My view on things...

[mightymaido]

Well I've been on this forum for a few years now only making the odd fleeting comment here and there, although, I do regularly log on to find out the latest bad news Zimbabwe cricket has to offer. I think it's about time I give my views on cricket in Zim...
I think now is probably one of the lowest ebbs Zim cricket has experienced after first losing to Afghanistan and now being outplayed by Bangladesh. The players just aren't good enough I'm afriad. Yes, Raza, Hammy, Chigs, Williams and Ervine are all good cricketers but they don't perform consistently well in international cricket. People saying Chigs should be dropped well who are you going to replace him with then? Burl is obviously a decent cricketer but is he really international standard yet? And are one or two changes to the side really going to make Zim into a winning side? I mean Dav is a proven international coach with a wealth of experience and the team still manage to lose from winning positions week in week out...no-one can argue now that we don't get enough cricket.
The players look completely mentally shot and who can blame them after being shafted so frequently by the board. Yes the economy is screwed but cricket in Zim should be immune from that due to the grants from the ICC. The ICC should act like FIFA did with ZIFA but they won't. The top of the ICC is more corrupt than ZC and that is some achievement. Politics and sport should be separate entities in my opinion but in Zimbabwe they seem to be one and the same. Selection should be on merit irrespective of race, colour, creed. I don't blame the likes of Taylor, Jarvis and Ervine leaving. Taylor is very patriotic and he probably won't return.
Who can blame lads for wanting further education abroad but when they come back to Zim there should, and could, be a 10-15 year career for them in cricket. With the right governance this can be achieved, I mean it's not a difficult job to obtain sponsorship for an international cricket team or run a T20 comp that's televised each year. Campbell may also have been sticking his hand in the pot but at least he was getting things done.
There is still passion for cricket in Zimbabwe though and that will (hopefully) never die out. I see it on Facebook and Twitter hundreds of people have views similar to mine. Can the people in Zim do anything to stop cricket slipping further down the drain? Sign up and vote in board elections? Surely there's enough good guys out there to make things better...

[gargamel]

[quote="mightymaido"] Can the people in Zim do anything to stop cricket slipping further down the drain? Sign up and vote in board elections? Surely there's enough good guys out there to make things better...
[/quote/]

As a guy involved in administering the game i must admit to you all that i am frustrated with what in my opinion is ZC dictating to the board on the course of action on reviving the game. The constant restructuring and movement of the few iknowledgeable cricket folk is harming our game. Guys are stuck in their old ways and are not making any changes to advance the game. To effect a board coup it requires support from at least 6 of the 10 provinces with a lot of boot licking of associate provinces. Unfortunately the cushy perks of being a ZC board member where one gets to travel around the world and if rumours are true a nice $500 an hour for each board or committee siting makes any efforts of change difficult. We just need to wait for another 3 years when the board could possibly change. so lets buckle up and enjoy the ZC roller coaster

[Googly]

There is no way we have another 3 years as a full member unless ICC are going to make a two tier test system.

[sloandog]

There is no way we have another 3 years as a full member unless ICC are going to make a two tier test system.

Yea I'm not sure where this optimistic three year projection has come from Garg, I reckon, at a push, we have a year and a half before the ICC step in.

[mightymaido]

It's in the interests of India so basically the ICC to keep ZC a full member though..it's a guaranteed vote for them as long as India C tours Zim every other year for 3 ODI's.

[gargamel]

The ICC cannot intervene where there is a legitimately and constitutionally elected board on matters and affairs in Zimbabwe. The only intervention that the ICC could do to protect the status of full members is have an adviser in the country retsructure and turnaround ZC over a 3 to 5 year period with ICC funds being ringfenced to be used for development and running the game. The other intervention is simply withholding the grant till ZC gets its act togetehr

[ZIMDOGGY]

What's this vote exactly I keep hearing about?

Voting for what? India and Australia are chummy as fuck so no bad blood there.

And whatever amazing perks that this vote gains would surely be able to be enough to sway broke boards like the Windies and NZ to whatever this votes aboyt.
Or this vote can come from Ireland if they are promised a place from this mythical ballot.
Mans if not Ireland, I guarantee Afghanistan will be up in this ballot box if they replace zim.

My bet is No one cares about this vote or it will take 24 hours to rearrange.

ICC can step in wherever they want if they have the will. They may not even know.

[eugene]

Zimbabwe's test status will be fine for some time just because of the simple fact that we don't play many tests. If you only play 2 per year you can last a decade before the defeats seem embarrassing.

[TapsC]

I have been reading this forum for months now but only recently registered. My opinion as a true fan of ZC is that all these extra games we are playing have exposed our team badly as we were not used to seeing our team losing every month. We were just used to a few months cricket after which we would have 4 months to get over the losses.

To be honest the pressure is on the players now. We can blame the board all we want but we cannot lie and say they haven't done anything. More games are being played even for the A team, Makhaya and Marvin(hopefully) are coming to help Dav and the last game Elton was dropped.

I feel we are 60% there. What we need is to play our best combinations, something we have not done for ages. For example I feel if we get Panyangara, Chatara and Cremer playing together our bowling would be much more threatening in ODIs. As for the batting the boys need confidence, the experience is there but the constant playing in spin friendly conditions is killing chamu raza chigs vusi and hami who are more comfortable playing Pace. only ervine and williams can play spin comfortably.

As for 2016 I say firstly let's see how Bangladesh performs when they play in Zim. we can't deny they are almost world class in their own conditions.Not saying we will beat them comfortably but we should improve. secondly let's see how Afghanistan fares in the Asia cup, something tells me we are actually underestimating how good they are.Also I feel we should stop making spin friendly pitches at home when our batters struggle against spin. we were much more competitive at the world cup because of the batter and pace friendly wickets. I know some of u will say well opposition batters will just cream our bowlers but guys we have to try something different. if we work on our death bowling then I believe we could compete on those type of wickets.let's not forget our boys were the most economic team in the first 10 at the world cup if I remember right. finally let's play the west indies and Sri Lanka, hopefully at home. Something tells me we might actually be close to the level of those 2 teams, especially the west Indian test team.

Let's not completely lose hope guys. this is a sport we all love and there is a danger we could lose it. we don't want that, the players don't want that and trust me even this board does not want that because it feeds their families and this is why they are bringing in coaches and organizing more cricket. hopefully they can also bring back some overseas based players. someone like Sean ervine who if I read correctly signed a 3 year deal in 2013 so it should expire this year. don't know if he signed another one. Solomon Mire too , I genuinely saw some raw talent in that lad. to me he is a stronger, faster and more mature version of Luke Jongwe

[Googly]

Eugene, I hear you about us not playing that many tests, but the full membership status must bring in a bigger revenue stream from ICC and unless they include Ireland and Afghanistan very soon they have every right to start feeling aggrieved.
It would be good if someone had information on what plans the ICC actually have for these three teams goin forward.