Definitely, maybe, smokey
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:19 pm
Here is a game for everyone. Who deserves to make the progression from the Zimbabwe A team that toured Namibia to the national team, whenever their next tour is? Put a couple of players into the categories "Definitely", "Maybe" and "Smokey" and explain your choices.
*to clarify, "definitely" means they should certainly be selected, "maybe" means that they have done enough to deserve selection but it could go either way, and "smokey" means they haven't really shown enough to be selected but could still get selected anyway (Kasteni WC 2007, Marumisa T20 2007, Zhuwawo in Canada 2008, etc)
Definitely
Mark Vermeulen
Charles Coventry
Maybe
Timycen Maruma
Admire Manyumwa
Trevor Garwe
Smokey
Cephas Zhuwawo
Reasoning: Vermeulen and Coventry have a lot of international experience behind them, so the transition to the national team won't be as great as it will be for the less experienced players. Hopefully because they have already been playing international cricket for many years, they can simply play their natural game upon return rather than feeling under any pressure. Maruma has obviously been the standout performer of late, but between Price, Cremer and Utseya it will be hard for him to break into the team - especially with Cremer playing so well as a bowling allrounder.
Manyumwa has also been bowling well lately - but if he was to make the national squad it would probably be in place of Mupariwa. And Mupariwa has done nothing wrong, it has just been the good combination of 3 spinners / 2 seamers which has limited his appearances. Trevor Garwe as always remains on the fringes of the team so he is classed a "maybe" although in reality it would be a bit surprising if he was selected. The chances of him making the first eleven before the likes of Mupariwa, Mpofu and even Manyumwa look slim.
Cephas Zhuwawo is the smokey - again. He showed in the Twenty20 with 33 from 14 balls that he is capable of fireworks, this is what he was selected for in the first place ahead of the Canada T20 but against that opposition he looked way out of his depth. Perhaps the second time around without the nerves of debuting he will be able to play more freely and strike the ball. At the moment, I'd limit Zhuwawo to being a T20 specialist; he has a limited technique so will need to work on that if he is to make something of himself in the longer formats of the game.
*to clarify, "definitely" means they should certainly be selected, "maybe" means that they have done enough to deserve selection but it could go either way, and "smokey" means they haven't really shown enough to be selected but could still get selected anyway (Kasteni WC 2007, Marumisa T20 2007, Zhuwawo in Canada 2008, etc)
Definitely
Mark Vermeulen
Charles Coventry
Maybe
Timycen Maruma
Admire Manyumwa
Trevor Garwe
Smokey
Cephas Zhuwawo
Reasoning: Vermeulen and Coventry have a lot of international experience behind them, so the transition to the national team won't be as great as it will be for the less experienced players. Hopefully because they have already been playing international cricket for many years, they can simply play their natural game upon return rather than feeling under any pressure. Maruma has obviously been the standout performer of late, but between Price, Cremer and Utseya it will be hard for him to break into the team - especially with Cremer playing so well as a bowling allrounder.
Manyumwa has also been bowling well lately - but if he was to make the national squad it would probably be in place of Mupariwa. And Mupariwa has done nothing wrong, it has just been the good combination of 3 spinners / 2 seamers which has limited his appearances. Trevor Garwe as always remains on the fringes of the team so he is classed a "maybe" although in reality it would be a bit surprising if he was selected. The chances of him making the first eleven before the likes of Mupariwa, Mpofu and even Manyumwa look slim.
Cephas Zhuwawo is the smokey - again. He showed in the Twenty20 with 33 from 14 balls that he is capable of fireworks, this is what he was selected for in the first place ahead of the Canada T20 but against that opposition he looked way out of his depth. Perhaps the second time around without the nerves of debuting he will be able to play more freely and strike the ball. At the moment, I'd limit Zhuwawo to being a T20 specialist; he has a limited technique so will need to work on that if he is to make something of himself in the longer formats of the game.