PRO50 CHAMPIONSHIP 2022-23

[jaybro]

Curran with another low score

And that’s his Pro50 Championship over, apart from that first match I don’t think he passed 20? Averaged 17 or so which is obviously very poor.

I don’t think we will see Ben Curran in a Zimbabwe shirt anytime soon. Considering he is a shorter form type player, maybe a decent t20 competition might get him in the conversation but unlikely imo.

8 games just is not long enough

[Donald]

Curran with another low score

And that’s his Pro50 Championship over, apart from that first match I don’t think he passed 20? Averaged 17 or so which is obviously very poor.

I don’t think we will see Ben Curran in a Zimbabwe shirt anytime soon. Considering he is a shorter form type player, maybe a decent t20 competition might get him in the conversation but unlikely imo.

8 games just is not long enough

He actually hit 67 not out in his very first game. he has been on a marked downward spiral ever since.

Does it say anything about our domestic bowlers or has Ben curran been very poor??

[Marshmallow]

https://twitter.com/cricket_rhinos/stat ... Ae6BA&s=09

Eddie byrom spotted

[Googly]

Curran with another low score

And that’s his Pro50 Championship over, apart from that first match I don’t think he passed 20? Averaged 17 or so which is obviously very poor.

I don’t think we will see Ben Curran in a Zimbabwe shirt anytime soon. Considering he is a shorter form type player, maybe a decent t20 competition might get him in the conversation but unlikely imo.

8 games just is not long enough

He actually hit 67 not out in his very first game. he has been on a marked downward spiral ever since.

Does it say anything about our domestic bowlers or has Ben curran been very poor??

Poor form can get anyone. I'd guess he's put himself under enormous pressure to perform and get himself a decent contract. I really feel for the guy.
The feeling will be that it's a bit easier here but a couple of good deliveries and maybe a couple of poor shots and the season is all but over. Obviously there's still the red ball season and the T20 week . The laughing emoji is because they will get thru the games in a week or so.

The Glamorgan guy, Kiran Carlson has not had a good start and neither has the West Indian. Carlson is a very good batsman, I've watched him a few times in County FC.

Having these back to back games one after the other doesn't give a batsman a chance to take a breath, regroup and perhaps work on a few glitches. It's just shocking organization and they're just trying to get thru the games as quickly and cheaply as possible. Why can't they do things properly?
Why are there no games in Harare??

[jaybro]

Nick Welch extension at Leicestershire confirmed

Nick Welch signs contract extension with Leicestershire
The 24-year-old has made 22 appearances for Leicestershire since making his debut in 2020, 20 of which have come in white-ball cricket


The 24-year-old opener enjoyed a productive white-ball season, scoring 173 runs at a strike rate of 158.71 and an average of 43.25 in the T20 Blast and a further 193 runs in the Royal London Cup, including his maiden List A century.

Welch made his debut for Leicestershire in 2020 and has made 22 appearances across the formats, averaging 25 in 50-over cricket and 30.44 in T20 cricket.


On his contract extension, Welch said: "I am delighted to be continuing my journey with Leicestershire. It is a privilege to be playing and working with some amazing cricketers, and my game is going from strength to strength.

"I am looking forward to a productive winter working with the coaches, particularly James Taylor, as I am sure his knowledge of the game will be immensely beneficial to my progression. I am excited to contribute to winning games for the club in 2023 and hopefully take home some silverware."

Director of cricket, Claude Henderson, told the club: "Nick has shown great potential in the white-ball formats, especially in T20 cricket.

"Now is a great opportunity for Nick to show what he is capable of and establish himself as a regular player."

https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/cou ... shire.html

[Googly]

He'd probably show great potential in the red ball as well if they backed him. Henderson says he needs to establish himself as a regular yet they haven't picked him for single game, so how do you do that? He may well have to suck a dick at some point.
They don't pay their better players and they leave, they then sign guys who have lost their contracts from other counties for a pittance and wonder why they remain firmly at the bottom of the pile. They've recently sacked a few guys and have slimmed down their squad, but there's no telling who they'll sign this winter. Their strategy fails every year and they rinse and repeat.
They're boxing Welch into the T20 category, which is not the worst thing these days. If you do well you can make a living.
I'm pretty sure he will be targeting the T20 Blast and crossing fingers they pick him because a good showing opens doors. There's no guarantee he'll start, despite having almost the best opener stats last season in England, Leicestershire appear to share their brain cell with ZC.

Welch would have been tempted to throw in his lot with Zim if he'd had a decent offer, but what they appear to want is for a player to fail overseas and have to join the rank and file here and then miraculously become an international calibre player. Actually what they probably really want is for them to continue to do poorly locally so they feel better about the standard of the local game and not having to pay a liveable wage. Slave cricketers being herded from venue to venue playing back to back cricket to tick a box for ICC. They should put everyone in a container for transport, with 3 tier bunk beds, it would be cheaper. What happened to the Players' Union? The players actually have no bottle whatsoever, on and off the field. You often end up getting treated exactly as you deserve.

Despite our national side having done well recently anyone who has an inkling about cricket will be worried. Only Raza has won the games for us. We continue to be desperate for batsmen. Madhevere has shown he's reasonably comfortable but the others are not international calibre T20 batsmen, they're just not. Williams is either having a poor run or he's on the decline.
Ballance, Byrom, Muyeye, Welch and Shardendorf continue to offer potential solutions, but they have to prove they're shit first so they come begging. You pay peanuts and you get monkeys.

[ZIMFAN]

Honestly, I don't get the NW love. He scored 5 runs in two first class matches. He averaged 24 in the One Day Cup which included a big unbeaten ton (which I happened to see live). So that is one score in 13 innings this year. To be clear, I do acknowledge the seniors will be moving on, that we need batting depth and he could probably add to that but to pretend he will come in and be the second coming of Murray Goodwin is, at this stage, fanciful.

Also, on Dane S...he is currently picking up a decent wage and playing lots of cricket. Yeah it's county 2s but would that standard be much lower than Rocks V Rhinos (given the national team never play)? He'll play a bit for the 1s when Moores is off doing the hundred. It's probably quite a nice life. Why come back to Zim?

I don't want to sound negative and agree with googly that you actually need to $$$ these guys but are they actually worth paying? Maybe, when the seniors go and we are fucked, yes. I just worry they're no better than the Wes, Shumbas that we have/

[Googly]

Ya hard to disagree.
He hasn't had a red ball career to even look at a stat.
His T20 is very good and for sure his 50 over stuff in his first full season was average at best. He had some starts but didn't kick on. It's his first season, let's see how he goes next year. It's not easy to suddenly open in the First Team with no previous exposure whatsoever. I know he was under enormous pressure to perform. To date he's been treated poorly at Leicestershire, but that may change.
It's too late for ZC to make an offer, but we will get to see how he does in this environment. I think he's leading the averages after 4 games here. I think there's only two to go plus a final/playoff. 50 over is his preferred format.
It's understandable that ZC don't want to make any sort of commitment to a relatively unknown player, but we will have a clearer picture of how he compares with our local lads by the end of Feb. Same goes for Byrom.
My 10c worth is that he's been exposed to a higher standard of cricket in the UK and that he's a better player as a result than the local boys. He's also played perhaps 5 times the number of games. He was also better as a junior than anyone we've seen here, with the possible exception of Curran, for many years. Logically he should be a better player, but its a game of millimeters which only a few guys seem to appreciate.
It will be a good conversation to resume at the end if the Zim season.

Very soon ZC will need replacements in our national side and our local players don't cut it, that fact doesn't change.
They also profess to want depth, but they're not going to get that at $300 a month, or whatever it is that they pay.
Raza/Houghton have saved us from what was about to be a shocking few months of cricket for us. If anyone thinks we've turned a corner they're optimistic. It's the same players in the mix.

Also don't forget Goodwin came back to Zim when he was 28 years old and was an established cricketer. Welch and Byrom will either be the same or will have long since given it up.

NW's game plan is clear. Make runs here so he leaves a good impression, get back to UK and knock it out the park so he has options world wide in T20, in County and here.
The fact is that ZC want an established young player doing well overseas to jack that all in and come here and start from the bottom and do it all over again. There's no upside for them. They're only going to get guys in Ben Curran's predicament. Maybe he will step up?
Their current plan won't work, but it doesnt need to, the first crisis has been averted so they will do what they have always done and wait until we're neck deep in the next one. I'm hoping our young guys overseas all do brilliantly and when that day arrives they negotiate well or perhaps even say No Thanks. Our cricket remains in the hands of people that care only about their own personal welfare.

[CrimsonAvenger]

The fact is that ZC want an established young player doing well overseas to jack that all in and come here and start from the bottom and do it all over again. There's no upside for them.

Keeping aside whether ZC wants something like this or not for a moment, do we even have a player who is that well established currently anywhere in the world, who qualifies to be a Zim international?

[Googly]

Apart from Ballance and Cartwright, no.
What I said earlier was that Goodwin only came back when he was 28, and was an exceptional player. If Byrom, Welch, Muyeye and Schardendorf are still playing County at 27/28 they'll be damned good and Zim is most likely to need them.
I guess a batters best years are usually between about 28-34.