Kirsten for coach, is this for real?

[mdm]

http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2011-0 ... ricket-job
Dont know if this article holds water but if there are any discussions have we given Butcher enough time or are we just expecting a miracle from a new coach?

[hhm]

Real or fiction I still prefer Butcher at the moment. His comparative seniority to both Grant and Heath helps maintain order in my opinion. Besides I doubt a new coach no matter how effective will do much to improve the side. Our problems lie with selection. Having selected the right group of players and then devote the necessary resources to them I'm sure the present coaching team is more that capable of converting that foundation into results. In any case I prefer it if we stick to Zim coaches - the fact the Andy&Dunc are heading top teams indicates the fact that we've got good coaches. Personally I prefer Dave Houghton. He's got better knowledge of our local players that even Heath&Grant combined.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Good point, if Zc and the fans feel that Butcher Is carving up turkeys why nit David houghton? A few points on this:

-would assumedly cone at a cheaper price than Andy or Kirsten.
- our 2nd best batsman with an ave of 43. Playing skill helps alot wen coaching
- previous coaching experience and successful
- is already in the system and knows who's who and knows the players
- lives in the country
-patriotic
- and a side bonus, having an uncle as coach could be the topping point to get balance in the side to fill that vacant test spot.



Also on a side note- it is possible that the reporter misheard and it's not Kirsten we are thinking of, it's Kirsten the ZC secretary - save costs - Zc doing it tough these days

[brmtaylor.com admin]

There's a lot of speculation in that article, so hopefully it doesn't amount to anything. What Zimbabwe cricket needs now more than ever is consistency and I think Streak, Flower and Butcher are the right men to take us forward.

It would be particularly crazy to instil a new head coach right now anyway, right on the eve of the return to Test cricket. He wouldn't know any of the players and it would take time for the team to adapt to his methods.

Unless this is all because of a ZC superstition... Robin Brown won his first game as coach vs Australia and from memory Alan Butcher won his first game as coach vs West Indies. If this is the case then ZC should definitely try and get another bloke with a surname beginning with B (maybe lure John Buchanan away from New Zealand) because if we're going to sack a coach we'd want to be certain that it would pay off with a win

[ZIMDOGGY]

But what evidence is there that streak, flower and that are the go forward?

wonderful players, and zims best choice in that regard, but im yet to see any results (except chris mpofu and Brian Vitori, the latter i doubt has worked with Streak much yet at all)
someone like nicholson should show signs of being moulded.


I know it is too early to really reap any real benefits, but how long should they be given???


Jason gillespie is over there doing his rhino fling, and considering Australia have approached him about being bowling coach- maybe we have an answr there?

Id like to revisit this post in 12 mths

[sloandog]

someone like nicholson should show signs of being moulded

Ian Nicholson has done everything he can possibly do since being droped from the national set up.
He's taken wickets, bowled lots of overs, and by the way in which he's taken his wickets, bowled with some heat.
So in that regard, he's beginning to mould

[brmtaylor.com admin]

in ODIs, I see:

Nicolson, 2 matches with 2 wickets at 59.00. Economy 9.83
S Masakadza, 7 matches with 11 wickets at 37.27. Economy 7.93
Panyangara, 2 matches (back) with no wickets. Economy 8.09

It's no surprise that out of that group Masakadza is the most promising because he's at least taking wickets. But overall it's clear our success rate with playing new (or recently returned) fast bowlers is low.

What excites me about Jarvis, 9 matches with 10 wickets at 42.20. Economy 6.13... is that he seems the most well rounded. He's the only fast bowler debuted in recent memory who doesn't have an appalling economy rate, he is genuinely fast and he has taken wickets. All we need is for him to be back playing cricket on Zimbabwean soil... I think he would complement Mpofu well in Test matches. It would be unlikely to be this year, but at some point - a stellar Logan Cup wouldn't hurt his chances.

[eugene]

Zimdoggy raises an interesting point that I also mentioned awhile back. How much of a chance do we give Flower and Streak and is their coaching above being questioned because of what they achieved for Zimbabwe as players. I think they should be evaluated the same as any other coach would be. What they did as players is to be admired but it isn't really relevant when it comes to evaluating their coaching.