Zim v Sco 2nd T20I

[sam_ahm]

I would like to see Blessing ahead of Chatara for the final T20. Fast bowlers hunt in pairs and I think the sooner Zimbabwe realize that Blessing and Ngarava need to bowl together more often than not, the better it is.

They should also keep Victor Nyauchi in the mix, he is another good bowler who can be groomed.

Zimbabwe are still missing a good all rounder, Jongwe has some good days and then he has some really bad days, moreover he ain't that good with the bat. This is where Brad Evans will be such a good addition, if only he shows interest.

[slcricfan1]

Also, I think for now Ryan Burl should focus more on his batting. That number 5 position will be available soon across formats and that should be his target and should be learning from Sean Williams. Leg spin is a difficult craft and he should be a part timer there. This all rounder expectation will ruin his career, he must bat up the order take his time and if the top order has also done what it should do, his role will be quick fire 60s and 70s in the middle to end overs. Below is my ODI XI.

Shumba (smart cricketer who knows which balls to play and not)
Chakabva (beginning to doubt him but has shown signs)
Ervine (Eventually Myers will have to bat here)
Madhevere
Williams (Burl should be groomed to play here in future)
Raza (This is where Marumani should bat in future)
Burl (On a good batting track Jongwe can bat here and we can include Chatara as an extra pacer)
Jongwe
Masakadza
Muzarabani
Ngarava

I feel chatara is gonna be done soon unfortunately

I would like to see Blessing ahead of Chatara for the final T20. Fast bowlers hunt in pairs and I think the sooner Zimbabwe realize that Blessing and Ngarava need to bowl together more often than not, the better it is.

They should also keep Victor Nyauchi in the mix, he is another good bowler who can be groomed.

Zimbabwe are still missing a good all rounder, Jongwe has some good days and then he has some really bad days, moreover he ain't that good with the bat. This is where Brad Evans will be such a good addition, if only he shows interest.

Think Jongwe has more good days than bad. He will only get better especially with his variations but he really needs to lose the belly. Plus Im pretty sure Jongwe is a better batsman than Evans at least going by his domestic stats.

[sam_ahm]

I would like to see Blessing ahead of Chatara for the final T20. Fast bowlers hunt in pairs and I think the sooner Zimbabwe realize that Blessing and Ngarava need to bowl together more often than not, the better it is.

They should also keep Victor Nyauchi in the mix, he is another good bowler who can be groomed.

Zimbabwe are still missing a good all rounder, Jongwe has some good days and then he has some really bad days, moreover he ain't that good with the bat. This is where Brad Evans will be such a good addition, if only he shows interest.

Think Jongwe has more good days than bad. He will only get better especially with his variations but he really needs to lose the belly. Plus Im pretty sure Jongwe is a better batsman than Evans at least going by his domestic stats.
[/quote]

Yes he is doing OK for now, but needs competition. I think some more all rounders should be in the mix. With Wellington doing so well Zimbabwe's chances of having a 4 man pace attack have reduced, which could be a necessity when T20 WC moves to Australia next year.

[secretzimbo]

Jongwe used to be a very good batter - genuine all rounder back in the day. Seems to have declined though with the bat, which is a shame. I still think he's someone we need in the team though. He's exciting, not consistent but makes stuff happen when you need it. His international stats are actually very good for a third/fourth bowler. He's an upgrade on Tiripano, at least. Evans could provide healthy competition for that spot if he wants to.

As for the discussion on Burl, he's definitely wasted when he bats as low as 7 or whatever. He's a slow starter and seems to need a couple of overs to play himself in. He's not going to get that coming in at 100-5 in the 17th over every time.

But the problem is we have 100 people wanting to bat in positions 3-6. Wes is wasted opening. Marumani probably needs a chance lower down as well. Shumba. Myers. Willo. Craig. Raza. Regis. Burl. Someone has to bat at 7 and two people need to open. In T20's I don't rate Raza as a bat so he should go in at 7 if they are going to bother picking him in this format in the future. But in ODIs you probably want Raza at 5 or 6. Wes bats at 5 or 6 in ODIs too.

Way too many middle order players and 'all rounders'.

For my money I think we should stick Shumba & Burl in as T20 openers and see how they do. They are explosive enough but also good enough to take their time to bat through the powerplay and build an innings. Considering the Ireland and Scotland series were apparently for 'experimenting' - we have surprisingly done very little experimenting!

T20;
1 Burl
2 Shumba
3 Regis
4 Ervine
5 Williams
6 Wes
7 Raza
8 Jongwe
9 Masakadza
10 Muzarabani
11 Ngarava

Of course that middle order becomes less crowded if Willo continues with his retirement anyway.....

[Googly]

Well that's also the statisticians job to prepare some historical stuff, he's a key man.
The counties use that Live NV play, you can replay anything you like, damned clever program.
You can have a game plan but at the end of the day the batter has to assess how it's coming on whilst he's out there. They will have done their homework on the batter as well and his best scoring areas and where the big and small boundaries are, wind, right hand left hand etc
The bowler can have a really good spell and as a batsman u have to accept that, especially if it was a guy you were hoping to target. Its a bit of a game of chess and then of course there's the danger of overthinking it- not something many of our guys are guilty of.
Ideally u need to know if the ring fielders are right or left handed as well. One side the run is on and the other it may not be.
It's amazing how many batsmen resort to reversing as their scoring shot and get out of jail shot these days, it works as well. I reckon you've got to spend long hours getting it right, not just the odd shot in the nets, but sessions of reverse.
The real good guys when they're feeling the mojo just back themselves to clear the boundary when they get a short one or a pitched up one regardless of field positions.
Watch Josh Inglis in this WC, he's crazy good. I'm going to take a bet on him being the highest run scorer.
Our biggest problem is rotating strike with well taken singles, especially the openers, if you can't do that you suddenly find yourself 1 off 7 and you're praying for one in the slot or you're pulling out the reverse and wished you'd practiced it more . That's probably the main reason why our guys struggle. Here in Zim you'll get a 4 or 6 ball in T20 nearly every over, and batters don't have to worry about working the ball too much. Suddenly in international cricket they keep pitching it exactly where you don't like it and there's protection there as well.
Madhevere doesn't like it back of a length and at him, he splices them to midwicket, he's very slow on that shot. He needs to use his crease a bit more, he's very static. Either clear to leg or go inside it and hit it squarer, he's better through off though. That one Scottish seamer is genuinely quick, he's a serious athlete, it's hard to bang him in front of square.

[Googly]

For my money Myers is the guy they must persevere with up front. He's a really good player. I rate him above Wes and Shumba. I've seen this guy play some world class shots, off his pads he's a wizard, you just cant teach that pick up he's got.

[Googly]

Evans will be an interesting addition to the domestic scene.
He got a bum deal last season because he was used to bowl long spells. If he could bowl in tandem with another decent seamer he'd take the wickets he needs to get on the radar. The batsmen just saw him off and took their runs from the other end.
Apparently he was picked in an A squad last season but someone advised him to rather go overseas, the message presumably being he wouldn't get much game time.
Jongwe is a talented guy, but as you said he's let his batting go, which for a medium pace first change type of bowler is not ideal. Evans would have to have a blinder of a season to knock Jongwe off his perch (pardon the pun ).

[secretzimbo]

Evans will be an interesting addition to the domestic scene.
He got a bum deal last season because he was used to bowl long spells. If he could bowl in tandem with another decent seamer he'd take the wickets he needs to get on the radar. The batsmen just saw him off and took their runs from the other end.
Apparently he was picked in an A squad last season but someone advised him to rather go overseas, the message presumably being he wouldn't get much game time.
Jongwe is a talented guy, but as you said he's let his batting go, which for a medium pace first change type of bowler is not ideal. Evans would have to have a blinder of a season to knock Jongwe off his perch (pardon the pun ).

Yeah ZC actually even announced Evans was in the A squad, even though he was already arrived in the UK

Out of the 4 new batting kids, who do you think is best suited to opening in each format? Would Myers do well there or is he better utilised in the middle too? We are desperate for some openers in every format.

[CrimsonAvenger]

Just remembered. From the same batch of U19s as Ngarava, Matigimu, Mavuta, Murray and Mashinge, we also had the accurate left arm spinner Rugare Magarira. He even played domestically with good success for a season and is nowhere to be seen. Anyone has any idea what he is upto? He was in fact bowling with more accuracy than Mavuta in that world up but wasn't in limelight due to the pacers and Mavuta the skipper himself. Remember Cricinfo had wrongly shown him as Chinaman and a lot of us were very excited, but he was just a finger spinner.

[Donald]

Effort needs to be made to get matigimu back on board