Zimbabwe v/s Afghanistan Fixtures & A Team Squad Declared

[CrimsonAvenger]

Yup, great selection. Murray has two matches at SA - today and tomorrow - and most likely we won't make it to the finals anyway, so he should be back for the Afg A series ideally. At least 2nd match onwards?

Only one missing out is Mashinge, surely deserved a look in too.

But will any cricket happen at all? weather forecasts showing thunderstorms at Harare every day for days to come...

[Googly]

Three keepers in there, Gumbie, Moor and Murray.
They don't like Mashinge or Diplock. Once you're on their shit list you're f*%ed.

[The Robot]

Gumbie, Mutambodzi failed doesn't deserve chance. Luke Jongwe & Nathan Waller again ignored.

Nkosana Mpofu is much better openning batsman then selectors lover boy Brian Chari scored just 52 runs in 4 odi games in Tri Nation Sereis. Chari has become automatic choice in A games, but he has massive failure in international arena.

Ryan Murray has been picked for his under 19 performance, even Trent Jayden has also done well, both being of same age, doing well should been included

[CrimsonAvenger]

They don't like Mashinge or Diplock. Once you're on their shit list you're f*%ed.

Hmm, wonder who is doing the A team selection. Are they listening to the feedback of the provincial coaches? Are they listening to the inputs of Mangongo? Are they looking at the club cricket form? Or are they just going by some Cricinfo and CricHQ scorecards and statistics? If recent stats were the only things selectors / coaches had looked at, the likes of Jayant Yadav, Kedar Jadhav or Karun Nair would have never played for India. Rahul Dravid has done a great deal of inspection of the next gen here in India and has suggested these names forward. Kumble + Dravid combo has been of far more importance than anything else in India's recent successes. Does Mangongo + Streak share the same working relationship? Where does Hondo fit in in all this (he does not come across as a very good reader of the game from previous observations)?

Just Mashinge for Mutombodzi and I would have been fully sold on this anyway. Just that when everything looks good, weather has to play spoilsport...

[Black Mamba]

Luke Jongwe should been there

[Flakeman]

Three keepers in there, Gumbie, Moor and Murray.
They don't like Mashinge or Diplock. Once you're on their shit list you're f*%ed.

Why don't they like them? Between Mashinge, Diplock, and Ngarava...Diplock is the best bowler. Then Mashinge and Diplock are I'd say on an equal footing when it comes to batting. Ngarava simply can't bat. they're all the same age so I don't see the logic here. But anyway.

[Googly]

They have taken a dislike to a couple of good black guys in the past for reasons that are not immediately apparent. I've seen that they're slightly averse to black guys from private schools, guys who get opportunities outside of here and basically guys who act independently. I've seen it over and over. It's about ZC being all powerful. Mashinge plays hard and is a good guy and deserves some exposure, he ticks quite a few boxes. He's definitely a better batsman than Diplock, and by Zim standards he's got potential as a decent all rounder. I don't mean that disparagingly, he's good, not hugely threatening with the ball and needs to work on his batting a bit. What I like is his attitude, he gives it 100%. He lacks Jongwe's talent but I'd pick him every time over Luke because you know he's going to put up a fight.
Diplock is a good bowler, he gets it to swing, and that's worth a lot. He has a reputation for being lazy and being a whinger. I can't comment on that. Perhaps he's not aware of the custom to keep quiet and keep trying and one day in a few years time you might get a game and need a fifer to be considered for the next one. I know he's really keen on his cricket and he's hung around anticipating a couple of franchise games and must be quite disillusioned. ZC like people to tow the line and not comment, most Boards do.
PJ is a good example of a guy that has hung in against a lot of odds. Good guy, quality player and has been dicked around for years. Maybe he hasn't done as well as he might have at franchise but any coach/selector can see that he's got the goods to go up a level, which most of our guys don't have. He must have been a ball hair from jacking it in before he finally got a shot.

[Googly]

Matigimu is a guy with a lot of potential. Zim needs a genuine quick and he could have easily become one. If they'd paid attention to him he could have been really good.

[Googly]

Gary King is another guy, I believe he's playing really good cricket. They've focused on his bowling and I hear he's a handful. Now there's a genuine all rounder. With such a shortage of talented players you'd think Taibu, Streak and such would be finding out what these guys are doing.

[Black Mamba]

Still Mutombodzi, Chari & Gumbie's selection is questionable as all of them failed to score on what ever opportunity they got.

Selection Pannel has Overlooked players like N.Mpofu, Prince Masvaure, N.Waller & Luke Jongwe