Cricket captain: why it is important to get it right

[Conant]

By Prosper Tsvanu

THE recent debate around who should captain Zimbabwe cricket on the field of play has been very encouraging, whichever side one is sympathetic to, as it shows that people still care and also that in a sense Zimbabwe Cricket as an organisation is back to functioning ways after a protracted period of disarray

Forget about One Day cricket and that T20 slogging game, the need for any cricket nation to have a solid Test team that does well in their home games in order to interest the crowds when they go abroad is of utmost importance.

As it is, the Zimbabwe cricket team has brittle identity and is in desperate need for strong characters, players with substance and determination backed with charisma. Such is the predictability of the current crop of players, save for a few, that in the heat of battle, when the pressure is exerted a notch or two higher, they capitulate into the doldrums of becoming second best, and to be frank everyone concerned has seen enough

With all due respect, Elton Chigumbura’s appointment as captain before the World Cup was a mistake. This is not to say it was not a well-intended mistake, but simply an error in judgment.

There is a strong case that the smart money should be on Tatenda Taibu, the diminutive wicketkeeper batsman who has held the position before, and all opposition to this view seem to be raising the counter- argument that in 2005 he abandoned the side for two years and so what can stop him from doing it again? This is a debate for another forum, requiring separate attention and his competency as captain ought to take precedence.

Enough said,the rest of the post can be read on this link:
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/blog/index.p ... -it-right/

Tsvanu, by the way, is a former Zim A player now studying for a Media and English Degree at the University of KwaZulu Natal

[Boundary]

Good opinion piece and I'll give it to Taibu as well (or Price if he was willing to do it for a couple of years) mainly because Taibu already has about three ways of being in the team: wicketkeeping, batting and experience. All three would have to be irrelevant for him to be dropped and as long as he's picked he'd be a candidate for captaincy. This is unlike other contenders, eg. Chigumbura loses form and he's at risk for being left out, experience counts for Masakadza but he's a batter and he's inconsistent at that (whilst Taibu is pretty consistent at wicketkeeping, for instance) and Taylor is ruled out because as Prosper Tsvanhu puts it is likely that "the consequences will outweigh the benefits."

[Conant]

I can't remember Tsvanu. When was he around?

About four years ago. He never played much and I may have been wrong by saying he's been capped at Zim A level. Mostly he would appear as a studio guest/analyst on cricket weekends at ZBC