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Every now and then on this forum people post what they believe is a greatest Zimbabwean 11 of all time, or from test era onward. Mueddie especially will do this unannounced at random and wont even preface the 11 with any type of context or thought.


Usually everyone has the same 60% of players, Flowers and the Streaks etc but theres alot of conjecture on the other 40%.

What makes it difficult for players of the last ten years is the lacklustre opposition they generally face, whereas the 90s teams were up against full strength Aussie, English and Indian sides, we draw Afghanistan and Bangladesh mainly now.

That said, Ervine has now played a sizable 50 games and averages 37 in the ODI format.Forumites like Eugene and Conant believed in him from day one but I had reservations that he was a nervous starter or an associate bully, however he is genuinely starting to produce against credible teams like NZ and Sri Lanka, and deserves some wraps, and he is only getting better, and whats more, he looks good in the middle. Composed and in control, with a good shot selection.

His improvement has been uncanny, and what we would normally expect from someone who has been in the team 5 years, which actually makes the Elton, Sibanda and Hammy cases more heartbreaking. Why havent they improved? Although thats a separate topic.

So to finish,
Is Craig Ervine in your all time best 11?

oh please, YOU FOOL.

Ervine is only consistently in the team, at a comfortable number 3 or 4 position, because he is WHITE. Anyone can average 37 if they have the luxury of looking at the new ball from the stands and then coming in and taking their time.

Weight aside, What is the difference between Hammy and Craig? I'll tell you what, Hammy is a nappy haired blunt nosed NEGRO and therefore doesnt get the same opportunities to develop and show their skills in the way Craig can.

Its like Heath Streak rolls out the red carpet in the limo to the games on the 5 white guys, and the rest have to take the bus, then have to jump and say thankyou master for their weekly paycheque.

-watermelon.

His stats definitely put him in the discussion but yes the likes of The Flowers, Goodwin and co were touring Australia, India and England often which Craig hasn't so I really can't put him in the side. Looking at the side in my signature I can't even find room for Campbell although granted my side is more of a test line up I just can't find a spot for him, maybe instead of Taibu ?? But then surely Campbell would move in since he does have 7 ODI centuries .....

I was actually thinking about this subject the last few days but I think after his career is finished we can compare him to these other guys .....

Craig Ervine shouldn't just be in the Zimbabwe all-time XI, but also the World all-time XI. PJ Moor is closing in on this honour also.

watermelon wrote:oh please, YOU FOOL.

Ervine is only consistently in the team, at a comfortable number 3 or 4 position, because he is WHITE. Anyone can average 37 if they have the luxury of looking at the new ball from the stands and then coming in and taking their time.

Even though that "luxury" normally sees him come in early because of Charis poor shots and even poorer running, as well as Chamu's usual 20 odd before he throws his wicket away. Colour has nothing to do with it the reason he averages 37 is because he deserves to and bats well enough YOU FOOL

Craig's highest scores have come @3 and his average has risen since Whatmore moved him there .....

Certainly there for the moment in ODIs.

Needs some more tests to secure his spot,

T20s not so much

stats.espncricinfo.com/zimbabwe/engine/records/batting/highest_career_batting_average.html?class=2;id=9;type=team

stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/averages/batting.html?class=1;id=9;type=team

well from those 2 stats Craig Ervine actually is very underrated by us fans. he has the highest ODI average(37 which says a lot about us) for guys who have played at least 20 games. he is also 5th on the test averages for guys who have at least played 10 tests with only Goodwin Taylor Flower and Houghton averaging more.

many people will say he is this high compared to a Grant Flower for example because of the quality of opposition he has faced and I agree but we have to look at it both ways in the sense that in the 90s the administration and economy was far better.all they had to worry about was playing lots of cricket. these days players face dozens of problems, don't play much cricket at domestic and international level and the coaching isn't as good.

my point being that Craig Ervine might have actually turned out to be a better player had he been subjected to the same system as the Goodwins of our side. Goodwin only played for Zimbabwe between 1998-2000 but managed to play 71 ODIs and 19 tests. he didn't have to wait 14 months in between tests which kills consistency. for me Craig is in our top 5 batsmen and he will hit a form period soon where people will really appreciate him.

jaybro wrote:His stats definitely put him in the discussion but yes the likes of The Flowers, Goodwin and co were touring Australia, India and England often which Craig hasn't so I really can't put him in the side. Looking at the side in my signature I can't even find room for Campbell

I agree. As a middle order bat Craig would need to get picked ahead of Goodwin, Andy Flower or BT (not to mention Grant and Houghton). No competition, yet.

jaybro wrote:Craig's highest scores have come @3 and his average has risen since Whatmore moved him there .....

+1

Craig Ervine is clearly the best batsman of current Zimbabwe side.