Always better to sleep on it.
Is Masuku just a squad selection hoping that's enuf to appease Mr. Coltart? I'd like to see him get a game.
Is Evans just a squad selection to appease half of Zim?
They've got two extra seamers and yet persist with Nyamhuri in the squad. I'm not seeing what they see in Newman. He's got zip, a bit of movement and he's a lefitie but he's far far too erratic. He can have a good day though, but we have not seen that for a while, where's the improvement?
I guess they persist with Craig as captain because the only other option is Raza. I'll take Craig over Raza though, purely because Raza is disruptive and I dont think he has the change room. If Craig weren't captain he's starting to become a marginal pick and is in need of a good score. I could be wrong but Craig and Raza look to be on the wane. Raza was alarmingly shaky against quality bowling if he has to bat more than about 5 overs. Its burned in my brain Styris saying he's a no 8 at test level. Let's see how they go, but with the benefit of hindsight in 3 weeks people could be saying that they're jamming up spots for their ultimate replacements, whoever they may be.
They need the game time before qualifiers though, which will be much easier cricket with 1000 times the pressure
So not easier really, probably 1000 harder
We succumb to pressure. We cannot fail again. Raza is the man for the job against these lesser sides.
Interesting that Wellie has been removed. Hopefully he uses this time to put in some hard yards. I don't think he's ever been the best he could be, he's taken his spot for granted way too long. He's a good player and he owes it to himself to pull out all the stops, become a better batsman that puts a price on his wicket and figure out how to extract a bit of turn, because he's got good control. He's got some revs and no turn, there are solutions.
The real issue here is this is almost too easy for ZC. They could pick our absolute best side and we'd probably still get beaten and then that gives them latitude to revert to their favorites for another extended period, and a couple of those guys are going nowhere fast. We saw the crowing when the white test batters failed to deliver. There's more of that coming. In fairness they've stuck with them though, barring Welch. I get the argument that he has not played this format, but he should have. That first 15 overs in white ball is not dissimilar to red ball, it's mighty tough to survive a good attack, let alone score, and he's shown glimpses that he's got resilience. Theyre restricting him to red ball, but he's a better white ball player.
Why a 2 match fifty over series? If it was 3 you can fairly replace a guy who's failed twice and give the next guy an hallelujah opportunity in the third game. Not picking a guy for the second and last game because he got nothing in the first is not really ok. Giving another set of guys a run in the second game is one of the reasons why some of the batters have no clarity, they just panic about retaining a spot. Musical chairs waiting for a guy to get a 25 is not the answer.
I dunno if Jonno gets a game? He's very lucky to be there after a really poor domestic season. If he doesn't bowl and bowl well (said this earlier), and I doubt he'd even get an over, then why is he there? Burl is currently a better spinning all-rounder, and just as a batsman he edges Jonno.
Anyway he may well get a start and do well. Cricket is played between the ears at this level and maybe he will grab his opportunity.
If the choice was between Madande and Marumani, its not a choice. Marumani is an extraordinary hitter. Look we are yet to see it at international level, and may never see it, maybe it's a step too far? BUT were I calling the shots I think hes a light year ahead of Tony, Musekiwa and Madande. I know he is. If they're going to give anyone rope it should be Maru in the shorter formats. All I'm really saying is if they're going to pick Madande, it should actually be Maru. I know he's had opportunities, but give him more, because if he comes right we've got a really destructive player here. Taylor muddies the waters for Maru if he is going to keep, and he definitely should.
We've got quite a few guys that can do well against the Associates, but the reality is that we've only got a small handful that don't look completely out of place against a big team. It really gives these "selectors" some serious wiggle room to mess around, I guess hoping someone will take their Associate game onto the really big stage. Raza himself is currently not managing to do this so explain how their other perennial favorites are ever going to pull it off.
These 6,7 and 8 slots are going to bite us. The guys they're persevering with for these roles are just not good enough. If theyre not dominating our domestic scene they've got no plan whatsoever at the highest level.
These savage beatings we've recently received have been extremely timeous and dare I say needed! It's been a proper reality check for these "selectors" thinking we've got 30 players for all formats. It is an absolute pipe dream, but sadly the lessons will soon be forgotten. Zero learning curve.
I know we are now playing different formats, but the principle is absolutely the same. The good teams don't suddenly start bowling and batting shit because the ball is a different colour. The only batters that emerged relatively unscathed were Tsiga and Welch. Theyre both improving but by bit.
I was talking about Maru vs Madande, but I guess I was mixing a bit of T20 in there. If the choice is Madande vs Tsiga in 50 over its Tsiga all day every day and twice on Sundays.
He can play at this level, Madande can't.
