Captain Taylor Interviews

[bayhaus]

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/index.php/sp ... aylor.html

My question on how he felt Hearing he would open with Coventary at the world cup obviously didn't make the cut!

[brmtaylor.com admin]

That's a good interview. There were no mentions of any injury clouds in the answers so hopefully that means Taylor, Taibu and Cremer will be good to go in the Test against Bangladesh.

By the looks of it Taylor will definitely be opening. I wonder how certain it is now that the top order will be Taylor, Sibanda, Masakadza?

[Conant]

That's a good interview. There were no mentions of any injury clouds in the answers so hopefully that means Taylor, Taibu and Cremer will be good to go in the Test against Bangladesh.

By the looks of it Taylor will definitely be opening. I wonder how certain it is now that the top order will be Taylor, Sibanda, Masakadza?

It seems certain now to be precisely in that order. But the fourth place seems to be up for grabs: Ervine, Williams (in future), Chakabva and even Mtizwa. And if none can cope it they will have to promote Taibu up the order.

And if Mawoyo somehow makes a big one in his last two remaining innings he will leapfrog everyone precisely for this reason then they will bat Vusi at three then Hammy at four

[bayhaus]

And if Mawoyo somehow makes a big one in his last two remaining innings he will leapfrog everyone precisely for this reason then they will bat Vusi at three then Hammy at four

I would quite like that but Vusi at 4 Ham at 3.

[eugene]

I think anything other than Taylor, Sibanda and Masakadza as the top 3 would be unwise.

Surely the selectors will make a place for Coventry in the top 3.

[bayhaus]

Surely the selectors will make a place for Coventry in the top 3.

Well just look the other way and pretend we didnt see this...

[hhm]

It's a pity your question didn't make it, but it's an open secret to us all that Taylor and Coventry are good mates, and that they would both have relished the prospect of opening together. Then again, their myopic outlook would understandably have blinded them to that folly.

I think anything other than Taylor, Sibanda and Masakadza as the top 3 would be unwise.

One of the biggest let downs in these List A & FC games was the absence of players due to injury (and madness-Williams!). This is very true in the FC games, particulary in the case of Duffin, whose presence will have afforded time for him to be assessed in that opener's role. I have no doubt in my mind that he is far more accomplished as a consistent opener than even Taylor & Hamilton. So contrary to that statement, I think altering that order is actually wise: 1Taylor, 2Duffin, 3Hamilton, 4Vusi. Taibu is guaranteed to be 6, while Elton has nailed down 7.

Williams' lack of responsibility & Ervine's lean spell means that 5 on the other hand is contentious. Due to these developments, I prefer to have Ewing there. Not to mention our all too frequent middle order collapses which Ewing's experience might be able to ease. We've got access to test cricket once more, so a good return against Bangladesh, should be enough to see AC go to Dave Houghton and get him to convince Ballance to take up that 5th spot. I have a lot of faith in that young man and we stand a better chance of getting him to come back unlike the others. I believe he can go on to replace Duffin as the opener.

Surely the selectors will make a place for Coventry in the top 3.

Well just look the other way and pretend we didnt see this...

I suppose eugene was inspired by an element of humor on that one, at least I hope so. Not a top four player that Coventry is. But in saying that bayhaus, one would do well to remember that Coventry definitely did not deserve to have fallen that far out of sight!! Of all the List A, Two day & FC games, surely he should have featured in at least one. If Mutizwa, Chakabva, Mawoyo & Waller were given a chance , then by all means Coventry as well. He is without doubt a better player than those four. His failures in the WC are down to the selectors, and that was only List A, what about FC?

[Boundary]

I think anything other than Taylor, Sibanda and Masakadza as the top 3 would be unwise.

Couldn't agree more. It's about time we settled on this top order so that we can concentrate in solving the middle order. Taylor and Sibanda open in the Logan Cup and Hammie comes in at three at Mutare. Craig needs more steel to his talent at 5, the 4th spot can go to Mutizwa and Raza should provide more competition. Elton might be winning his battle over Meth but can we afford to delay our Meth Addiction? So many questions, very few answers. The selectors need to sort out the middle order coz that's where the collapses come from.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Since theese ar all experimental...

for the next game,

bring in duff for vusi,

vusis in the test squad, so why not toss the dog a bone and see if he makes the most of it?

let him face off with Mawoyo.

try and bring in williams

keep the vitori vs meth trial going, that battle is not yet won.

keep craig there, his form needs monitoring. id give waller another go

also let price toss the arm over.....as good as he is he hasnt played this type of game in a while.


another way of doing things is basically have the tuskers team out there (HHM will jump for joy!) and just make a few minor tweaks here n there.


Natural mean variance aside....these games are really showing who are the floaters and sinkers of the zimbabwean cricket squad.

[takleg]

I agree with hhm on the Ballance issue. I think to let such a talent slip through our fingers would be a terrible thing. I heard he wanted to qualify for England, but there is still a lot of time to try to convince him to play for us. We may talk about the Ervines, Chakabvas and Mutizwas, but none of these players look like they can average 50 in test cricket, but Ballance does. His first class record is terrific for someone who is in his early twenties and a good number of these of the games has played so far are against quality county sides. So, in my opinion efforts have to be made to get Ballance onboard before the greedy English sink their claws into him.et Ballance onboard before the greedy English sink their claws into him.