Absolutely. Rainsford was at my school but a year or two above me. He bowled rockets!! Had such an amazing record in domestic cricket but always underwhelmed in internationals.
His ODI record is quite decent, I actually thought he was one of those guys whose careers were really handled poorly by the selectors.
He was leading wicket taker in a very strong Logan Cup 12/13 and Zimbabwe had 6 Tests in a short period (tour of Windies then at home to BD & Pak) and he never even got a look in, even after the likes of Jarvis & Meth had left.
I remember his ODI debut against India in 2013. There were no speed guns but he looked so quick that day and got a lot of bounce. I also remember him troubling Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli with his bounce. There was an over in which Virat Kohli got hit on the body many times.
Yes I remember, people were comparing him to Curtley Ambrose (probably a bit OTT). But then the selectors got all love drunk on Panyangara for some reason and he became the No.1 picked bowler in all formats.
Lots of strange selections back then, but as we know there was lots going on behind the scenes between the board and players, the likes of Utseya and Panyangara were very close to the board.
I am very surprised to see how much Byrom and Welch have struggled this season. Welch has done OK but not the return that we would expect in terms of runs.
Yes they’ve both been quite disappointing imo, sure Welch did well in the Pro50, but he was still out done by Marumani & Chamu. He also scored his maiden First Class 100 but he’s been poor in the Logan Cup apart from that.
Byrom has been a massive flop, if he weren’t a Zimbo and a forum favourite, he’d be getting pasted here for sure.
He hasn't set the place alight for sure but he's got three 50's in 4 matches which isn't disastrous. Averaging over 30. Could be worse!! He's a high quality player, I have no doubt.
The mixed fortunes of the overseas players does perhaps show that the quality of our local cricket isn't too awful at least.
I've been quite encouraged by the struggles of some of the overseas/returnees. They're losing their wickets to up and coming players too sometimes which is good to see. Not that I am looking for them to fail just for the spread of quality to improve
The mixed fortunes of the overseas players does perhaps show that the quality of our local cricket isn't too awful at least.
While I have also been encouraged by this, how do we explain the ridiculous continuous success of someone like Shingi with bat and ball? He seems to be someone who is just turning up to make up XIs sometimes...
The mixed fortunes of the overseas players does perhaps show that the quality of our local cricket isn't too awful at least.
While I have also been encouraged by this, how do we explain the ridiculous continuous success of someone like Shingi with bat and ball? He seems to be someone who is just turning up to make up XIs sometimes...
Shingi has always had batting ability. I felt he underachieved with the bat. He could've been a decent pace-bowling all-rounder. Is he still bowling pace or has he turned to bowling spin?
Edit: Looked up some of his recent bowling and it looks like he bowls slower on average now (115-130 kph?), but he slips in a quicker delivery every now and then. He gets bounce (an underrated weapon) and a bit of movement and bowls in good areas. He still looks quicker than Mupariwa and Nyauchi to me, and he is quicker than many other Logan Cup bowlers most likely, so perhaps him picking wickets shouldn't really be suprising?
