But again, why the general allergy to opening for Ballance?
We need him up top to get 200* one day
As I said in my first line, without the other options to bat in the middle order I’d be hesitant to open with Ballance, especially since Makoni did a good job.
With everyone on deck I’m happy for Ballance to open or No.3
Yeah I know you agree and I agreed with you, but more so the second party was aimed at everyone as the general sentiment with alot of peeps here seems to support him in the middle order.
There’s a reason why the Rolls Royce players of every country bat at 3 or usually 4.
He’s batted there his entire life also.
IMO you don’t mess your best players around and tell them to bat in a completely different position.
He’s fantastic. He should have the choice to bat where he wants. He’s a 4 all day long
I agree with SZ. He should be at 4. We're looking for another opener. Makoni will get a few more starts in red ball. In white ball we need another opener. Kaia has currently cemented his spot in all formats.
Why? He's work in progress with plenty of ability and great hands.
He's the equivalent of Jongwe and Tiripano. To bat at 6, you either need to be a genuine batsman or genuine all-rounder and he is far from either currently, especially at test level.
I see your point. Evans has had a bad game.
But Jongwe obviously isn’t in contention in this format due to his fitness and Tiripano is less than useless so Evans is still a better investment. Although he has underwhelmed for sure
When was his last good game with the bat? Its been ages. Tiripano in form is probably better than Evans all things considered
As I said in my first line, without the other options to bat in the middle order I’d be hesitant to open with Ballance, especially since Makoni did a good job.
With everyone on deck I’m happy for Ballance to open or No.3
Yeah I know you agree and I agreed with you, but more so the second party was aimed at everyone as the general sentiment with alot of peeps here seems to support him in the middle order.
There’s a reason why the Rolls Royce players of every country bat at 3 or usually 4.
He’s batted there his entire life also.
IMO you don’t mess your best players around and tell them to bat in a completely different position.
He’s fantastic. He should have the choice to bat where he wants. He’s a 4 all day long
He has batted the majority of his career at 3. Including for England, where he was number 3 mainly, or opened for some of it.
By putting him at number 4 you destabilise the others in the team.
Some of the greatest batsmen of all time have been openers.
Cricinfo profile of the 'James Bond' of cricket:
FULL NAME: Angus James Mackay
BORN: 13 June 1967, Harare
KNOWN AS: Gus Mackay
Why? He's work in progress with plenty of ability and great hands.
He's the equivalent of Jongwe and Tiripano. To bat at 6, you either need to be a genuine batsman or genuine all-rounder and he is far from either currently, especially at test level.
I see your point. Evans has had a bad game.
But Jongwe obviously isn’t in contention in this format due to his fitness and Tiripano is less than useless so Evans is still a better investment. Although he has underwhelmed for sure
Again agree with SZ.
Evans has been poor, we need a seaming all-rounder. That's currently Evans or Jongwe. I lean towards Evans, but he needs to get his shit together. And stop grunting when he sends it down at 130.
He's the equivalent of Jongwe and Tiripano. To bat at 6, you either need to be a genuine batsman or genuine all-rounder and he is far from either currently, especially at test level.
I see your point. Evans has had a bad game.
But Jongwe obviously isn’t in contention in this format due to his fitness and Tiripano is less than useless so Evans is still a better investment. Although he has underwhelmed for sure
When was his last good game with the bat? Its been ages. Tiripano in form is probably better than Evans all things considered
1. Kaia- Stable, doing well in this spot.
2. Ballance. New to the team, plays like a top order bat, comfortable.
3. Ervine. Where he has batted for the last ten years, plays like an opener but is also scratchy early on.
4. Williams. Has dominated in this spot and been our best bat last 5 years. Strokemaker/spin player.
5. Raza. Similar to the above.
6. Wes. He bats similarly to Willo but needs time to develop.
7. Burl. Hasnt got the patience to bat higher. In for bowling moreso than batting nowadays in tests.
This lineup fits all pieces to players strengths almost perfectly.
Cricinfo profile of the 'James Bond' of cricket:
FULL NAME: Angus James Mackay
BORN: 13 June 1967, Harare
KNOWN AS: Gus Mackay
If I'm not mistaken both Kaia and Mavuta had stints in England and Australia in lower grade cricket. And here you see them standing apart from the rest of the lads. Even before them while Mire was there he showed class many a times. I think the experience abroad is something that really benefits us.
He's the equivalent of Jongwe and Tiripano. To bat at 6, you either need to be a genuine batsman or genuine all-rounder and he is far from either currently, especially at test level.
I see your point. Evans has had a bad game.
But Jongwe obviously isn’t in contention in this format due to his fitness and Tiripano is less than useless so Evans is still a better investment. Although he has underwhelmed for sure
Again agree with SZ.
Evans has been poor, we need a seaming all-rounder. That's currently Evans or Jongwe. I lean towards Evans, but he needs to get his shit together. And stop grunting when he sends it down at 130.
He grunts at 130 and 130 is slow by international standards but is still quicker than 99% of cricket bowlers. To me that is like mocking someone running the 100m for straining when running a time of 10.5 because all the olympic finalists are doing it under 9.9.
To me thats not the issue,
The issue is more that he is straining and if he is straining, he will lose accuracy as he isn't bowling within himself, that or lack of fitness.
Thats what we need an eye on.
Cricinfo profile of the 'James Bond' of cricket:
FULL NAME: Angus James Mackay
BORN: 13 June 1967, Harare
KNOWN AS: Gus Mackay