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We cant at the moment blood any players as we have the squad of 15 selected for the qualifiers. Who deserves a punt? I have been very impressed with milton shumba in the recently concluded under 19 world cup and feel he has all the makings of a good all rounder. Him and ryan murray i would look to get into the squad quick sharpish.

Yeh agreed , I still think pj has a lot to offer in terms of grit and leadership and could definitely do wallers role a whole lot better ! Many will disagree as his stats aren’t great but all he needs is a big score and I feel he is off .

You can’t currently compare Shumba and Murray to PJ.
The guy has put in some serious hard yards and is a talented bloke in a professional environment and might work harder than any of our batsmen vs two part time 19 year olds. Murray is at uni and I doubt would jack that in to pursue cricket full time just yet, people keep forgetting that. As a pure keeper I’m his biggest fan, he’s brilliant, as a batsman at international level he’s still miles off, but certainly there’s something to work with, but he’s just not around. He’s also leaving it late to get to where he needs to be with his batting, he’s damned good, but there are levels and then there are levels. What they can do with Shumba is invite him to some net sessions and see how he goes. I’m prepared to guarantee that it won’t be pretty initially. Few people realize the massive jump that is required, especially in our set up.
The guy that might become available fairly soon is Lake. Now there’s a proper player that brings a lot to the table.

Why will Lake be available soon?

It’s just a guess. I think he’s close to finishing Uni, if he hasn’t already. I’d be surprised if he didn’t give cricket a good shot because he’s a really good player. I don’t know if he’s got a UK passport so will probably have a struggle to crack county and I know they’d look at him almost immediately here. They’d be stupid not to put him into Zim A as he touched down. He can really bat, and he’s a more than useful seamer and a fantastic fielder.

What about Eddie Byrom? I really don't see him playing for England

firebreaker wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:25 pm

What about Eddie Byrom? I really don't see him playing for England

That lucrative county contract won't be given up quickly. He probably won't be selected for England, but he's equally probably going to have what it takes to be a success at county level. I do hope he comes back, but it won't be for a while at least

sloandog wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:12 pm

firebreaker wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 07, 2018 10:25 pm

What about Eddie Byrom? I really don't see him playing for England

That lucrative county contract won't be given up quickly. He probably won't be selected for England, but he's equally probably going to have what it takes to be a success at county level. I do hope he comes back, but it won't be for a while at least

What about Nick Welch? Seems he hasn't had nearly the same success as Byrom.

Only Patriotic or players who wants to play international cricket anyhow, are going to make comeback and represent Zimbabwe,leaving such a lucrative county and club cricket deals.

Byrom, Welch and Lake has been matter of talk in last 2 to 3 years, still no updates has been found from them regarding their future with the game

Ed Byrom will most certainly see how he can go in County first. From a Zim perspective there’s nothing wrong with that becouse should he elect to return he’d come back a much better player than if he was trying to play here. You can’t say he won’t play for England just yet. He’s opening for Somerset so if he has a good run of it over the next few years and improves why wouldn’t he be on their radar?
Nick Welch isn’t eligible for County yet, he’s got a year to go. In the meantime he’s played a bunch of games for County Two’s sides- Surrey, Sussex, Essex, MCC and a couple of others. He’s been a bit inconsistent, but has had enough good innings that he keeps getting games. The fact that he scores the runs he does when they don’t let him practice with them is freakish. He told me that last season 90% of the time they’d call him Sunday night for the Monday game, says it’s very difficult to be prepared as he’s still learning his game and the pressure to perform is enormous, basically 3 failures in a row and he’s off their radar. He scored a brilliant 130 against Netherlands last season and probably a better 80 against a serious Middlesex attack. He’s starting uni at Loughborough in Sep where he will be able to get the quality practice he needs and I think that’s where he will probably be able to relax and produce the consistently big innings that are needed to be considered for professional cricket.