South africa Tour of Zimbabwe | Test Series | 28 June - 10 July 2025

[tawac]

M Welch kinda stopped keeping round about the time of his injury last season. Up to then it seemed he was doing most of the keeping. Guessing he is fully recovered now. I Haven't checked the sogo games is he doing any keeping there? Keeping would definitely add a great dimension to his game. And he does seem a hardly keeper too.

[TapsC2]

That's an interesting point. Why isn't he keeping for the Rangers? Either way I think he will get his chance sooner rather than later. Let's see the A squad touring the UK

[Googly]

I dont think he's played too many games and Marumani is also there, who hasn't missed a game so there's a pecking order.

[Marshmallow]

Hlabangana doing keeping duties for rangers as of now.

[Mueddie28]

Hlabangana doing keeping duties for rangers as of now.

I am surprised how quick they dicarded Myers and campbell
Maybe the will ne back in the limited overs..

Whatever happenend to zmsvuta..Bulawayo is his haunting ground..

[zimbot]

M Welch kinda stopped keeping round about the time of his injury last season. Up to then it seemed he was doing most of the keeping. Guessing he is fully recovered now. I Haven't checked the sogo games is he doing any keeping there? Keeping would definitely add a great dimension to his game. And he does seem a hardly keeper too.

Melch is an interesting one.

I don't know about the limited overs side of the game, but for me, Tsiga has earned himself a run in at least 3 Tests. His keeping needs some work, but he has shown some fight with the bat. He needs to work on his technique when facing off spinners though.

With Craig, Sean and Raza on their way out, I wouldn't mind seeing Melch challenging for a spot in the Test side. Does he make it as a keeper/batter, or does he push for a spot in the top 4? That's an interesting question. For those in the know, where exactly does he fit in the Test team? Is he really that far off from selection or maybe racial politics are at play?

[tawac]

M Welch kinda stopped keeping round about the time of his injury last season. Up to then it seemed he was doing most of the keeping. Guessing he is fully recovered now. I Haven't checked the sogo games is he doing any keeping there? Keeping would definitely add a great dimension to his game. And he does seem a hardly keeper too.

Melch is an interesting one.

I don't know about the limited overs side of the game, but for me, Tsiga has earned himself a run in at least 3 Tests. His keeping needs some work, but he has shown some fight with the bat. He needs to work on his technique when facing off spinners though.

With Craig, Sean and Raza on their way out, I wouldn't mind seeing Melch challenging for a spot in the Test side. Does he make it as a keeper/batter, or does he push for a spot in the top 4? That's an interesting question. For those in the know, where exactly does he fit in the Test team? Is he really that far off from selection or maybe racial politics are at play?

Thing about M Welch is that the lad is 21years old. He has already shown great ability with the bat and should be making the Zim A side for now. He came in as a keeper early on when he arrived on the scene and was a pretty handy keeper as well. But of late is hasnt been keeping or hasnt been given a chance to do so. He definitely has something to work with given the other keepers we have at the moment. The packing order isnt that long both Tsiga and Mavayo are is their 30s. Gumbie's game has been down hill he needs to appease his ancestors or something. And we have Madande a 'generational talent' player. If ZC had any sense could be wise to handle him better.

[ZIMDOGGY]

M Welch kinda stopped keeping round about the time of his injury last season. Up to then it seemed he was doing most of the keeping. Guessing he is fully recovered now. I Haven't checked the sogo games is he doing any keeping there? Keeping would definitely add a great dimension to his game. And he does seem a hardly keeper too.

where exactly does he fit in the Test team? Is he really that far off from selection or maybe racial politics are at play?

Are we still talking in terms of 'maybe' racial politics being at play?

We see every team selection the last ten years as a 5 person quota and the ZC comms guy spouting off racial vitriol on a daily basis on Twitter and this is STILL a maybe?

Zanubites in the hierarchy will probably tell you that 'Melch' (I like this name) has been inconsistent and has not shown the ability to kick onto huge scores, and whilst that is right, it is a case of lying with the truth, because in a colourblind selection strategy he will have definitely have been given a go in at least a t20 to see how he fares, especially with our keeper depth issues, as every other black mid or reject player has. Anyone who has seen Melch has said his ceiling is very high.

[Googly]

In an ordinary world we'd have our keeper wannabe's under a quality keeping coach in the off season and also getting some specialised batting coaching and those coaches would be establishing who the best guys were for each format.
They'd also be getting a living wage.

We end up choosing a keeper that can survive off $30 a month

[Googly]

M Welch kinda stopped keeping round about the time of his injury last season. Up to then it seemed he was doing most of the keeping. Guessing he is fully recovered now. I Haven't checked the sogo games is he doing any keeping there? Keeping would definitely add a great dimension to his game. And he does seem a hardly keeper too.

Melch is an interesting one.

I don't know about the limited overs side of the game, but for me, Tsiga has earned himself a run in at least 3 Tests. His keeping needs some work, but he has shown some fight with the bat. He needs to work on his technique when facing off spinners though.

With Craig, Sean and Raza on their way out, I wouldn't mind seeing Melch challenging for a spot in the Test side. Does he make it as a keeper/batter, or does he push for a spot in the top 4? That's an interesting question. For those in the know, where exactly does he fit in the Test team? Is he really that far off from selection or maybe racial politics are at play?

Thing about M Welch is that the lad is 21years old. He has already shown great ability with the bat and should be making the Zim A side for now. He came in as a keeper early on when he arrived on the scene and was a pretty handy keeper as well. But of late is hasnt been keeping or hasnt been given a chance to do so. He definitely has something to work with given the other keepers we have at the moment. The packing order isnt that long both Tsiga and Mavayo are is their 30s. Gumbie's game has been down hill he needs to appease his ancestors or something. And we have Madande a 'generational talent' player. If ZC had any sense could be wise to handle him better.

I was just looking at List A and FC stats of our keepers-
Joylord, Mayavo, Madande, Tsiga, Marumani and Welch.
Marumani and Welch are similar and are significantly ahead of the others.
Joylord, Matt and Maru have generally been 1-4 in the line up as well, where its significantly more difficult.
MW was pretty much the only player to have the stats to get a Grade A franchise contract last season as well. He's shown his potential since being in the u19 squad from 15 years of age and yet doesn't even appear to be a PONI.
He was overlooked a few times for more demanding games this season. If anyone watched his 60 something against Durham it should have been more than clear that he's pretty much the guy we're looking for. They need to ask Williams about him, hes been a pro at the highest level for 20 years and he clearly and regularly states that MW is about as good a youngster as he's seen. If you're going to ignore Williams' recommendation then you're stupid, biased or both. End of.