zimcricketforums.com

I was thinking today. Who are our MVPs and in what top 10 order? Taking into account every facet and dimension you can think of.
The player that would cause the most damage if they retired tomorrow.

1. Sean Williams

Possibly Our best batsman. Our test skipper. Gutsy. And also very capable of taking wickets and offering SLA bowling as good as anyone in the nation. There is an argument he is our best bat and best spinner atm. A national treasure. For me, the real MVP.

2. Sikandar Raza

Very similar reasons as the above. Not as good a bat as Sean (or BT and Craig) but no doubt in our top 5. Like Sean, he also offers a good spin option. He is probably the best spinner in the country. He’s also energetic in the field and very positive in his play.

3. Brendan Taylor.

I think a lot of people would be surprised he is so low. Our best bat of the last twenty years. Whether he still is, is debatable, but no matter who you are, you’d still rate him in our top 3. He is low down because he’s too unfit to keep wicket atm, and is 34. Still very very capable and important to the team.

4. Tendai Chatara.

We are very short of pace options so the ones we have are like gold to us. Chatara and Kyle are very similar in quality, and Kyle is slightly better, but Chatara JUST nudges ahead on this list because of his younger age.

5. Kyle Jarvis

Our best bowler. For reasons above. Only this low because of age. 31 for a bowler is equivalent of 35 for a bat. Still a gem, but can go missing in days.

6. Craig Ervine

Great fielder, improving still and on his day is silkier than a thin skin lubricated Condom. There is an argument he is our best bat, but he can be inconsistent. Would be higher if he offered a bowling option, and surprisingly, despite his youthful good looks, is our oldest bat at nearly 35 years of age. That said, if all our players, he’s the one that I think could still comfortably go to age 40. He’s fit and firing. I think will eventually be our test captain based on his efforts today.

After the top 6, it’s daylight.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Now I need to bend my brain and get creative on who’s rounding out 7 to 10.

7. Ryan Murray.

Is eligible for this list as he has pledged allegiance to the Stonebird. From my understanding he is an outstanding keeper. He can make the top 7 on batting merit and he’s extremely young. Needs to be drafted in and kept for a decade.

8. Wes Madhevere

Young, pledged to ZC,so is eligible for this list, and can be a great alll rounder going forward. At ease with the worlds best in the 19s WC. Will be a Raza type in three years.

9. That Nyungi bloke.

The Chinaman. Can’t remember his name. He’s the only wrist spinner left in the system after Cremers departure. He’s also proved capable at his age. We are going to need this kid. A world without him is one where we have no proper spin in the country at all.

10. Pj Moor

Proven performer at test level who hasn’t found his feet but getting there and young enough that he still has time. Aggressive bat and touted as a future leader. He can also keep. He’s one guy who could have been towards the top of this list, but not there yet.

Special mention.
Ryan Burl- young but needs to do something. Capable no doubt, but time to deliver something and stop being injured.
Shumba - future test bat
The prince - an opener who is handling himself at the top. The future is important but we still need to deal with the present.
Donald - can bat and bowl a bit.
Musakanda - talented, but where is his head at?

Good thread:

1) Raza - Equal second best batsman on the team, tied with Williams and Ervine IMO. The reason being, apart from Taylor, all 3 of Raza-Willy-Ervine often go through extended patches of poor form. As the Dogg said, the best spinner in the team, and one of the better bowlers overall.

2) Williams - Same reasoning as the Dogg for my top two picks, but Williams was for far too long a player who would score runs only when the game was already lost. Its only been in the past 2-3 years Williams has been scoring meaningful runs. To me that is a very big flaw, granted Williams is now correcting that.

3) Taylor - no need to explain. The premier batsman.

4) Jarvis - The premier quick.

5) Ervine - The last of ZIM's batting Big 4. His experience and experience are vital.

No one else qualifies for consideration IMO. Chatara for me is just an honorable mention.

Chakabva is before Murray and the U19 cohort. He averages 25 and tends to chip in with that sort of score each innings.
If anything I think he should bat higher up the order, he probably misses out on putting on bigger scores because he's left with the tail. He should be coming in before someone like Maruma.

You’ve made me think.

I can’t recall the Last time Chatara faced a premier attack.
Somethings weird when I can’t finger when I saw him bowl last to a top 8 team.

I'd agree more with your original order ZIMDOGGY + Regis as brmtaylor.com admin puts it. He should have been at 5 in this test.

Chatara won us that match against the Lankans in the tri-series in BD recently taking a 4-for when they were going hammer and tongs at the end with Thisara looking like taking it away from us. He is usually the guy who gets the first and early breakthrough whenever him and Jarvis play together. His value is unquestionable.

It’s often combination bowling that gets wickets, McGrath and Warne being an obvious example, maybe Chats and KJ are a good pair.
Murray can’t be fancying his chances with Reggie around.
Ideally he would need to prove himself in FC anyway, that’s when ZC manage to string a few games together. This story ZC are peddling about you have to be playing and performing in FC is fine in theory, but then somehow put together 20-30 games for them to get some stats and form together. I’m seeing guys playing poorly for two games and being told they’re in bad nick? That’s just stupid. I do think they should persevere with their plan a bit longer so they can put it to bed for a while. I was going to say once and for all, but people have short memories and they’ll be punting this program again when memories fade, like early next year.
There’s something weird about our FC, there’s virtually nobody that performs really consistently with bat or ball, yet the standard is not that great and certainly getting worse. When was the last time anyone got back to back centuries or back to back fifers?

It took an extraordinary season from Sibley to get the ECB’s attention, and I know as a fact they only gave him a shot begrudgingly. And the interesting part is that he’s not quite looked the part. I’d have said Gary Ballance was better than him all day long.

If Regis retires tomorrow I wouldn’t be too concerned.
I don’t hate him. Don’t mind his selections usually. But if he went I’d shrug my shoulders and just think Richmond or Moor is next.

Our seasons are basically just a few trials games with players that seem to be able to change sides willy nilly.
It’s low level stuff. It keeps all the players’ interest though, because they know they might be two games a way from a call up, or guys like Burl and Moor now know they’re the same two games from not getting a call up for an entire year. After all the dust has settled and the calling all pockets approach has run its course both those two should find themselves back in contention, they’ve proven that on a good day they can hold their own.
We’re long in batsmen at the moment though and no one is really putting their hands up, it’s the bowling that’s wide open, but I think we’ve now seen everyone. I haven’t seen Chris Mpofu for a while it surely he has to now be in contention again?

Well if Reggie were to go I’d like to see Murray get a turn. We’ve seen the other guys and they’re average by international standards. At least let’s look at Murray for 10 games, give him an honest shot, if he doesn’t cut it then send him down.
We need a Blessing or a Matigimu urgently.