Liam Brickhill's year end review of Zim

[ZIMDOGGY]

the fact that Cremer and the Don have done so well just shows how much a travesty the regression of the Sibandas and Masakadzas are.

If pace doesnt phase you, it should be easy for a guy with a bag of shots in their arsenal to average around 30.

I said it before, but why is it that the 3 big improvers this year- Ervine,Moor and Cremer - are all white?

More to my point,
Why do our premier black players like Elton, Vusi and evidently hami seem to get worse? These guys are towards the top, same as the above three, and dont get as affected by the turmoils of the Logan players. Vusi should be a player who averages 35 in tests and would be if he was the same as most players around the world. Hes been in the top team thereabout for 15 years, which means hes one of the worlds most experienced test players.

I would say that there are probably less than 5 other test players in the world still playing internationals since Hami and Vusi debuted.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Furthermore I just did a look up.

Only Misbah and Younis from PAKISTAN, Herath from Sri Lanka and Samuel from the Windies have been around marginally longer.

In 12 months, Hammy could well be the most experienced test player in the world in terms of career span. Or failing that, he will be second.

[Kriterion_BD]

Chammeera is the only addition to the list I can accept, but even he was injured at the time and in fact, would most likely be replaced in the playing XI by Lahiru Kumara today against SA, the same 19 year old greenhorn who debuted against Zim. What would that say? They are both seen at same level by them at this stage. Pradeep is no better or worse than a Lakmal or an Eranga or any such. The real lion heart they are missing regularly is Dhammika Prasad. He was getting into great rhythm and skill levels when he broke down again last year.

Sandakan played one test series vs Aus, was good for sure in their conditions, but SL selectors chose Dilruwan Perera ahead of him for the Zim series in the XI (a move I don't agree with, but that's their pecking order) and did not rest him as such, and he is not even in the touring squad for SA while Dilruwan is. And there is some other spinner in there too, ahead of Sandakan. Perplexing for sure, but clearly not a case of intentionally weakening their own side against Zim alone.

In fact, by not playing Tharanga and playing Dhananjaya de Silva as low as 7, they weakened their lineup further against SA even when Mathews and Chandimal returned. Another reason why theirs should be treated a full strength side against us was because the missing guys (Mathews and Chandimal) were out due to injury, and not "rested" like India did during the ODI series. The team that played against Zim was the best SL could put out on a field at that time. Period.

Totally forgot about Prasad...I had a nagging feeling I was missing a seamer and thought it was Eranga but since he's allegedly a "chucker" (after Taskin and Vitori issues, and Kusal Perrera's "doping" saga... I have zero faith in the ICC's testing procedures).

I'll give you the new guy Kumara for now...although if SL get rolled under 200 in both innings is probably just decent figures on a absolutel minefield (context is always always always key).

So thats Mathews, Chandimal, Chameera, Prasad, Pradeep. I've taken the U19 pacer off since he's doing well and Sandakan since he was in the squad. Thats still 5 guys, with 2 of them accounting for 65% of SL's recent batting exploits (not a real statistic). Thats still 5 guys. Which is half a squad.

Where would ZIM be if you added Taylor, Jarvis, Ballance, Cartwright, and De Grandhomme? Thats another way of putting it.

Conversely, take away Williams, Ervine, Cremer, Mumba, and Hammy from this side and what would you get?

Australia minus Smith, Starc, Hazlewood, Warner, and Khawaja would be a MUCH easier prospect no?

Whether they were injured, rested, or something else doesn't change the fact that the team was an nth string side. Its not magically just as strong a team cuz guys were physically unable to play vs being rested intentionally.

[Kriterion_BD]

The young quick from Sri Lanka is doing some damage today against the Proteas .....

Kriterion are you sure you're not a women ? You will argue about just about any tiny point

Hami had a rough end to the year but people forget how good his start to the year was !!!

Ok Craig was our premier batsman for the year but who was second best ?? Not Raza not Willy not anyone else it was Hami. We all get frustrated about how he has never really kicked on with consistent big scores in his career but from the small sample we have he is still in the top 6 batsman in all formats .....

You can produce any stat you like the fact is he is still a worthy selection IMO .....

Yes, even I will admit, I am by nature an exceedingly argumentative fellow. Perhaps why I've never had a girlfriend (that and the fact that I've got a face perfectly suited for radio!)

But I think there are facts and opinions strongly backed by facts and various levels of untruths. I haven't made too many outlandish statements I don't think. For example when I claimed that the Bangladeshi ODI pace attack had the potential to be a top 6 pace attack...it was aimed at the World Cup, but I also meant going forward for the forseeble future. I don't have raw numbers on hand, but I don't think they're far off from that. Certainly I think the stats would show Mustafizur-Taskin-Mashrafee-Rubel match up well in ODIs with the 6th best seam attack in the past 20 months.

As per Hami, you're not reading the proper context. Scoring runs against Afghanistan, India A, Bangladesh (still a T20 minnow), and Hong Kong shouldn't be a bench mark. Thats OK for Musakanda, a young rookie. BRM Taylor just said he's isn't considering anyone with less than a 25 average as having a "respectable" average. Would you disagree?
Well Hami has a career average, across all 3 formats, against non-minnow sides of around 25...perhaps a touch under 25 now. That isn't just an opinion I have, you can check out the stats on statsguru for yourself and they will confirm that.

I'm not saying Hami should be dropped necessarily. But what I am saying is that guys like Musakanda have shown they have the potential to get the job done, Hami has shown he does not. Moor is another guy. Even Cremer is doing it. Then you have Burl when he makes his debut (hopefully soon).

[jaybro]

This stat you always pull up about Hami's average against non test playing nations should be put into context by comparing the other players averages against these sides as well. I haven't looked at the stats myself but I'm sure their stats will fall also .....

Also another thing into context Afghanistan and BD beat us so stats against them shouldn't be diminished, you can argue Hami has 3 of his 4 test tons against BD but so did BRMT except Hami scored one over seas .....

Until we have guys who are ready to take his place I don't know why we're having this conversation, the guys mentioned are Burl, Musakanda and Chari. Chari averages 22 in first class cricket and Burl and Musakanda don't even have a first class ton !!! I'm all for bringing some new guys in but Hami is one of the older guys I would keep .....

[Jemisi]

That is one of your best ever posts imho Jaybro.

It matters that Hami helps us beat associates and BD. Otherwise we lose those games and can only beat Namibia or whoever. Think of all the even worse embarrassments we would have suffered without the half century of half centuries he has made.

We can see that he hasn't led us up the ladder with plenty of big performances against the top teams like Taylor was able to contribute and Ervine threatens to keep pumping out. Kriterion's statistical argument is still valid in pointing out Hami's shortcomings and how he is viewed and rated, but his replacement is yet to put his hand up.

[jaybro]

That is one of your best ever posts imho Jaybro.

Thanks mate ! Not sure f that's cause you really liked it or if most of my other posts are rubbish

[Jemisi]

Mostly because it was on the money

[Kriterion_BD]

This stat you always pull up about Hami's average against non test playing nations should be put into context by comparing the other players averages against these sides as well. I haven't looked at the stats myself but I'm sure their stats will fall also .....

Also another thing into context Afghanistan and BD beat us so stats against them shouldn't be diminished, you can argue Hami has 3 of his 4 test tons against BD but so did BRMT except Hami scored one over seas .....

Until we have guys who are ready to take his place I don't know why we're having this conversation, the guys mentioned are Burl, Musakanda and Chari. Chari averages 22 in first class cricket and Burl and Musakanda don't even have a first class ton !!! I'm all for bringing some new guys in but Hami is one of the older guys I would keep .....

Ah my friend:

1) I'm not suggesting Hami should be dropped. I did for a brief moment, before realizing that means guys like Maruma will make the side. I'm just saying for all the praise he gets, he's won Zimbabwe very few matches with the bat. He has very few landmark knocks...actually does he have any landmark knocks? One of those coming of age knocks. Taylor has one (4th innings hundred vs NZ), Cremer just got his, and perhaps Ervine and Williams don't have them yet, but they played far fewer innings. Actually, I think Williams is more or less like Hamilton. Williams though has time on his side...can still finish with a Test average of 40+.

2) Canada has beaten Bangladesh...I don't think we ought to start rating performances against them.

3) I actually think Chari might turn out to be a decent Test player. Still very early days for him. His technique looks fairly solid, just has to iron out whatever weakness he has, and I reckon its mostly mental with him. The 80 he hit vs SL was pretty classy.

I can't speak of Burl not having seen him. But Musakanda, looked the best batting prospect out of ZIM since I've started following them. The way he scored at a run a ball by just working the ball around was something you don't usually see. It would have been one thing if he was just throwing his bat and scored 36 off 37...but he did it with proper cricket shots.

[jaybro]

Ahh my friend you have called for Hami's head in numerous threads please don't deny it .....

And Canada beat BD in 03 so let's put that in context as you would say that was 13 years ago so the context of that arguement is non existent. I'm talking about recent events Zimbabwe are no better than Ireland or Afghanistan but are definitely behind BD so Hami's scores against them are relevant ......