Zimbabwe Vs West Indies | 2nd Test | 12-16 Feb 2023 | Bulawayo

[TapsC2]

The County games are coming at the right time because they will show where the likes of Shumba and Wes really stand. The lack of A cricket is really killing these guys. They need a competitive environment without the same international environment to get some confidence. They are learning on the job right now and it's having disastrous consequences.

[zimbos_05]

Honestly we need to ask soem hard questions on why we have so many injuries all the time.
There needs to be an in depth investigation.

It’s bloody cricket ffs. A non contact sport.
It’s extremely rare for batsmen to miss games yet we can have 2/3 out at once.

Even high intensity and impact NFL, NRL etc will not be missing so many.

It’s not age either as it’s happened to us the last ten years.

This, along with the batting question is the big questions we really need to be answering. It's honestly dumb and extremely baffling that a professional international cricket team has so many injury issues and also progresses at such a slow rate in terms of skill and quality.

[Kriterion_BD]

The County games are coming at the right time because they will show where the likes of Shumba and Wes really stand. The lack of A cricket is really killing these guys. They need a competitive environment without the same international environment to get some confidence. They are learning on the job right now and it's having disastrous consequences.

I mean sure yeah. But performances in recent international matches vs a multitude of opponents over the last 6 months can also do that (middling Associates like USA, top Associates like Netherlands, lower end full members like Ireland, and middling FM like West Indies and Bangladesh, and top sides like Australia).

I don't see what magical insights will be gained in 2-3 games vs a county side - if they even send their first XI - will show that full televised internationals over the past 6 months haven't.

[Kriterion_BD]

Once the Big 3 retire, things will likely be bleak. Ballance has at most 4 years left, a couple after the Big 3 start quitting. Raza may well have played his last Test already, since there will always be some dogshit T20 league by the time Zimbabwe's next Test series comes around.

Right now its just Ballance and Kaia to carry the batting come 2025. Madhevere, Marumani, Madande, and Shumba have a lot to work on if they are to fill in the shoes of Ervine/Williams/Raza/Chakabva. Madhevere is relatively talented, but his problem is he plays in the air way too much to be consistently successful. Marumani has improved a lot since I first saw him in 2021, but he's very weak against spin, and tends to rely on big shots too much. He will need to learn to just work the ball around the field to pick up ones, twos, and threes. Shumba to me looks awkward in terms of technique and I can't see him being at all good enough for the top level. Haven't seen Madande, but I would be surprised if he's significantly better than the other 3. So what is the solution? Obviously A team cricket is one. But the main solution is for those guys to play internationals and gradually learn on the job so that 3-4 years down the road they are finished products. But in order to do that, they have to have some semblance of form, and getting out for single digit scores repeatedly against weaker opposition makes it tough on the selectors to keep giving you chances. Its being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On the bowling front, the Ngarava mania seems to have subsided. He's been around for a long time and is just not penetrative enough. I think Nyauchi has definitely overtaken him as the second seamer behind Blessing. Blessing of course is the spearhead of the attack, and I would say he's the closest thing to a world class bowler Zimbabwe have. Who gets the third pacer spot between Evans, Chivanga, or Ngarava? At the moment, I would say Evans because he has some batting ability with Chivanga next in line, as his pace is hard to ignore. But is Chivanga really any better than Ngarava? Time will tell.

Mavuta is the other bright spot on the bowling front. Has some ability with the bat as well and if he can average 20-25 down the order that will be huge. Wellington is the spinning version of Ngarava...flatters to deceive more often than not. Motie showed just how many wickets an SLA could take on this pitch and Wellington had none.

Bottom line is, without the Big 3 (and when they retire), Zimbabwe will find it difficult to compete with Ireland, Afghanistan, Netherlands, and possibly Scotland too.

[Googly]

Steven Saul looked like a prospect Googly

Is he still about?

Ya there was a point where I thought he'd really kick on, but then he had a disastrous WC. I'm not sure what he's doing now. There's an outside chance he's in the UK to play some club cricket. I recall him struggling to rotate strike, which is the mark of the better guys.


Alistair Frost has improved. He looked average a while back, but has suddenly upped his game big time. He is batting well. His younger brother is also a decent player.

Matt Parkinson was apparently surprised at batters' inability to nudge it around.

Luke Jongwe had a very good 90 the other day. This guy can bat!
It's a bit of a mystery why our batters just go out. Not being able to kick on happens to all batters at some point, but the better guys then string together some big scores, which eludes our guys.
Compton is a good example. When he first came here he was struggling to make his county first team and the easier bowling enabled him to work out his game. Maybe it was less pressure?
I don't think anyone really knows. Coaches say- stick to the basics, have maybe 3 scoring areas etc etc but but much beyond that it's a grey area

[mnelson68]

How did Kaia develop his game?

He's done the hard yards, gained 10 years of experience, including eating sh!t back in the day when the Rocks where the whipping boys of the franchise system.

You can't buy experience.

Don't underestimate the mental part of the game , the guys who are struggling are most likely not mentally strong enough to cope with international cricket .

[mnelson68]

The County games are coming at the right time because they will show where the likes of Shumba and Wes really stand. The lack of A cricket is really killing these guys. They need a competitive environment without the same international environment to get some confidence. They are learning on the job right now and it's having disastrous consequences.

Had enough of shumba he is no good

[Googly]

Kaia is the interesting one. We've had quite a few guys of his calibre, but he's suddenly got something going that is working. I'd be asking him what his processes are if I was a batsman.
The one thing is you have to practice harder than you play, but not all the time! You have to have challenging sessions and mix them up with easier ones where you can groove stuff.

DH's philosophy of playing without fear is presumably a T20 one. You have to be a bit more circumspect in 50 over and a lot more cautious in red ball. The tricky format is surely 50 over, which is a mix of the two, you have to attack, but with caution

[Googly]

If we can be a regular pre season venue for county sides we don't need A team cricket. Well we do but this is a good substitute because we are never going to get any.

[Googly]

The County games are coming at the right time because they will show where the likes of Shumba and Wes really stand. The lack of A cricket is really killing these guys. They need a competitive environment without the same international environment to get some confidence. They are learning on the job right now and it's having disastrous consequences.

I mean sure yeah. But performances in recent international matches vs a multitude of opponents over the last 6 months can also do that (middling Associates like USA, top Associates like Netherlands, lower end full members like Ireland, and middling FM like West Indies and Bangladesh, and top sides like Australia).

I don't see what magical insights will be gained in 2-3 games vs a county side - if they even send their first XI - will show that full televised internationals over the past 6 months haven't.

You're missing the point, which is to give more of our franchise players a taste against good/better opposition than they're used to. Obviously in the hope that a few of them learn something and the better ones learn to cope and go up a level.