zimcricketforums.com

Over the last season which national team player has surprised you the most with good form and which has disappointed you the most with bad form.

For me, the most surprising has been Vusi Sibanda. I was never much of a Sibanda fan but he has proven me wrong and I think we saw his importance to the top order when he was absent on our NZ tour.

On the other hand, the most disappointing has been Hamilton Masakadza. He has had a few good innings, but for the most part has been rather disappointing and his career doesn't seemed to have kicked-on to the next level. Elton Chigumbura also gets an dishonourable mention in this category.

Surprising: Malcolm Waller. Didn't expect him to do so well i'm not going to lie.

Disappointing: Ray Price. He hasn't been the razor of old

Positive surprise: Vusi!

Disappointing: While Hami has been below par, his form has been on and off for the last few years ... much the same goes for Chigs. Therefore I'm not overly disappointed. Ray is definitely on the wane, so a good call there, Sloan. But the one huge disappointment has been the fielding of all the national team players collectively.

Positive surprise - Mawoyo. I was totally against his inclusion and whilst his efforts internationally may yet taper off, he's done much better than I ever dreamed possible.

Negative - Good call on the fielding it is crap, for an individual, I think Taibu. He has been below par and I think it is his mental application more than anything.

Jemisi wrote:Negative - Good call on the fielding it is crap, for an individual, I think Taibu. He has been below par and I think it is his mental application more than anything.

I was thinking about Taibu too. He has somehow turned into a sort of bits-and-pieces batsman. But to fair he's been injured on and off throughout the season, playing with a finger injury and then touring NZ with very little FC cricket behind him.

Taibu would be the most disappointing player of the last 2-3 seasons probably.

Ca we please stop the Taibu bashing....

I'm nt calling for his dropping or anything. I think he has just been a bit too inconsistent. He is managing only 1 - 1.5 fifties a series - which protects his place compared to some others, but he isn't building towards the greater consistency that he should be by this stage of his career.

Taibu really hasn't taken the next step to elite. He was easily our best batsman when the rebel-saga first happened. He has since been surpassed by Brendan Taylor and Vusi Sibanda and Sean Williams if he was still around.

If you restrict to this season alone, then I would go with the following, in that order:

1. Most Surprising:

a. Tino Mawoyo (Out of nowhere, a solid beginning to the test career)
b. Malcolm Waller (A different fearless outlook of him, as compared to the timid one we had seen earlier in his career)
c. Vusi Sibanda (he always had it in him, it just took so much time for him to find his feet at this level)

2. Most Disappointing:

a. The fielding. Atrocious. Enough said.
b. Hamilton Masakadza (Had to step up given the occasion, but faltered many a times, finding it difficult to decide whether to play his natural game or to be the anchor)
c. Ray Price (Yes, less than impressive, compared to the highs of last few seasons)

Taibu obviously hasn't managed to step up, as eugene says, and playing too cute has led to his downfall many a times in the recent past.