what is the zimbabwe cricket team lacking?? any suggestions?

[bigdoggpitbull]

sum say we keep under-performing because senior players keep on failing with the willow, others say it is lack of a bowler with genuine pace..I think we do have all these available to a certain degree but its up to ZC to contact those players to come play or choose the right team..i think ZC has done unbelievably well to attract sum big names back..now its up to 'em to deliver..any suggestions on who should be picked or who should b called back to play..a name that springs to the mind is Ballance, panyangarara, ruswa or landman...

[slinga]

Zc have done extremelly well, should i say Campbell and co have done really well.. Dnt think Bvute and Chingoka should get any praise for it.

We always say these names over, but I don't think Balance will come back as he is half way through uni in leeds, Sean Ervine is at Hampshire and wants to be English qualified, plus he will be on alot of money and with the current climate i know what i would be doing, Ryan Higgins any1 know anything on why he hasn't been contacted.. Mluleki Nkala would be another name, any1 know any news on him other than he is in london somewhere.. Other names people??

[Train Driver]

I'm not sure that all out pace is a requirement, it's very nice to have someone really quick of course, but the biggest worry to me in the Zim side at the moment is the lack of any accurate seam bowlers, even against Kenya we've seen Chigumbura, Jarvis, Garwe and Mpofu easily dealt with and very quick runs scored off of them, not to mention the awful number of no balls and wides that they've given away, repeat the wild bowling and the giving away of so many free runs and Bangladesh are going to walk away with the series, that could well leave all the hard work and confidence building of the last couple of weeks almost as wasted time.

Hopefully Heath Streak will have built up a proper coach & bowler relationship with the squad by the time the 1st ODI starts, we need him to get these seamers back on track and realising that you need to bowl at the stumps, not at a speed gun, otherwise the Bangladesh batmen are going to be putting massive scores on the board.

I'm not too concerned about the batting now, the old ways of relying on just one batsmen seem to be gone and runs are coming from all areas of the batting order, the thing to watch for though is if Masakadza has a couple of failures, which he's bound to do at some stage, will the others pick the pace up or panic because he's gone quickly, personally i think that we have a side that's mature enough to not be too concerned and strong enough to fight.

As far as trying out other players, those that make up the squad at the moment deserve to retain their places until the returning group prove by weight of runs or wickets that they truly deserve a place in the National side, it would be great to hear that Panyangara, for instance, has signed up with a franchise, but let's not forget just how long he and the others have been out of competetive cricket, he or they most certainly wouldn't deserve selection until they have shown what they can do, not what they could do.

My main concern is still that the side lack a reliable captain, too many silly mistakes are being made by Utseya that can set the side back, maybe that's ok in 4 day cricket but not when you only have a limited amount of overs to bat or bowl the opposition out of the game.

Overall though, Zimbabwean cricket has come along way in the last couple of years and everyone should be proud of that progress.

[Robin]

Depends if your talking about a test match or ODI's.

In both it's opening bowlers and in Test Matches it also be opening batsmen. None of Zimbabwe's current best 5 or 6 batsmen appear to be either keen or good at opening the batting in the longer version of the game.

For the batting only Gary Ballance would have the potential to become a Test Match opening batsman.

Opening bowlers? Anthony Ireland, Tinashe Panyangara (if he has made a full recovery from the injuries that made him quit cricket in Zim last time) and maybe Gerald Aliensi (although I ahve never seen him bowl). Other than that maybe Cambell Macmillan and Waddington Mwayenga but they didn't look like International players last time around.

Therafter only Sean Ervine (or Colin de Grandhomme) would improve the current team.

So I would say get, Ballance, Panyangara, S.Ervine, de Grandhomme, Ireland and Aliensi back. Then invest in some new gems such as Ncube, Chitara or Chimhawhiwa in the bowling.

[tawac]

For me it goes down to team selection. The selections we have seen of late have lived a lot to be desired. Just think about it. In the 4th ODI against Kenya we had one Seam Bowler. That difies logic. And its difficult to imagine if the selectors are really putting much thought into the whole process. I think we now have a pool of players can win matches for us. Its now left up to the selectors to get their formular right.

[sloandog]

I'd like to see a few former Under 19's get a chance at domestic level. Landman and Moore for example. I've been really chuffed to see Jarvis in the national set up, all be it without having a first class match under his bealt. Its interesting to hear you say that we haven't really got many test openers. Gripper jumps out to me. Wasn't there talk of him and Campbell Macmillan returning ?? would be great if they would wouldn't it

[Robin]

Trevor Gripper played 20 tests averaging 21.86. He is 34 and hasn't played first class cricket for 4 years.

[StevenZim]

I reckon Vusi Sibanda will be a good test opener when zim return to tests. He has shown by his last four innings he can make huge scores and stay in a long time. How can zc update the masvingo match for the first three days but not have the final scorecard nearly a week after it ended.Appaling

[bigdoggpitbull]

on jarvis, i wont b worried about the wides or no balls he bowled.with streak to coach him he can only get better.he is most probably the only bowler touching 140kph in zim at the moment..i know aliseni is a yard or two faster than him but isnt interested in comin back.had a chat wit him in SA and its lookin promising for him after takin a fifer on debut in presidents league(i know the SA system are talking to him)..we will need another 140 bowler to have a formidable attack..im shocked rainsford isnt in e bangladesh squad..as for openers get carlisle and gripper back..we need some old and new blood mixed..we will need the more experienced guys to calm the younger guys down in tight situations..

[sloandog]

Carlisle has officially retired from international cricket, and there's absolutly no way that he would want to return to zimbabwe cricket, though i know he is based in zimbabwe at the moment. Duffin and Ebraham could be a decent combination. Or perhaps Barney Rogers could be another. I mentioned Gripper earlier, but the more i think about it, the more of an outside chance it sounds. He's 33/34 now, and there's probably better youngsters in the country right now.