Logan Cup 2020 - 21 : Discussion

[Zimco]

Honestly you could study fulltime in South Africa and still play cricket for Zimbabwe. Our season is only six weeks long anyway. It always amazes me that with such a short season how many of ours guys have randomly scheduled weddings or vacations during the same six weeks. I think it shows that playing for Zimbabwe is mostly just a well-paid hobby and not a career for most of them.

This sums it up perfectly. The difference in terms of character and mentality between the 80s and 90s players and now is that there was no real money in it back then. There was national pride. Cricket is the best paying sport in Zimbabwe but has the most flip floppers. Other sports has people playing purely just for the love and pride.

Yes the board has issues but some of the things I see defended here amazes me. One day you have a kid wanting special treatment because he is playing uni cricket in South Africa so he walks out. Another day we have a top player who was given preferential treatment allegedly walking out. People also forget Cremer walked out on ZC years back to play golf

It doesn’t surprise me when you see such stories regularly then we lose 90% of pressure situations in matches.

If people are going to play cricket for Zim and study in South Africa at the same time, then they will need special treatment and flexibility by ZC. They can't play domestic cricket/be at all training camps. They would just have to be selected and get assistance by the unis around exam time.

I think some people also go overseas to the UK instead of studying online to get a job in the UK after eg Malcolm lake and work part time while studying
. In aus we have rookie contracts with the states, Zim could sign some blokes on these after u19 world cup which would persuade some to stay.

I think cremer getting sacked from captaincy after losing the world cup qualifier wasn't a good/fair move by ZC. What did he do after, he left. The thing is ZC probably pays similarly to other jobs with less security not way more like cricket Australia and ECB.

But yes scheduling vacations during the first class season is poor, it would be slightly frowned upon in club cricket.

[Googly]

I'm curious how they're going to run Vigne Cup and Logan Cup simultaneously. I stand to be corrected but I don't think there's enough players in the country, or decent umpires, or scorers, or grounds.

[ZIMFAN]

I know I bang this drum but I think for elite cricketers (and that needs to be policed carefully) ZC pays for part or all of their uni fees in UK/SA. Upon completion said players are immediately contracted to ZC for the equivalent of the duration of their studies and if they choose to walk out then have to repay the cost of their education. For one/two cricketers a year I don't think this is beyond the pale financially.

[Googly]

If they started Logan Cup on time there would be no absenteeism in mid December. People want to spend time with their families and to enjoy the Xmas holidays

[Googly]

We can talk about ZC putting plans in place or making allowances for players wanting tertiary education ad nauseum, but they don't give a damn. They preside over a broken system that doesn't work, but somehow inexplicably passes ICC scrutiny. Whilst they continue to give us a free pass nothing will change, in fact ZC continue to plumb new lows and get away with it. If anyone thinks ZC will do anything meaningfully proactive they're sadly mistaken for the 20th year in a row.
I don't know whether we're back to our full ICC allocation or we're still on half, but pressure will come from other nations who run their cricket signifantly better than ours on a fraction of the money we receive.
In competitive environments it's almost impossible to take time off and then break back into a system. The fact that you can do that here shows the complete lack of depth of players.

Playing part time county makes you an overseas player, you'd have to be world class to be able to do that.

Taps hit the nail on the head with competitive cricket back in the 80's. It wasn't national pride, it was club and provincial competitiveness that made it happen.
Once again ZC are responsible for destroying it. If it doesn't suit you then you have to break it. With all the supposed people not being able to break into club cricket only one new club was created- Takashinga, and they struggled big time until Flower went there. Players know that you ideally need to play there to improve your chances, so much so that they trot out two sides. Once again the players don't really have much club pride because its run down. Players pitch up to play free cricket, pay homage and leave. Thats not how club cricket is supposed to work.
The standard at Takashinga was the lowest amongst the clubs back then, but that team would smash all the current clubs. That puts into perspective where we are at now.

When you have people sitting around making up franchise sides to make them competitive where's the provincial pride and the long term rivalries that make people want to compete? They're playing for themselves. If they have a clean sheet with the hierarchy they're a couple of games away from making the national squad. Of course that's the 35 strong squad from which they're going to pick the same old people. That extended squad is to give the guys they've picked some practice is all. Anyone running in hard at nets thinking he's going to impress is dreaming.

We had a hastily convened NPL club competition where players knew they could put in some big performances and possibly book a plane ticket to Pakistan! Does it get more desperate and ridiculous than that? If people don't see that was a nearly free way of playing FC then they're blind. Our FC should have started in September, its now December, its starting nearly half a year late and its going to run for as short a time as possible. If ICC let's us get away with this who knows what next year will bring.
We can't play a proper season, every year there's some sort of problem that prevents it or they dream up a cheaper quicker way of doing it.

The crux of all of this is that ZC knows we don't need to win, we need to not fold, and ICC will inexplicably keep supporting us with millions of dollars. I think that's why they have daily morning prayers to give thanks.

The only crisis on the horizon is when the few guys that perform hang up their boots, that's in 2023. If Muyeye, Myers, Madhevere, Musakanda and Matigimu are not firing by then, then they'll have to see who's performing overseas and dangle a carrot. Crisis mismanagement 24/7.

[Kriterion_BD]

When’s the last time you heard a Pakistani or Bangladeshi do that?

Asian players don't go to University. Most of them have been playing cricket since their teenage years. In fact I would be surprised if Joe Root or Steven Smith have been to Uni.

[sloandog]

Off topic a wee bit, has Andy Flower ever been back to Zim since the 2003 world cup

[Zimco]

When’s the last time you heard a Pakistani or Bangladeshi do that?

Asian players don't go to University. Most of them have been playing cricket since their teenage years. In fact I would be surprised if Joe Root or Steven Smith have been to Uni.

Pat Cummins went to university but yes for the very best players in aus they are already in a system, earning big bucks or bucks by 19/20, as well as developing, so no need to go to uni at that stage.

https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/new ... keter.html so did Andrew Strauss

Ravi Ashwin has a degree in IT and Sikandar Raza has a software engineering degree.

[Googly]

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id ... st-cricket

This is quite a good article. I'm very surprised that so many County cricketers have benefitted from the MCCU system.
I can only think of a handful that are currently at University and playing County cricket.
Suicide rate amongst ex cricketers is three times the national average.
Average "retirement" age is 26!! That's brutal.
The problem also is that not many cricketers at Uni do high powered degrees that guarantee you a high standard of living. Once you take the plunge into cricket its a big gamble. Unless you're a superstar the people in charge of your destiny have you firmly by the scrotum.
The semi-professional era of yesteryear would have been a lot more conducive to more balanced individuals.

[Googly]

Academic guys like Muyeye, Myers, Lake, Murray etc are probably doing the right thing by getting some big letters behind their names.