Historic Twenty20 exposes lack of pace

[zimfan1]

Historic Twenty20 exposes lack of pace

By Edison Chikamhi

THE recently held Stanbic Bank Twenty20 cricket series undoubtedly breathed a fresh wave of inspiration in the domestic game with some superb performances but also highlighted one glaring shortcoming — the absence of genuine pace bowling.

During the nine days of the cricket extravaganza that was spiced up with the participation of the Namibian franchise team and a number of foreign players, it was apparent that the batting department was the strongest of most of the teams with Mountaineers’ Hamilton Masakadza stealing the limelight.

Masakadza, who was subsequently voted man-of-the-series for his match-winning century and three half centuries, also finished with the most runs after scoring 317 in six matches at an average of 63.40.

Mountaineers trounced Mashonaland Eagles by nine wickets in the final to pocket the winners cheque for US$35 000 while Namibia overcame Matabeleland Tuskers in the third place play-off.

New assistant national team coach, Steve Mangongo, however, was not pleased with the bowling department during the tournament and said a lot needed to be done before the Twenty20 World Cup scheduled for April.

"The competition was very tense and the quality of the game was very high. All the teams performed to their best and it was very encouraging to note that the batting side is improving fast.

"I am very happy for senior players like Tatenda Taibu and Masakadza for showing consistency. It is my hope that they will carry their form to the international stage.

"The spinners were good — looking at players like Ray Price, Graeme Cremer and Prosper Utseya to name but just a few — but my main worry is with our fast bowling which is still mediocre.

"Apart from Chris Mpofu and Tendai Chatara the rest lacked pace and consistency," said Mangongo.

Mpofu finished as the second highest wicket taker with nine to his credit on a list that was topped by Namibia Desert Vipers’ Tony Palladino, who bagged 12.

Left arm spinner Price finished with the best bowling figures in an innings after taking 5 wickets for 12 runs in Mashonaland Eagles’ 82-run demolition of Mountaineers on Friday.

He also had one of the best economy rates in the entire tournament of 5.9 runs per over.

Mountaineers spin duo of Prosper Utseya and Timycen Maruma also showed great potential taking some crucial wickets that won them man-of-the-match accolades.

Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Ozias Bvute also lamented the absence of genuine pace on the domestic scene and said steps were going to be taken to address the situation.

He expressed his satisfaction with the way the game was going after it attracted foreign players like Greg Smith (South Africa), Steve Tikolo (Kenya), Ollie Rayner (England), Rikki Vessels (Australia), Darren Stevens (England), Ian Harvey (Australia) and coach Chris Silverwood from England.

"Our main aim is to build a strong and competitive cricket team. This we will do by strengthening the domestic competition.

"So we are going to bring in more experienced foreign players who will impart their experience to our players here just the same way Chris Silverwood is doing with Mashonaland Eagles.

"We would very much like to bring in genuine fast bowlers who can really turn things around," said Bvute.

Namibia’s England-born medium pacer Palladino finished with the most wickets after bagging 12 in six matches followed by Greg Smith who had nine wickets for Mountaineers in five games.

Smith was the only other player other than Price to register a five-wicket haul in an innings following his 5-29 albeit in a losing cause to Mashonaland Eagles.

He is a South African-born all-rounder who plays in England on a Kolpak deal.

He represented South Africa Under-19 in the 2001-02 World Cup final.

Smith was tied with Matabeleland Tuskers’ Christopher Mpofu who also claimed nine wickets, overall.

Englishman Darren Stevens completed the top five wicket takers with eight scalps for the Mid West Rhinos.

But with most positives coming from the batting department, man of the tournament Masakadza — who was rewarded with US$750 for his consistency — overshadowed all. He had the most runs in the tournament, had the highest score in an innings (102) and was involved in the highest partnership of the tournament after sharing 179 runs with Taibu in a match against Southern Rocks.

However, credit should also be given to the Rocks’ batting line-up who played with consistency most of the times only to lose their matches in close finishes.

Their opening pair of Chamu Chibhabha and Sikander Raza was the best opening pair with two centuries, a feat not achieved by any opening partnership in the tournament.

Chibhabha showed a lot more consistency with three quality half centuries and a total of 230 runs after six games to emerge the second highest scorer after Masakadza.

http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/section.aspx?sectid=5&cat=5

[Flower power]

The only way we can make up for that lack of pace is to be tight in the field as was in the nineties and have a world class spin attack , while we invest in bringing young fast bowlers up the structures beginiing from school level until they graduate as mature pacemen.

[sloandog]

The only way we can make up for that lack of pace is to be tight in the field as was in the nineties and have a world class spin attack , while we invest in bringing young fast bowlers up the structures beginiing from school level until they graduate as mature pacemen.

I couldn;t agree more with you Flower Power. I think Kyle Jarvis and Chitara are prime examples of this. Give the youngsters in the ranks time to mature and our future pace bowling unit will be strong. But for now, we just need to stay tight in the field, and bank that our Spinners will do a good job

[Flower power]

I couldn;t agree more with you Flower Power. I think Kyle Jarvis and Chitara are prime examples of this. Give the youngsters in the ranks time to mature and our future pace bowling unit will be strong. But for now, we just need to stay tight in the field, and bank that our Spinners will do a good job

If these kids are really schooled well by heath Streak and keep playing more first class cricket even in the Zim A sides then i guess we will be in for treat in 2 years time . But anywy some young players can set the scene alight even without the experience we clamour for . Jarvis or Chatara may be the lucky gem that we having been waiting for .