New look zimbabwe side

[maehara]

Indications from Butcher that they may start looking elsewhere if the current batsmen keep failing:

Butcher said Zimbabwe would have to look for newer talent if the trend of low scores continued. "I hope that eventually another couple of players will show that ability, because if they don't we have to find new players rather than continue with those who give us 170 totals."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket ... 06082.html

[Boundary]

A bit long but bare with me.

The cold hard facts are:
1. Ireland and Bangladesh are above us in the ODI rankings on merit
2. If Ireland played Tests, them and Bangladesh would be above us, again on merit.
3. We've probably been the 3rd worst team in the world cup (above Kenya and Canada; Netherlands is also arguable)
4. I've always been offended by the "minnows" tag - now I think we fully deserve it

What were the problems?
1. We can't bat
2. We don't take wickets regularly enough
3. We are mentally weak

And the positives were:
1. Our fielding efforts are good enough
2. The spinning department is healthy
3. Latent talents exists in some players

So where do we go from here?
Wholesale changes might be attractive right now as a knee-jerk reaction but throwing youngsters into the deep end (again) would be more harmful than not. I'd suggest an honest assessment involves admitting a failure to give Taylor support at the top but at the same time the top 4 (including Taylor) have been individually inconsistent and collectively consistent in failing as a batting unit. H Masakadza and Sibanda at 2 and 3 should solidify this unit. Mpofu has improved, Cremer shows promise, S Masakadza divides opinion but I like him - so I'd give these three an extended run in the team. With Utseya and Price as deserving furnitures in the set up, that leaves only the middle order as prime candidate for reform. My solution would be to retain Ervine and invite Mutizwa and Raza. Chigumbura's captaincy and place should be under threat (look at what that did to Utseya last year) but realistically only 2 players now can captain the side: Taibu or Price. How long can Price stay on and would this be a transitional appointment? Is it fair to heap more responsibility on Taibu's shoulders? To solve these issues I'd give the thing to Sibanda. Let him captain both Tests and ODIs for the long term (not sure T20s are for him). So, injury-free my ODI and Test side becomes:
1. Taylor
2. H Masakadza
3. Sibanda (c)
4. Taibu (wk)
5. Ervine
6. Mutizwa/Raza
7. Chigumbura/Williams/Lamb
8. Utseya/Cremer
9. Price
10. Mpofu
11. S Masakadza

Given what we've got not many things are wrong. In SA last October on batting tracks, we managed to put runs on the board but just not enough. Aside from Utseya and Price, we're neither prolific wicket takers nor economical. India and NZ, for example, don't have super quickies but they're extremely competitive teams. Let's hold our nerve and give it a couple more years, these guys will come good. Eventually, the youngsters mentioned regularly on this forum will take over more naturally but we shouldn't short circuit the system.

[eugene]

Sibanda shouldn't even be in the team - let alone captain. Sibanda has been on the scene for almost a decade and has yet to show that he is of international class.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Boundary i was reading your post and nodding my head in agreement like I usually do......


Then I started reading about how you want sibanda to be captain...



Then I loled

[BaijuSpeaks]

Boundary,
Sean Williams is the most accomplished batsman in the Zimbabwe line up now. How can he be compared with Sibanda/Lamb/Chingumbura .
Williams should be the No 3 batsman for Zimbabwe in both tests and one dayers.
For me, test line up should be
1. Taylor
2. Duffin
3. Williams
4. H. Masakadza
5. Taibu
6. Ervine
7. Chingumbura
8. Price (C)
9. Cremer
10. S.Mazakadza/Utseya
11. Mpofu


And one day team should be
1. Taylor
2. H. Masakadza (should bowl)
3. Williams (should bowl)
4. Taibu
5. Ervine
6. Coventry
7. Chingumbura (should bowl)
8. Utseya
9. Cremer
10. Price
11. Mpofu/S. Masakadza

[Conant]

Lolest. Like zimdoggy. Boundary, u make so many valuable points. Baiju too, esp abt Sean Williams.

The thing abt the captaincy as u so colourfully put it is a vexing one. How do u hand it to one - Price - without even history of a domestic captaincy behind him, and how wld it affect his bowling. He's a leader but is he a cricket captain. The only person I can ever remember getting unaffected by leadership was Tibba - his batting flourished in fact. (Cld those good at digging up stats make comparisons?)

Vusi simply needs to prove his place first

[andrewn9]

I think definite overtures should be made to get Nick compton into the Zim side. I recall a couple of months ago he made some encouraging noises about playing for Zim. He qualifies as his mother is zimbabwean. He's a decent county player, especially in 1 day cricket and would bring a bit of much needed quality to the batting. Plus, his grandad is Denis Compton so he has a bit of genius in his blood!

[sloandog]

Add Rikki Wessels to that list

But Ya, going back to why the thread was actually made, I think it's essential that there's a define difference between the test side and the ODI side. In the one day line we have too many flamboyant players..i.e Coventry, Chagabva, Lamb, who just seem to get out, even when they seem set.
I think what the test matches will bring is experience in batting through long periods. We have much better players from when we last played test cricket, or the same players but have matured dramatically...i.e Taylor, Mazakadza etc.

Also, when the tests do come around, I think it's imperative that we get the correct players in. The Lambs, Coventrys, Mutizwas' should be ODI and possibly even just T20 specialists. Guys Like Sibanda (Who i still think has the best technique in the country), Duffin, Williams, Mazakadza and Craig Ervine have to be in our middle and top order. They have solid techniques and if they come off can produce some big scores.
I think somebody Like Craig Ervine or Sean Williams will enjoy test matches more. They've got more time to occupy the crease and more time to score runs at their own rate, opposed to trying to keep up with the run rate which has been the case for the past 5-6 years

[Conant]

Genius of a post, Sloan

[Boundary]

I think I made my case for Sibanda. As Sloan backs me up, Vusi has good technique and after seeing the erratic nature of our batting, isn't a little stability a good thing? Of course current ODI cricket means the top order attacks hard and attacks fast, so someone with a lowish strike rate (about 60 in ODIs) batting that high would be puzzling but I think it's worth a try. As far as captaincy is concerned, Taibu is a wicket-keeper, bats high up the order and is experienced (having done it before) but making him captain simply puts too much on his plate. Price then becomes the next choice but even at 34 this would still represent a gamble. He's never captained before but he's obviously a leader out there and if experimenting has to be done it might as well be with him. However, my main concern is something else entirely: how long would he do it for? Eventually we'll stop packing 3 full time spinners and while he can certainly keep his place on merit, we have Utseya who's younger and Cremer who's a very bright prospect. If Price is the captain, it might be for a couple years at most until his place is not guaranteed and then we'd be right back to square one. That's why I view his appointment as transitional. Maybe H Masakadza but they've just dropped this guy, and they'll have to swallow their pride and ask him back, so would they want to make him captain? Vusi is a solution for me because he'll play Tests and in my view we need him in one dayers too. At 27 he's young but also relatively experienced. He led the younger guys in the I Cup and against NZ 'A' last year - so someone's thinking about this guy in that leadership role.