Googly wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 5:29 am
You sound like a Herald sports writer. He's not a prodigy, nor a starlet for that matter, he's just a good cricketer that's short of runs.
Also there's no such thing as a lucrative club contract. A decent club deal is free board and lodging and about £200-£300 a week, it gives you some nice beer money.
He's not made runs at school level so he's going to need to make some changes if he's going to do well at club level.
Once he finishes school in the UK he probably runs into visa problems if he's not going to Uni there. He'd probably need a Tier 5 visa.
He's not attaining "greatness" if he spends 3-4 years at a UK university either. He'd need to get stuck into our Zim cricket and hope for a miracle because our club and franchise cricket does not foster "greatness." He'd also need to do particularly well in our franchise stuff to get a look in for our national side. As ordinary as it is, competition for places is still competitive, there are some good players vying for spots. He's a middle order batsman that doesn't bowl, already he's made life difficult for himself.
Go easy on the sugar.
A bit of optimism wouldn't hurt, if we have no hope, then what do we have? 300 pounds per week for a semi-pro isn't chump change, I don't think any Zi franchise is paying any players hat much. When I say lucrative contract I mean in the long-term, its an eventuality, rookies rarely ever sign big money deals.
Googly wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 5:29 am
Also there's no such thing as a lucrative club contract.
I remember a certain Brendan Taylor signing a three year deal with Nottinghamshire for a estimated AUD$95,000 to AUD$190,000 after his terrific ODI WC 2015 performance. I don't know about y'all, but that a large chunk of money to me, so yes, if you perform well, you can get offered a lucrative contract. And thats all I wish for all these young cricketers who are pursuing a career in sport
https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/br ... aa98df4c84
Googly wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 5:29 am
You sound like a Herald sports writer. He's not a prodigy, nor a starlet for that matter, he's just a good cricketer.....
Prodigy definition "a young person with exceptional qualities or abilities". 16 year old cricketer from Zimbabwe scoring a century at the U19 cricket world cup cuts it, in my book. Whether he becomes a world class pro, that remains to be seen. Sports writers said the same thing about Vermulen and Malcolm lake when they achieved the same feat, albeit older, theres nothing wrong with a bit of optimism. If England can boast and talk up their up-and-coming talent, why cant we?.Is there a good reason to not get excited about Zimbabwe's first black cricketer to score a century at a world cup ? given that we've had many (black cricketers that is) who could achieve this feat? Should we only be excited about cricketers the British press (they are arguably the dominant global press and electronic media) tell us to be excited about? Sub-continent cricket fans praise their up-and-coming-talent to no end, the world knew about Rahane, Kholi while they were still in primary school for christ sake, but here on a Zimbabwe cricket forum you are forbidden to praise a former U16 cricketer who scored a century at the U19 world cup, I guess Rajput and the inept ZC administration isn't the only thing fucked up about Zimbabwe cricket
Googly wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 5:29 am
our club and franchise cricket does not foster "greatness."
Zimbabwe club and franchise cricket does not foster "greatness." umm, the same franchise cricket were former ICC world cricketer of the year Andy Flower honed his trade?, the same franchise cricket that produced Brendan Taylor? To this day, I have Asian and Australian cricket fans asking me about Douglas Anthony Marillier who retired donkey years ago and his unorthodox shots. whether you like it or not, a disproportionate number of Zimbabwean cricketers have made an impression in world cricket and unfortunately for you, theres nothing you can do about it, they sealed thier legacy, you can rewrite history to make yourself feel better.
I get that domestic cricket isn't as good as it should be, but its really up to the cricketers to pursue individual brilliance, are they banned from spending at an hour or two in the nets a day? do we have bowling machines? do we have nets where bowlers can spend time working on their bowling action? As much as $$$ is a very important factor of which ZC has very little of, a player who is hungry and determined can improve himself. Hell Blessing Muzarabani did!!
