded are better.

Or you pick two other batters and put them ahead of Raza and Burl and let them try and "finish" because we know Raza can and Burl sometimes can.

The sponsor has as good as or better t20i batting stats than razdawg factos. Literally those two and Bennett at the top of the tree if you’re playing the stats based merit game. And what game is the merit game if not based on stats? Agree with tawac on this. I’d be picking him as a batter who may in some circumstances give you an over, I wouldn’t be picking him as a frontline bowler.

Razdawg shouldn’t be considered for selection for the world cup if he’s prioritising ILT20 over his own domestic league

If BT and Maru are intended to be in the starting XI then you need Clive (or someone else) as the sub keeper. The sub keeper needs to be an actual sub, not someone else in the playing XI.

BT’s t20i stats have actually improved since his comeback before that he was literally as good as Wez, now he’s slightly better. I wouldn’t pick him if I was Colts or Alistair though, he isn’t the same player since he got off the gear and could legitimately qualify for that over 40’s side in the other thread

Very true BT would fit perfectly in the 40s squad. Clearly he can get a role a ZC that can pay him just as much if he so wishes. We really need these T20 domestic games to be something more than just window dressing. We do so well in T20i half the time it's that finishing touch thats always missing. Something that can be corrected by selecting the right players. Pushing Raza and Burl down the order would be idea but we Clearly need batters would can keep the score board ticking after Bennet and Maru.

We do ok against Associates because 3 batters carry the other 4. Imagine we picked 7 batters!!

Selectors hoping their halleluiah picks score one 20 in 30 games or a 7 off 4 to get the their strike rate north of 110% . That's Raza's latest way of blowing smoke.
We are scoring over 150 against a good team maybe one in 10 games. The only way we win is if their batting collapses.
We've watched the same outcome for years!!!!!

It would be good to get public statements from Salamander, ibrahim, Matsikinyeri, Raza, Williams, Taylor, Ervine, Bennett, Burl saying this is our Best Eleven. They'd do it for a few bucks or to curry favor, but with a sodium pentathol jab you'd hear the whole story.

Pat_Bee wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 06, 2025 12:22 pm

The sponsor has as good as or better t20i batting stats than razdawg factos. Literally those two and Bennett at the top of the tree if you’re playing the stats based merit game. And what game is the merit game if not based on stats? Agree with tawac on this. I’d be picking him as a batter who may in some circumstances give you an over, I wouldn’t be picking him as a frontline bowler.

Razdawg shouldn’t be considered for selection for the world cup if he’s prioritising ILT20 over his own domestic league

If BT and Maru are intended to be in the starting XI then you need Clive (or someone else) as the sub keeper. The sub keeper needs to be an actual sub, not someone else in the playing XI.

BT’s t20i stats have actually improved since his comeback before that he was literally as good as Wez, now he’s slightly better. I wouldn’t pick him if I was Colts or Alistair though, he isn’t the same player since he got off the gear and could legitimately qualify for that over 40’s side in the other thread

People keep peddling that line about Faraz's batting. It's nonsense. The sample size is absurdly small.