Zimbabwe Emerging vs Namibia

[sloandog]

Googly, googly where for art thou googly

[slcricfan1]

Good post.
I will say that ‘trust’ is an all encompassing word here that also represents the moolah on offer.

You need to put yourself in the shoes of that Melton (forget the first name) who is doing well in county as a fast bowler.
Comfort and security of county cricket vs turbulence of Africa.
Now the thing is, ZC CAN overcome it. They have proven they have the ability to stump up the required cash when needed. Yes, 4 (financially) poor half decent Logan cup performers will suffer for it, but it’ll strengthen the national team.
But beyond that three year (or so) hypothetical agreement, why happens to Melton at age 28? After his county careers skittled, ZC has him by the balls. Will he continue to earn a good crust? Who knows. This is the test.

I’ve said previously I’m all for the fab 5 (inc. Blessing here) to get big cash at the expense of others, since your average Logan cup player will never play first class elsewhere, but the right guys must be looked after if we are too keep our head above water.

Side note;
I find it interesting that as soon as Googly left you arrived.

Haha, well, I like to stay anonymous (always a good idea in Zimbabwe in general) so not too keen to post when I'm pretty sure I know Googly in real life lol.

Forgot about Melton! He's another one along with Byrom & Ben Curran who's out of contract at the end of this season. I reckon Ben Curran has shown enough potential in limited overs to get an extension at Northants. Byron's had a bad year but a small county might take a punt on him. Melton hasn't been doing so well recently either. Interesting to see what he does.


I suppose theres two separate discussions/issues here; one around the established county pro's coming back in on contracts etc, and the second is the issue about young kids, U19's leaving Zim/leaving the game altogether.

rather take melton over the others honestly. Zimbabwe have a pretty decent batting lineup rn but the bowling looks quite awful for some reason.

[zimbos_05]

Isn't Harry Streak supposed to be a serious batter?

I doubt the Streaks will so much as get a cup of water from ZC

[ZIMFAN]

I think some progress has been made with 'trust', but obviously it was so darn broken in the first place it's going to take a very very very very long time - if ever - for that to ever be rebuilt with certain people. I really think ZC is in a better place now that it has been for quite a while and its pretty stable right now. They seem to be trying to work with certain people, groups and schools that they previously didn't. 'White Zim facebook groups' - might not be too representative, considering the ones I've seen/aware of.

But yeah, it's going to take a long time to really rebuild that trust and again it's not just a cricket issue really. It's prevalent in the country as a whole and certain sections of the white community and diaspora are probably too far gone at this point.


I mean really, ultimately, the bigger issue is money when it comes to cricket in Zim. Even more so than 'trust'. Fact remains that a large proportion of white zimbos have very easy access to opportunities overseas, be it through UK ancestry visas or through family friends and the large diaspora network. And of course the very good education and (relative) wealth that a fair chunk have. Again this isn't just cricket. People leave for various reasons and jobs where realistically they can earn more and have a better quality of life elsewhere.

Truth is you can earn more working part time in a restaurant and having a nice life playing amateur cricket in the UK than you can playing professional cricket in Zimbabwe. The national team players here get paid well and theres obviously a few really big contracts for the top guys. But for the franchise players they only get paid for a few months a year and they get peanuts really. It's really easy for the likes of 'Yvmnaidu' to sit there and post 'do it for love of country, not for money' - but this is a country where even a fucking reliable internet connection costs more per month than you'd earn playing professional cricket. Not to mention the government can't even supply power, let alone clean water, to your house, and then add it to the multitude of other problems and general state of the place. And then you've got a UK ancestry visa sitting there on your desk and most of your mates are there. What would 99 out of 100 young guys do?

If we had a domestic set-up that could offer a good pay packet and financial security to lets say 50 players year on year then obviously you'd get a hell of a lot more of the white kids staying and giving it a shot. But as a 19-year-old, are you really going to slog it out for a couple of dollars per match, for years, playing only a handful of matches per year? Oh, and then you've got zero income from March-November each year too.

Best we can hope for is that the professional overseas players come back every year for the Logan Cup and strengthen the domestic matches, and hope the remaining committed Zim-based players benefit from it. When the big 4 retire there will be openings in the team and some big contracts might be available for a couple of established overseas players who fancy a crack at playing a Test or a world cup before their career is over.

Oh and fwiw, we seem to be producing more and more talented black kids than ever before, so it's less of a problem than it used to be. Myers, Wes etc are as talented as or more talented than any white kids in their age group anyway. But I guess the sub-continent posters will still be here 5 or 6 years from now saying they wish Luke Oldknow - who has otherwise disappeared - should be in the Test team

Good post.
I will say that ‘trust’ is an all encompassing word here that also represents the moolah on offer.

You need to put yourself in the shoes of that Melton (forget the first name) who is doing well in county as a fast bowler.
Comfort and security of county cricket vs turbulence of Africa.
Now the thing is, ZC CAN overcome it. They have proven they have the ability to stump up the required cash when needed. Yes, 4 (financially) poor half decent Logan cup performers will suffer for it, but it’ll strengthen the national team.
But beyond that three year (or so) hypothetical agreement, why happens to Melton at age 28? After his county careers skittled, ZC has him by the balls. Will he continue to earn a good crust? Who knows. This is the test.

I’ve said previously I’m all for the fab 5 (inc. Blessing here) to get big cash at the expense of others, since your average Logan cup player will never play first class elsewhere, but the right guys must be looked after if we are too keep our head above water.

Side note;
I find it interesting that as soon as Googly left you arrived.

I would have loved to see secretzimbo and googly chewing the fat. I also found it interesting that he came when googly left. He is, as googly was, a very valued member of the forum. I did wonder if they are one in the same but secretzimbo is more conciliatory and fair towards ZC.

[slcricfan1]

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/zim ... cket-score

[Donald]

Almost four overs and not even 20 runs.

[ZIMDOGGY]

I think some progress has been made with 'trust', but obviously it was so darn broken in the first place it's going to take a very very very very long time - if ever - for that to ever be rebuilt with certain people. I really think ZC is in a better place now that it has been for quite a while and its pretty stable right now. They seem to be trying to work with certain people, groups and schools that they previously didn't. 'White Zim facebook groups' - might not be too representative, considering the ones I've seen/aware of.

But yeah, it's going to take a long time to really rebuild that trust and again it's not just a cricket issue really. It's prevalent in the country as a whole and certain sections of the white community and diaspora are probably too far gone at this point.


I mean really, ultimately, the bigger issue is money when it comes to cricket in Zim. Even more so than 'trust'. Fact remains that a large proportion of white zimbos have very easy access to opportunities overseas, be it through UK ancestry visas or through family friends and the large diaspora network. And of course the very good education and (relative) wealth that a fair chunk have. Again this isn't just cricket. People leave for various reasons and jobs where realistically they can earn more and have a better quality of life elsewhere.

Truth is you can earn more working part time in a restaurant and having a nice life playing amateur cricket in the UK than you can playing professional cricket in Zimbabwe. The national team players here get paid well and theres obviously a few really big contracts for the top guys. But for the franchise players they only get paid for a few months a year and they get peanuts really. It's really easy for the likes of 'Yvmnaidu' to sit there and post 'do it for love of country, not for money' - but this is a country where even a fucking reliable internet connection costs more per month than you'd earn playing professional cricket. Not to mention the government can't even supply power, let alone clean water, to your house, and then add it to the multitude of other problems and general state of the place. And then you've got a UK ancestry visa sitting there on your desk and most of your mates are there. What would 99 out of 100 young guys do?

If we had a domestic set-up that could offer a good pay packet and financial security to lets say 50 players year on year then obviously you'd get a hell of a lot more of the white kids staying and giving it a shot. But as a 19-year-old, are you really going to slog it out for a couple of dollars per match, for years, playing only a handful of matches per year? Oh, and then you've got zero income from March-November each year too.

Best we can hope for is that the professional overseas players come back every year for the Logan Cup and strengthen the domestic matches, and hope the remaining committed Zim-based players benefit from it. When the big 4 retire there will be openings in the team and some big contracts might be available for a couple of established overseas players who fancy a crack at playing a Test or a world cup before their career is over.

Oh and fwiw, we seem to be producing more and more talented black kids than ever before, so it's less of a problem than it used to be. Myers, Wes etc are as talented as or more talented than any white kids in their age group anyway. But I guess the sub-continent posters will still be here 5 or 6 years from now saying they wish Luke Oldknow - who has otherwise disappeared - should be in the Test team

Good post.
I will say that ‘trust’ is an all encompassing word here that also represents the moolah on offer.

You need to put yourself in the shoes of that Melton (forget the first name) who is doing well in county as a fast bowler.
Comfort and security of county cricket vs turbulence of Africa.
Now the thing is, ZC CAN overcome it. They have proven they have the ability to stump up the required cash when needed. Yes, 4 (financially) poor half decent Logan cup performers will suffer for it, but it’ll strengthen the national team.
But beyond that three year (or so) hypothetical agreement, why happens to Melton at age 28? After his county careers skittled, ZC has him by the balls. Will he continue to earn a good crust? Who knows. This is the test.

I’ve said previously I’m all for the fab 5 (inc. Blessing here) to get big cash at the expense of others, since your average Logan cup player will never play first class elsewhere, but the right guys must be looked after if we are too keep our head above water.

Side note;
I find it interesting that as soon as Googly left you arrived.

I would have loved to see secretzimbo and googly chewing the fat. I also found it interesting that he came when googly left. He is, as googly was, a very valued member of the forum. I did wonder if they are one in the same but secretzimbo is more conciliatory and fair towards ZC.

No chance one and the same.
Googly writing style was very unique and different to Secrets, I don’t think Googly would be able to change his style that much and keep it up. Would be sensational acting if so.
Would be like Yvmnaidu suddenly figuring out how to spell.

[slcricfan1]

spineless innings so far lol

[CalZim]

Must be a really slow wicket.

We can’t judge yet until we see them bat.

Frynlick is a quality bowler though, the best bowler for their main side. He must be playing to add experience and to get some game time.

Need chamu and kazusa to step up here.

[rusty17]

They are just saying David Wiese is going to have a run for them in the T20 WC qualifiers. They could be a bit of a Smokey to make the main draw. It’s gonna be a tough watch without Zim though