It has to be seen if Zimbabwe Cricket are ready to play their best XI irrespective of the colour of the players to ensure Zimbabwe cricket stays afloat. There are more white batters doing well right now, so what do they do?
Having said that, we should not get carried away by the one debut knock of Campbell just yet, we will have to see how he goes, but the lad has potential.
I also see a lot of potential in Musekiwa and Muzondo, I agree they have bashed up weaker opponents, but I really liked what I saw and I think there is potential there. Then there is Madhevere and Mavuta. There is this pacer Maposa who looked quick, there is Ronak Patel who can be groomed.
So there are black and colored players who are coming through, which is a good sign, it's more about picking the right team, identifying the right talent and then having enough fixtures to help these guys play and get exposure.
If Zimbabwe are only going to play once in 3 months all the time then it becomes very difficult to form a team and even for the players to have that continuity. Lack of fixtures is probably hurting ZC more than anything else and it completely goes unnoticed. Every other team in this world plays nearly non stop.
There is NO QUOTA.
There was a time back when zim fielded 7 whites, so it's just a baseless allegations surfing in social media.
Bit disengenuos
That was during the streak era and they had 6 whites plus Raza, who is seen as white in ZC eyes as he sides with them, but it caused major agitations at the time.
ATM it might be ok but when we add in Evans, and if one of ten Welch kicks into gear, we genuinely have a situation where our 11 is this;
We must not forget that Williams and Ervine are playing because essentially there is nobody to replace them. If you add the Welch brothers, Dane, Myers and BT back from suspension I don’t think Williams and Ervine will be automatic picks. Especially in T20s. Don’t forget Naqvi as well if he sorts his papers out.
They are all essentially fighting for top 4 spots too because Raza has number 5 locked in most of the times. My prediction is that by this time next year if all these guys come back and are performing domestically (BT included) Williams and Ervine won’t be playing T20s anymore and the England test is where they sign out. Rumors are Wes is grinding really hard too. It won’t make sense for them to keep playing T20s at a certain point
Back to that quota thing-
Where there really is an issue is amongst coaches, managers and administrators. That's conveniently overlooked. In fairness there aren't many left anymore.
Let's not forget how well Gary and Jon Brent did at Mountaineers before it caused such acute embarrassment that Mr Makoni himself took over.
Then there were some white guys running Mid West Rhinos pretty well and all the money was accounted for. That was quickly shelved as a bad idea.
Those were the days when the franchises were given what was probably a bigger budget than now and they were semi-autonomous. Also the days when ZC attempted that T20 tournament when they paid for the likes of Chris Gayle, Lara etc and it essentially flopped. It was over ambitious and I think cost a lot of money.
We just don't have the support, finances, interest from any sector to run our own T20 tournament that would actually generate revenues, which is a crying shame. The population here just doesn't get behind domestic cricket and they never will.
The closest we've come is that T10, which in my view was fantastic, but there's no word on that this year. The numbers were down there, except perhaps the last two days and ZC had to fall back on their customary method of padding out the stands with compulsory attendance from a couple of high density schools. There were people in the two bars watching football on the TV rather than walk 10 steps outside and watch some world class exciting cricket. Mind boggling.
Dont be surprised to see Evans, Williams, Craig, Burl, Bennett and Campbell all play one game together by the end of this year. That’s not even that far fetched. Probably an ODI
The most likely change tomorrow will be Williams for Gumbie but to me that’s fair because Burl needs a wake up call.
Marumani should never be in front of Burl in a t20
BT?! He’s as old as the big three and hasn’t played in a few years. As wonderful as it would be there is absolutely no way he’s going to walk back into the side and start playing like he used to.
BT?! He’s as old as the big three and hasn’t played in a few years. As wonderful as it would be there is absolutely no way he’s going to walk back into the side and start playing like he used to.
I disagree. Some good guys are well capable of that.
AB once didn't pick up a bat for a year and walked into the IPL and blitzed it. Some guys it never leaves them.
We'd see his first innings clean and sober in many years
He might be unbelievable!
You guys can talk all day about how good or bad Raza is, it won't serve any purpose. The team as a whole is going no where and Raza's greatness or the lack of it is the least important topic at the moment.
He has been a great servant for ZC, for some reason I fear this could be the last time we are seeing Ervine, Williams and Raza play together... I have a feeling Willo and Ervine will call it a day very soon.