NPL 2023

[Googly]

They don't play girl's cricket at school. I have absolutely no idea how these ladies have any skills at all, because they literally pick up a bat at 18. There must be some real inherent talent there. That's why I was asking about that white girl because I've never heard a white chick so much as express the vaguest interest in cricket. Those black ladies originally basically got coerced into starting cricket as zc needed to and I guess it's gained a bit of traction, but not much.
There's not really a sport white girls play en masse after school, or black for that matter. Hockey used to be very strong and that's about it. Netball I think may be popular amongst the black ladies?
They all drink, if that counts. It's a national sport and some are very sporting Ya our sporting culture has really nose dived over the years.
Gym and cross fit is a thing amongst the white girls.
There are some social runners, cyclists mmmm.. I'm struggling to defend our ladies.

[sloandog]

There's a lot of white faces in the system at the moment. Hope the powers that be don't see their asses.

Nick Welch
Ryan Burl
Brad Evans
Sean Williams
Craig Ervine
Johnny Campbell
Ali Frost
Dane Schadendorff
Ben Curran
Matt Welch
Jayden Schadendorf

Anyone else I've missed?

[secretzimbo]

They don't play girl's cricket at school. I have absolutely no idea how these ladies have any skills at all, because they literally pick up a bat at 18. There must be some real inherent talent there. That's why I was asking about that white girl because I've never heard a white chick so much as express the vaguest interest in cricket. Those black ladies originally basically got coerced into starting cricket as zc needed to and I guess it's gained a bit of traction, but not much.
There's not really a sport white girls play en masse after school, or black for that matter. Hockey used to be very strong and that's about it. Netball I think may be popular amongst the black ladies?
They all drink, if that counts. It's a national sport and some are very sporting Ya our sporting culture has really nose dived over the years.
Gym and cross fit is a thing amongst the white girls.
There are some social runners, cyclists mmmm.. I'm struggling to defend our ladies.

None of the top boys cricket schools bother with it, but there is a handful of high density schools that have had girls cricket for quite a few years. It’s of absolutely no standard though as you can imagine. But it does exist.

As for the whites there are three girls currently in contention for the u19’s!

[Googly]

Brian Bennett. Matt Campbell when he's around.
Rangers club has just got promotion to Div1, they've got a few youngsters. Brian Bennett's younger brother is a good player (u19).
Don't think you can count Dane S, Ben C, or Ali Frost as they're currently visitors.
It's still the most our cricket has seen for years. It will be seen as a good thing only up to a point. We will see the number they are comfortable with soon enough.
Theyre of franchise standard or thereabouts, and young.
There's almost justification to have a franchise B league?
Maybe there'd be justification for another franchise team?
The problem is there are some older guys hanging in the franchise because they need the income. Seniority is a thing here. They're also decent players, but the time is coming when hard selections have to be made.
What will not be a good thing is if the young white guys think- I'll give it 2 years to crack it then move on. That will annoy people. Players need jobs here, and there has been a status quo for a while. It hasn't been good for the standard, but if you lived here you'd understand it.


If they are strict with club regs regarding not being able to chop and change mid season, the clubs will take their cricket a lot more seriously and we are definitely headed in the right direction. If guys play hard club cricket as amateurs it's a great thing. If they're good enuf they get a shot in a franchise. Rangers will probably be a predominantly white club. Like it or not it will spark some interest. People generally like playing club cricket within their own circle. Hopefully there won't be an issue, I'd like to think those days are mostly behind us.
It will be more of an issue at franchise level. 5 or 6 whites taking up space in a franchise side may cause a whisper or two, but if they're there on merit (and by that I mean doing well), then in theory it should be ok. Of course there will be a segment saying it must represent the demographic, but already whites are way over represented, but most on that list are hard to ignore, they are decent players.
It's going to be interesting how it plays out. My view is that it must be encouraged. A couple of "white clubs", maybe another franchise team or a Strong Two's league? It would cost money but we need to spread the game, is that not the objective?

[Pat_Bee]

Merit is a noble and unfashionable word. Shenanigans and back door passports are the pathways to forging a successful cricketing career in Zim in 2023.

[sloandog]

Doubt Matt Campbell will get a franchise gig though?
There's a lot of players looking for spots. Probably be a good idea to get another side in there.

[TapsC2]

Maybe for the T20s but I'm not a fan of increasing the number of sides. We have seen how the standard drops drops when 16 guys are on national duty.

I actually think this is the beginning of a long process which will end up increasing the standard of our domestic cricket. I also don't mind the likes of Chamu sticking around and getting the senior domestic contracts because I think they are good enough for that level. What they need to introduce is high performance contracts for the younger guys to stick around and give it a real go.

Adding 5 fast bowlers from Pakistan is also going to really spice things up. We are on the right track if a domestic spot is hard to get. It.just has to be done fairly

[Googly]

Are the Big 5 here yet?
Curious who they are and how quick they are.
Naqvi could help them with passports. We could have an all Pakistani seam attack, Naqvi and a mate batting at 2 and 3, and perhaps a mystery tweaker who had his arm mended in a funny shape after a nasty fall off a camel.

[Pat_Bee]

Naqvi could help them with passports. We could have an all Pakistani seam attack, Naqvi and a mate batting at 2 and 3, and perhaps a mystery tweaker who had his arm mended in a funny shape after a nasty fall off a camel.

Raza is mystery tweaker enough! He’s like Shane Warne with about a million variations of the one the goes straight on with the arm.

[Pat_Bee]

Srs, how long the Pakistani quicks here? I half expect them to do the bare minimum to uphold their end of the agreement, play a handful of games and jog on back to Jhelum until the next year.