[Logan Cup 2017 Round 5] Tuskers v Rising Stars

[tawac]

Just how good is Ernest Masuku? He is described as a Right arm Medium which doesn't light up and boxes but he has raced to 21 scalps in the 5 FC games he has played with an average below 21. Judging by the treatment Mpariwa got, I doubt he will get a look in but he has been great so far.

[pariah]

Just how good is Ernest Masuku? He is described as a Right arm Medium which doesn't light up and boxes but he has raced to 21 scalps in the 5 FC games he has played with an average below 21. Judging by the treatment Mpariwa got, I doubt he will get a look in but he has been great so far.

You should have inquired about Bruce instead. Comments would be flying in.

[eugene]

Get this Masuku chap in the team!

#Masukumania

[Zero76]

Masuku is certainly taking a few wickets this season, good to see young seamers making an impact. Wonder what sort of pace he can get it through at?

[Andybligzz]

Just how good is Ernest Masuku? He is described as a Right arm Medium which doesn't light up and boxes but he has raced to 21 scalps in the 5 FC games he has played with an average below 21. Judging by the treatment Mpariwa got, I doubt he will get a look in but he has been great so far.

I've noticed this lad as well seems to be a real prospect

[TapsC]

yes Masuku does look like a talent. hopefully he continues to perform. Zim might be sitting on a really special talent with Shumba who just turned 17. I hope he plays a lot more domestic games because I suspect he might still be in school next year so the rising stars might not be an option yet.

Pariah actually has a really good point about the rising stars going down south instead of the UK. it is very difficult for a young Zimbabwean to commit 5 months of their time that far way from home. you would find the likes of Murray and Shumba and a lot of other players would be able to participate if it was closer to home. they would probably face stronger teams more regularly too

[CrimsonAvenger]

Of course it makes a lot of sense for the Rising Stars to play in SA, but then the issue is of raising money for that. I'm guessing the UK trip was possible mainly due to the good will Taibu enjoys there, which translates to help, monetary and otherwise, for these bunch of youngsters. Add some CSR and genuine will to help out, a lot of the daily needs for the squad is sorted out. Also, clubs would put their hands up and would be willing to play against them (keeping the quality of these clubs aside for the time being) and ensure all the arrangements are made for the match from their end, and the ZRS has to turn up, play the match, learn from the game and move on to the next one.

A lot of this would most likely not happen as smoothly as it did in UK anywhere else in the world. Taibu must be commended for seeing this opportunity and almost single-handedly executing the initial setup. Anyone else trying to replicate this anywhere else will not find it as straightforward (in relative context, I'm sure getting this up and running was one hell of an experience) as this. So, practically, ZRS will either continue this way with its UK dependence, or will just fold up. Given the new political atmosphere, hopefully we can count on some more help coming forth from the UK in cricketing terms.

[grant]

I feel the national team batsmen should bat higher up the order in the Logan Cup. Scoring runs in the middle order in Zim's FC competition does seem to be a lot easier than scoring at the top. This post by pariah actually makes some sense unlike most of his other posts.....

Zimbabwe's cowardly trio could learn a thing or two from 23 year old Muthusamy. Again he did play for SA Emerging against Zimbabwe recently.

Currently he opens the batting for his franchise and still bowls plenty overs of spin.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8877 ... es-2017-18

Internationally, he batted at 3 in 50 over games, and at 4 in FC games. In fact, all the best SA Emerging batsmen that toured batted at the top in positions 1-4! Young Yaseen Valli had a tough time as opener, but despite having authority as captain, he resisted the temptation to drop himself down the order when he saw lesser middle order batsmen feasting on ZIM A's inferior change bowlers for easy centuries.

I don't care what inclinations are, Craig should be opening for Tuskers together with one of Raza/Williams and the other one at first drop. It's ridiculous for Williams to be batting at 4 and Raza at 5 in ZIM's FC competition.

Brendan Taylor batting at number four - behind former bowling allrounders Mire, Prince and serial failure Chapungu - against rookies, was scandalous!!!

It's pretty clear that batting in the middle order in ZIM generally results in better scores. Once again, statistically Mutumbami and Maruma have dominated the Logan Cup for several seasons now. That is definitely not an accident. Equally, Mawoyo and Duffin have low averages despite being very competent Test batsmen is not accident. Even Keith Dabengwa and Mutombodzi have had a nice time doing better than them. ZIM has got excellent FC new ball bowlers, but very weak in bowling depth.

It's no wonder that these bowlers are never selected for internationals, while plenty middle order batsmen have played for ZIM in the past few years.

I disagree with Jarvis, Panyangara and Cremer playing for Rhinos, as well as Chatara and Shingi playing for Mountaineers. For a while Tuskers didn't have the batting to set the kind of totals to defend, but Raza, Williams and Craig is now an overkill. Still they will struggle against Goats and Rhinos.

The sad fact of the matter is - when the Logan Cup is at full strength - for Rhinos and Goats they will be on holiday for all but one fixture.

The only player in the top 10 Logan Cup batsman right now who is an opener is Chapungu, largely thanks to rookies and a weakened Goats attack(minus Chatara and Shingi their new ball pair). Middle order players are guaranteed high averages. Especially if they are half good. Don't be surprised to see Mutumbami and Maruma top the Logan Cup again!

When you witness the long struggles of poor form Raza, Williams, Moor and Malcolm have had - resulting in embarrassing losses for Zimbabwe - fans think they should be doing better, but the reality is they are on average failing against the opposition's 3rd or 4th best bowlers. If you think about it, the only time they really get to perform against top bowlers for long periods is in the nets when Chatara and Panyangara bowl to them. When Roach, Gabriel, Cummins and Joseph run through ZIM's "top order", how can we expect them to resist their 2nd spells when they've been routinely fed a diet of Nathan Waller and Prince Masvaure?

I think I've followed ZIM cricket about as long as anyone else here. Sean Williams used to bat at number 3, and arguably he was the best batsmen in ZIM then, because he was being challenged by the best in ZIM cricket from Blignaut, Friend, fit&fast Elton, Hondo, Rainsford etc, plus a lot of the then top A team bowlers from other Full member countries. Today the guy can barely put together a solid innings in a live rubber and looks ugly to watch batting - how many times do commentators mistake Williams for Malcolm Waller. Well, guess what, the same thing happened to Charles Coventry. From being one of the best 15/16 year old classy young openers and top batsmen in the country, to being a mindless slogger like Cephas.

[TapsC]

very true actually. the only way Ervine for example can get rid of those new ball fears is to actually get out there and face it when its still brand new. what would also help him improve by doing that is the fact all the players in the domestic circuit know his exact weakness so they would really challenge him.

the new ball guys aren't bad at all. Even if we look at Ed Byrom who is in the county setup. he has had one big score but it hasn't been easy going for him otherwise.

What really made me sad during the last test series is that these same middle order batsmen who are supposed to be comfortable playing in the middle order and against spin lost their way against Bishoo who is not the greatest bowler. he doesn't even bowl the googly. that actually killed our whole game plan.

[TapsC]

Mavuta could really turn out to be a quality player too. the issue then arises is when he will be ready to take over from Cremer. I actually think he can bat better then Cremer too.