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How does Dabengwa keep making the starting line-up? I would have thought an ability to bat or bowl was required to make a national side yet Dabengwa has neither of these qualities. Perhaps he is a good fielder?

He's a great, very athletic, fielder.

I think he is a very good all rounder at domestic level, but he never has any luck at international level, even though he has had so many opportunities. I suppose selectors see him as a senior player. At 27, beside Brent and Price he is the oldest in the team (but like everyone else, he only began playing First Class around 1999 or 2000).

I don't think he should be in the starting eleven at the moment, he is taking up a spot that could either go to a specialist batsman or a specialist bowler. For his own sake, I think he needs to spend a year or two in Zimbabwe A or domestic cricket (zimcricket.org reported that he is a signed Cape Cobras player?? Ahead of Taylor and Williams that surprises me) re-inventing himself. I think his best bet is to choose to either be a specialist batsman or bowler, and as we have so many spinners, batting is the way to go. If he spent a year or two batting as a specialist number 3 (or 5, or 6, etc) and really excelled at domestic level, then I think he could come back to international cricket as a whole new player.

I actually think that tino mawayo should be given an extended run in the zimbabwe national side at least for the ODI matches and lets see what he can do...He should take the place of either matsikenyeri or dabengwa. He only played in two in bangladesh matches and didnt seem overawed despite low/moderate scores...We've seen continually that matsikenyeri is inconsistent....When ZC decide to blood new players they should play them for a full length series ( I.E five matches) Then and only then will people be able to see if they have what it takes

I think Dabengwa isnt good enough at International level for his bowling he doesnt spin the ball or put it in the right areas, but i think hes a good enough batsman he has got some good scores against the A sides like srilanka that toured Zim. it seems he gets nervous at international level and i think its a lack of confidence, but i agree he should go to the A side for a while to gain some confidence and form. I think maybe zimbabwe selectors should give Marumisa a try out aparently hes a big hitter and i think zimbabwe could do with an attacking batsman in the lower order, because their lower order apart from chigumbura find it very hard to hit boundries in the closing overs.

He should be in the Provinces side playing domestic comps in South Africa. I reckon there, he might adapt more and be consitent with his game, his bowling hasn't convinced me that much to be honest.

Perhaps Dabengwa can go back to domestic cricket where he belongs. At least there he can pick up wickets. Although given the dire standard of domestic cricket these days I think I could probably pick up a few wickets also.

As he showed today, I think his batting has something to do it. He's being selected, from as far as I can see it, as a batsman who can roll his arm over - much like Williams, but obviously not as good. While this is all well and good, and I have no problem with him being in contention for a batting place in the team, his bowling is absolutely village standard and shouldn't be relied on in terms of the balance of the team.

The problem isn't with his ability as a cricketer, but with the balance we've been going with. Our batting is quite obviously stronger than our bowling at the moment, yet we continue to pick a batting allrounder at #8 and watch as our 5th bowling combination goes all around the park. It's not like Brent, Utseya and Price are rabbits either. Even Mupariwa has showed vast improvement with the bat over the last few years. I think Dabengwa (or possibly Chibhabha, now that Williams has found a niche at 3, as harsh as it may be) should be displaced by an actual bowler - Utseya should replace a batsman when he comes back, not Mupariwa/Mpofu.

Cribbage wrote:I think Dabengwa (or possibly Chibhabha, now that Williams has found a niche at 3, as harsh as it may be) should be displaced by an actual bowler - Utseya should replace a batsman when he comes back, not Mupariwa/Mpofu.

Welcome to the boards.

You're right, of course (and looking at today's match, with Chibhabha bowling suddenly Pakistan are racking up the runs again). Zim's gameplan most matches is to strangle sides mid-innings with Utseya and Price, but once they're out of the way the weaker bowlers just get knocked in all directions.

Batting's not without fault, though - we've seen so many collapses in recent times that it's not funny. They are improving, though - and that's the important thing.

maehara wrote:Welcome to the boards.

I would have been here much earlier had I know this place existed. I'm a bit of a "forum whore" as it is anyway, but I've had a search for a Zimbabwe cricket forum before a few times to no avail. Thanks to Bryan Morton, whichever member that is, for his cricinfo plug...

cricinfo wrote:25.1 Price to Shoaib Malik, no run, from over the wickets, on the leg and middle, slow in the air, defended to the off side
Bryan Morton is getting greedy! : "We're here! Give a shout to the guys at zimcricketforums.com, who until about an hour ago were wondering why Keith Dabengwa was still in the side...Good to see our boys have at least been competitive this series. Now if we could just sneak a win..."
25.2 Price to Shoaib Malik, 1 run, goes back to punch it to long-on for a single

maehara wrote:Batting's not without fault, though - we've seen so many collapses in recent times that it's not funny. They are improving, though - and that's the important thing.

Yeah, the batting stats in the last year for the whole top 7 have been very good and improved on career stats in nearly all cases. That does take into account some games against some weaker opposition, but that's been the case for the entirety of these guys' careers anyway. The batting is very much a strong point at the moment, and while a collapse would never surprise me, I no longer *expect* it as such, which is a great sign. I still expect the bowling to get hammered though..

Cribbage wrote:I would have been here much earlier had I know this place existed. I'm a bit of a "forum whore" as it is anyway, but I've had a search for a Zimbabwe cricket forum before a few times to no avail. Thanks to Bryan Morton, whichever member that is, for his cricinfo plug...

That would be me. I hadn't intended it as a recruiting call, but we're happy to see anyone here who has an interest in Zim cricket - it often feels that Zim fans are an endangered species..!

Yeah, the batting stats in the last year for the whole top 7 have been very good and improved on career stats in nearly all cases. That does take into account some games against some weaker opposition, but that's been the case for the entirety of these guys' careers anyway. The batting is very much a strong point at the moment, and while a collapse would never surprise me, I no longer *expect* it as such, which is a great sign. I still expect the bowling to get hammered though..

The weaker opposition serves a purpose, as getting good innings & wins in against them is a good confidence booster. One of the reasons that Zim's places in the SA domestic competitions this season have been so important - it's really good match practice for the guys, who can then take that experience back to the Faithwear and Logan cups back home and help raise the standards there.