To be quite honest Eugene, I honestly do not know what to make of Chibhabha. All I can say is that he is not doing ‘Justice’ to his undeniable talent! He can be a thrill and pull out all the shots, and has variety and intelligence behind his bowling, but when and how he can put everything together to generate a performance remains a mystery. Come to think of it, the name Coventry crosses my mind as mention some of that as well.
Vusi at four looks to be a good solution there Bayhaus. It's worth highlighting that I nearly got my head bitten of when I mentioned him for that position once, as the reason from most then was that four is reserved for the best batsman – that being Taylor in their opinion, while Vusi does not have the makings of a number four! In this case I thought figured at three, he would in actual fact be as good as an opener. In any case if ‘Mr No Footwork ‘ is opening, more often than not, Vusi will be there before any visible abrasions appear on the leather. What better reason or motivation for Vusi to pile up the double-hundreds than for him to see the team’s ‘best batsmen’ in the pavilion without the scorers being troubled much.
Well FlowerPower, as an avid follower of the Tuskers myself, and having consistently put Mpofu forward as the leader of our attack, it’s clear that I was misread on this one. Again, on numerous occasions I have questioned the relegation of Mpofu to a first or second change bowler, preferring him to take the new ball at all times. What I expressed is in the form of a concern, and I made what I believe to be an accurate assessment - an admission that he has reached his potential or made the most of his abilities. Mpofu is our best right now, but due to his obvious limitations and in harmony with our aspirations, he shouldn’t be. Better must realized sooner rather than later.
You know what, for that T20I slot I actually had Dabengwa but the probable uprising against him would have prompted most to open an inquest for Lamb’s absence, especially after he prostituted himself rather productively for those wickets when we were really under the cosh. At Ten Lamb is clearly in there to bowl (and prevent the presence of the puny Utseya), and yes Dabengwa arguably offers more with the bat. Between you and me just read Dabengwa in place of Lamb. Only take care to ensure the forum is not privy to that information. It's bad enough that I threw Matsi at them without any significant score from the recent games.As hard as it is for me to acknowledge this, Elton’s bowling when on top, offers more value than Meth, so I’ll stick with Elton for now. After I verbally brutalised him repeatedly, his response immediately after that reminded me(us) why I(we) originally fell in love with him. This is in no way a slight towards Meth, but the fire surely building up in his belly due to being constantly overlooked will be released to far greater effect than was the case with Forster. For Tests I reckon Meth, Jarvis and Shingi(plus Cremer), are the next generation. The technical team just needs to do to the raw Shingi, whatever they did to the raw Mpofu.
Forgive me for coming across as one who rejoices in the failings of Vitori BRM. At such a young age, and having achieved and displayed enough to prove there’s potential, I want nothing more than for him to prosper. After all, it can only be for the good of the team for which we share a common desire to see succeeding. What I ask you to do my friend is to forget that Vitori made his debut against Bangladesh, and assume he made his first appearance during the Pakistan tour. If he is still around after our return tour against the Black Caps, you and me can ‘have a glass of scotch’ over this one. Far from being a knee-jerk reaction or a conservative mindset, my inclusion of our experienced performers is in harmony with the proven fact that cricketers in general peak at about 29 (late twenties), with most batsmen doing so well into their thirties. Likewise Vusi’s seemingly drastic turn in fortunes is not down to some particular tweak in his game, but is simply a coming of age. It would be narrow-minded to discount the same happening in the case of those I’ve put forward.
Even if I had the privilege as head coach/captain, on the back of that fine knock, I wouldn’t drop Mawoyo for the next Test, then again I wouldn’t have picked him in the first place, but eventually he WILL be dropped.
As a side point, I could be mistaken, but have you noticed how often you somehow manage to bring in the superior Jarvis, in your defence of Vitori, so as to deflect focus on Vitori shortcomings?
Anyway, like I’ve pointed out before guys, I’ll always be on either extreme, but never in the middle. So don’t get lost in anything mentioned. Let’s just revel in the exchanges.
