Zimbabwe Vs Netherlands | ICC CWC Qualifier | 20 June 2023

[jaybro]

When did Gumbie become a better keeper option than Madande?

[tawac]

I reckon Wes has had the unfortunate luck of being thrown upfront and being expected to perform where so many have failed. Admittedly, he has been given many chances but does it mean we have to throw him by the way side given the talent he has. But then again he hasnt totally disgraced himself half then time he is falling to any aggressive shot. I like the example of Burl. Burl was always a top order batsman. But like Wes he failed up top. They tried something different with him at 6/7 now no one barely talks about him being dropped because for some reason he is classified as a finisher. His is a batsman with a top score of 59 and averages a shade above 22. Go figure. Given the form our senior players are in, I would stick with Wes for now. The way Burl batted yesterday showed a lot of maturity and experience, something that comes with time. Wes really he needs all the experience he can get before the big 3 retire. He will come good.

[TapsC2]

When did Gumbie become a better keeper option than Madande?

I think they are about the same when it comes to keeping ability with Gumbie being more experienced. He hasn't been first or even second choice keeper for a while. He was the u19 first choice keeper if I remember correctly. Madande wasn't the first choice keeper at u19s. In fact I didn't know he was a keeper to be honest. I think Marumani was second choice, Dane first. They are about the same for me with the gloves.

I'm not saying this is the way to go because Gumbie probably has improved without that added pressure. I'm just saying it's an option they might look at to keep Wes in the team. Madande isn't a natural number 7 either. I would keep Madande in the team but there is always surprise.

Also we know how these things go. Selectors will ask Gumbie if keeping will affect his batting he will say it won't be a problem.

[Googly]

When was Burl given a shot up the order, I don't recall?
If so, how many games?

It's almost time to stop talking about how talented Madhevere is, it only gets you so far. In the absence of a suitable replacement what does dropping him achieve?
How much does one improve from dropping to franchise and trying to consolidate one's game here? I'm not saying you won't, but its limited. Gumbie and Kaia did well in franchise and earned call-ups and did pretty well, but they seem to be the only ones. It's so strange that nobody other than Williams, Ervine and Raza really seem capable of dominating franchise cricket here. Everyone says how shit it is, me included, but only Compton and Ervine have dominated in the last 2 years.


We were all raving about Kaia not so long ago but a couple of poor outings and an injury and he seems to be almost out of favor. It's possible they'll drop Wes for Inno. I dunno.

I really like the way Gumbie puts a value on his wicket, but he is limited in front of square, that much is clear. He was really struggling to keep his run rate up, but so far has more than made up for that by getting through the first 10-15 overs. There's really no price on that, it's absolute dust. Will he be able to use the WI pace to his advantage?
In our team it's critical to get to 15 overs one down max.

Why can't he keep as well? Won't know until he tries. I've always rated him as a keeper, he's a live wire. He's absolutely a better glive man than Clive. Those two drops of Mandande's were not good. Some keepers hear the nick and go- yes please! Some go- Oh Shit!
Is Mandande good enough to warrant a spot purely on his batting? Probably, and if that's the case he should carry on with the gloves because we don't want to jeopardise Gumbie.

The guy that deals with pace the best in our set up is Madhevere, more time than anyone. If he is selected let's hope he has a better plan for the short stuff because its now known he gets out to it. I'd bet Madhevere would have been a world class keeper!!

I don't think you can tinker too much with a winning team.
I'd be surprised if Larry is not replaced. They may well go with Jongwe because he's arguably been better with the ball at the back end than BE.

Whilst we are delighted with our dominant batting in the last two games we've only batted down as far as Burl and even he didn't have much time. They're all probably going to bat on Saturday! Let's hope not, but its likely.

Our two big issues come Saturday are the captaincy and the bowling.
I'm certain Craig will have a better plan. In my view he made a couple of costly errors. He seemed unrepentant about bowling Wes in the 10th. Clearly he discussed it with the coaches and they were all in on it. Look, shit happens, but in hindsight it was a blunder. Also not bowling out Ngarava I thought was a mistake. Also put your best catchers at long off and long on. There's nowhere really to hide someone in the modern game, but long off is definitely not the place.

The seamers all bowl too many loose deliveries. Back of a length, top of off or middle has always worked. They're not robots, but they're way too loose. There's no quick fix either other than not to try and mix it up too much with the new ball. I didn't see Ngarava's supposed new ball coming back into the right hander?

Burl needs to bowl more unless he's having a shit day.
Raza needs to mix it up a bit less. He bowls a good length that yields a dot and immediately changes his next delivery.
Hard to criticise when he took 4 wickets, but dots build pressure.
Masakadza is just a smart good bowler, really underrated.

Huge day on Saturday. Huge.

[Donald]

I hope we use the wicket against nepal for the windies match or things might get ugly.

[Donald]

Would be poetic justice if ngarava gets the final wicket against west indies or makads their batsmen

[secretzimbo]

I hope we use the wicket against nepal for the windies match or things might get ugly.

The local groundsmen get employed directly by the ICC for the duration of the tournament, and there is an ICC curator flown in to oversee. Unfortunately it’s not a bilateral series so Houghton and ZC don’t have the usual ability to ask for the pitch to be a certain way.

[secretzimbo]

Would be poetic justice if ngarava gets the final wicket against west indies or makads their batsmen

Well Keemo Paul is in their squad as well!!

[Donald]

Would be poetic justice if ngarava gets the final wicket against west indies or makads their batsmen

Well Keemo Paul is in their squad as well!!

He should use that to light his torch. Ngarava has been our best fast bowler this tournament so far and bowling missles on occasions

[secretzimbo]

Madande has done really well batting at 7 every time he has had to. Definitely done nothing wrong with the bat and his domestic numbers are very good too.

Glovework isn’t great but the options are Marumani, who I don’t think is any better with the gloves. Or Gumbie, who used to be better but has barely kept for the past two years so how rusty will he be? Also his sudden miraculously batting ability over the past 9 months is arguably a result of him not keeping. Let him carry on doing what he’s doing.

I don’t think it’s our biggest issue.

Our main issue currently has been the ability to take wickets up front. Yes they are really flat pitches but you’d think our attack could take wickets in the first hour against associate sides. I think that’s really concerning. Chatara has been very poor and Blessing hasn’t been firing either.

Also a real concern over the captaincy. Ervine in incredible form with the bat and he’s a very good and popular captain in terms of leadership and the more holistic stuff but his on field captaincy is consistently very poor. It has been for the past year. His decisions are really bizarre. Sorry but conceding penalty runs for having too many inside the circle? That’s fucking unacceptable. As is for some reason bowling about 8 part timers before you give your main spinner the ball. ? Weird