The Lost Talent Blues

[ZIMDOGGY]

Although they aren't great, Prince, Kaia, Shingi, Mutombodzi and Maruma have all improved from their early 20s.

You’re kidding.

[ZIMFAN]

In the sense they used to be wrist spinners and are now seen as creditable first class batsmen a case can easily be made for saying maruma and mutombidzi have improved. They may not cut it at international level but it doesn't mean those two points can't coexist.

[Jemisi]

Although they aren't great, Prince, Kaia, Shingi, Mutombodzi and Maruma have all improved from their early 20s.

You’re kidding.

Yes and no. Those guys are all better batsmen in the thirties than in the early twenties. But those were the examples I could think of. Which means your general point holds up. With only these few examples of improvement we generally are not seeing talents mature in the way we are familiar in other contexts.

[PieChucker]

[quoteWhat is causing that? It makes no sense. You should progressively get better until 33-35. Why was Hammy at 17 better than the Hammy at 34?[/quote]

The coaching seems to be a big part of it - but I'd also add a lack of motivation. Seems like guys are happy to get into the national side, sign a contract, earn some money and then kick back and enjoy it.
Seems like there's not a lot of external motivation - pressure from up and coming players
and not much internal motivation - desire to be better with every game, to keep learning and keep improving, eliminating flaws and finding ways to grow.
Steve Waugh was already a regular in the Aussie side when he analyzed his game and all his dismissals he discovers that most of them were from playing horizontal shots, so he eliminated the cut, the pull and the hook from his repertoire completely. His average rose to over 50 and never went below it after that. Consistent work and desire to be better seems to be absent....

[ZIMDOGGY]

Although they aren't great, Prince, Kaia, Shingi, Mutombodzi and Maruma have all improved from their early 20s.

You’re kidding.

Yes and no. Those guys are all better batsmen in the thirties than in the early twenties. But those were the examples I could think of. Which means your general point holds up. With only these few examples of improvement we generally are not seeing talents mature in the way we are familiar in other contexts.

Shingi and Mutombodzi only got better because they were number 10 batsman, so had a low base to start from.
Not interested in number 11s who have started applying themslves, but rather actual batsmen.

I think the answer is closer to piechuckers thoughts.