TEAM FOR SECOND TEST GENTS

[CholeZimbo]

The problem with Zimbabwe i think is we don't play enough cricket at any given stretch of time. Its takes so long to realize that some players will always fail. It took us so long to realise that Ervine is not a T20 player. Its taking us time to realise that for as long as the top 6 is not performing we wont win matches even if we have a top 8. The sooner we come to terms with this the better.

In my last incarnation Williams played enough poor cricket to be dropped but that didn't happen.

Raza's happened mostly in my absence but he wasn't dropped either.

The point remains, Zimbabwe's lowest cricket points have largely happened while particular personnel have been a constant - Cremer, Williams, Raza, Waller and Moor.

It's no accident the the first bit of joy happened with the minor sprinkling of Mire and Musakanda as seasoning.

Same applied with the presence of Jongwe and Chisoro before that.

Yet making necessary changes is resisted furiously where certain individuals are concerned. The addition of BT & KJ just made the situation worse. Almost no one here even factors in their ejection in the near or distant future.

The day Zimbabwe starts dropping players who beg to be dropped is the day Zimbabwe wins.

Wasting money on a coach who can accommodate Malcolm and Mpofu, plus fails to pick a 2nd specialist spinner on spin friendly track in consecutive matches, while fans argue that he's a good coach makes zero sense. If he is good then Whatnot and Butcher must be gods! Heck why not bring back Bundu Waller?

If you really think about it, there were several gambles ahead of this Test:
1.Hami as opener again
2.Mire as a Test batsman, and opener
3.Mire as a change bowler
4.Jarvis after a long break from internationals and without game time
5.Malcom
6.Williams as a spinner
7.Williams as a batsman
8.Raza as a spinner
9.Cremer's ability to lead as captain and with the ball
10.Mpofu
11.The damage a non-bowling pair of BT & Craig at 3&4 would have if they failed to score decent runs

In my view all these gambles failed miserably except for Hami.

None of the bowlers got any of the dangerous WI batsmen before they did relative damage.

Hence the big defeat, and an even bigger more humiliating one awaits.

There is a reason why BD can be so hopeless in SA, but a threat at home. It's not because they have excellent bowlers, it's because they will never do the foolish things Zimbabwe arrogantly believes it can get away with at this level!

I still cannot believe the absence of a 2nd specialist spinner. On this deck Bishop will again out bowl Cremer, Raza and Williams.

Bishoo and Chase bowled 1st and 2nd change. Cremer bowled 2nd change in the 1st innings, plus 2nd innings too, even allowing Williams to bowl before him in the 2nd innings.

This isn't just foolishness. It's witchcraft!

You are a very negative man sir.

[pariah]

Pariah would rather lose with his anointed players than win with players he doesn't approve of.

Except my players have been doing the winning, while yours have been a consistent embarrassment.

That's the part you guys keep forgetting.

My players you keep deriding produced results. Yours haven't.

[sloandog]

Pariah would rather lose with his anointed players than win with players he doesn't approve of.

Except my players have been doing the winning, while yours have been a consistent embarrassment.

That's the part you guys keep forgetting.

My players you keep deriding produced results. Yours haven't.

Like who

[jaybro]

Pariah would rather lose with his anointed players than win with players he doesn't approve of.

Except my players have been doing the winning, while yours have been a consistent embarrassment.

That's the part you guys keep forgetting.

My players you keep deriding produced results. Yours haven't.

Like Vusi averaging 25 when Zimbabwe wins right?

[eugene]

Pariah would rather lose with his anointed players than win with players he doesn't approve of.

Except my players have been doing the winning, while yours have been a consistent embarrassment.

That's the part you guys keep forgetting.

My players you keep deriding produced results. Yours haven't.

Ervine has produced plenty, Cremer is our top-ranked bowler, Taylor is our best batsman, Chatara is a strike bowler, Shingi has always performed when called upon, do I need to go on?

[zimfan1]

Meanwhile, selectors are expected to ring a few changes for the second Test against the West Indies, starting at Queens on Sunday.

“We haven’t seen the pitch yet,” said Taibu.

“Probably later today (yesterday) we will be able to see the pitch and make a decision on those changes.”

[pariah]

Meanwhile, selectors are expected to ring a few changes for the second Test against the West Indies, starting at Queens on Sunday.

“We haven’t seen the pitch yet,” said Taibu.

“Probably later today (yesterday) we will be able to see the pitch and make a decision on those changes.”

Full article https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2017/1 ... tes-taibu/

Trio excites Taibu
October 27, 2017 in Sport
‘They bring different angles to test cricket’

Convener of selectors Tatenda Taibu says the return of Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis as well as the introduction of Solomon Mire to Test cricket augurs well for the future of Zimbabwe in the five-day format of the game.
By Enock Muchinjo

Batting kingpin Taylor and pace spearhead Jarvis recently terminated Kolpak deals in English county cricket to resume their international careers while all-rounder Mire, who has played most of his adult cricket in Australia, was only until now available for Zimbabwe on ad-hoc basis.

Taylor and Jarvis showed glimpses of their class in the 117-run first Test defeat to the West Indies this week while Mire, who has already impressed for Zimbabwe in One-Day International cricket, proved he could be a valuable asset to the Test side.

“They bring their different angles into Test cricket,” said Taibu.

“You just have to look at the figures so far, they speak for themselves.”

Taibu equated attacking opener Mire’s entry into Test cricket to that of Australian David Warner, one of the most hard-hitting batsmen in the world, who initially gained his aggressive reputation in the limited-over versions.
“I think Solo will bring in a different way of playing, which is attacking. It’s a different dimension that a lot teams struggle to comprehend,” said Taibu.

“You know, when David Warner started playing in the Tests and plays the way he does, sometimes that can be so destructive to the bowling sides. It’s an added pressure.”

Taibu was also full of praise for Taylor and Jarvis, expected to be Zimbabwe’s two key men for the rest of their international careers.

Having scored just one in the first innings in his comeback Test, Taylor returned to form against the West Indies with a workmanlike 73 in the second innings while Jarvis bowled well in quite difficult conditions at Queens Sports Club.

“We all know what BT can do,” said Taibu of Taylor.

“In terms of spending time on the crease, which is what is needed, BT does that. We saw him doing that in the second innings, where he knuckled down and started really spending time on the crease.”

The former captain said of Jarvis: “And Jarv, on a flat deck in Bulawayo he bowled 21 overs . I mean, that’s a lot of overs. If it (the pitch) was assisting the bowlers, he would have added more wickets.”

Taibu, however, says nothing solid has been sealed with regards to opening batsman Eddie Byrom playing for Zimbabwe.
Harare-born Byrom, who made it into the first team of Somerset in England just a few months ago, last week signed a season’s contract with Zimbabwean domestic side Rising Stars, an academy run by Taibu and recently incorporated into the country’s first-class structure.

“We didn’t talk about that (playing for Zimbabwe). We only talked about the academy,” said Taibu of Byrom.

The highly-rated 20-year-old, son of former Zimbabwean sports journalist Glen Byrom, is among several Zimbabwean youngsters now plying their trade in England—some of them hoping to qualify for that country through ancestry.

Meanwhile, selectors are expected to ring a few changes for the second Test against the West Indies, starting at Queens on Sunday.

“We haven’t seen the pitch yet,” said Taibu.

“Probably later today (yesterday) we will be able to see the pitch and make a decision on those changes.”

We live in the age of Convenors who get excited over the lead seamer bowling 20 overs in a Test match; equate Mire to Warner, and lose themselves over a futile half century in what would have been a world record chase.

Zimbabwe is in trouble.

[eugene]

Admittedly Taylor's half-century could never compare to Regis' 30-ball duck in the Logan Cup.

[Conant]

Chamu
Mire
Hami
Taylor
Ervine
Raza
Williams
Moor(wk)
Cremer
Jarvis
Chatara

Chamu can score against the West Indian fast bowlers upfront. Hami looks in very good touch right now, might be better to put him in his best position with BT at 4. From what I saw BT and Hami are the only combo I can see actually building a solid 100+ run partnership and they won't run each other out because they know they are both slow.

Tired of Regis, his average has dropped to 25 now and he still drops a couple. PJ will drop a couple but at least I know he can scrape 30 runs against someone like Bishoo or a part timer like Chase. That Bangladesh tour might have been a fluke. If Chatara is bowling in the 4 day game then they need to get him in the team ASAP. We all know he has that one unplayable delivery in him.

The most shocking thing for me so far is that Cremer spins it more than Bishoo and these guys face him in the nets everyday in those exact same conditions yet they struggled more than guys who get peppered by fast bowls mainly everyday and were in foreign conditions against a guy who spins it more than their incumbent leg spinner.. Ridiculous..

Can score, could score, and be out within two overs of introducing spin - I've never seen a worse player, Christopher Mofu might be better. You dont sound confident that he he will even score agaisnt the quicks at all.
No point in him right now I think, he didn't even get a score in the build up did he?

No way must Moor keep, he's dropping or missing not less than 3 chances (this is no exaggeration) per innings; again whats the point. Might as well ask Malcolm to keep or send a desperate sos to Forster or Brendan Taylor.

One of the few times I've had to strenuously disagree with Taps.

Don't know why Chatara was omitted, I'm reserving any judgement on Heath Streak.

[Conant]

Cremer has taken 28 wickets in four games

Utseya cheated and only managed 10 wickets in four games

#statsarefacts

Why are we calling Utseya a cheat. Al he had was an illegal action and so did Vtori. We might not like the former captain but I don't think slander makes us any better.