Glamorgan and Durham to tour Zimbabwe

[Googly]

That shot of Marumani's is probably the most common way of getting out. A ball on leg or middle that the batter tries to turn off his pads early in his innings before his eye is in and before he's got the pace of the wicket instead of hitting it in the V. When you're only chasing 200 you've got a lot of time and not much thought went into that shot. As Boucher said, you've got to find a way to get past 9 and then it gets easier. He said that about red ball but it applies very much to 50 over as well.

If you don't persevere with Wes, Maru and Shumba who else is there, they've tried everyone else. There's Campbell who has improved big time and that's about it.
There's Bennet who probably needs another year in domestic to see how he develops.

I've watched a lot of young guys start their county careers and they nearly all find it tough going. It's not easy, the bowling is relentless. You have to be able to make runs off decent deliveries and that's where 99% of our guys struggle, but that's the next level. That's the ceiling that only the really good batters can get through. It's why we get bogged down and then look for the low percentage boundary option.
You can't just say rotate strike, it's the difference between the average and the good.

Marumani has ability, don't doubt that, but he looks better suited down the order. We're still looking for someone that can deal with the new ball. They're like rocking horse shit.

[secretzimbo]

They’ll probably come good eventually. It’s just a matter of when. And it’s a matter of what on Earth do we do in the meantime? It could be quite a few years before they do. And as we’ve said, there will probably be at least 2 retirements later this year. And we know Chamu isn’t the answer either. There’s a big hole coming.

Madhevere, Shumba, Marumani, Munyonga, Madande, Campbell and Bennett appear to all have some level of potential. The problem is, the more chance you give them now where they aren’t ‘ready’, the more it probably destroys their confidence and they’ll struggle to make it later when they might be ready.

[mnelson68]

They’ll probably come good eventually. It’s just a matter of when. And it’s a matter of what on Earth do we do in the meantime? It could be quite a few years before they do. And as we’ve said, there will probably be at least 2 retirements later this year. And we know Chamu isn’t the answer either. There’s a big hole coming.

Madhevere, Shumba, Marumani, Munyonga, Madande, Campbell and Bennett appear to all have some level of potential. The problem is, the more chance you give them now where they aren’t ‘ready’, the more it probably destroys their confidence and they’ll struggle to make it later when they might be ready.

I think you make a great point , the confidence just isn't there and the more they fail the harder it may be for them to make it. Campbell and Bennet haven't been given an opportunity and should be next in line.

[Googly]

In County the good youngsters coming out of their Academies get a 2 year contract where they get through about 60 games of Two's cricket, which is a very good standard, they'll also play prem club cricket, again a very high standard, and they'll get thru another 30-40 games there as well. They'll play more games in those 2 years than our guys will get through in 6 years or more.
If they don't fire in those 2 years most get sacked, that's it, their pro cricket is done and they are now part time club cricketers if they haven't been too shell shocked by their failure. Bear in mind these boys come through their age group cricket and of the 15 odd guys that have been thru 10 years of county age group perhaps only 2-4 will get an academy contract and perhaps of the 15 academy guys only 2-4 will get a county contract. Its brutal, but at the end of that you're left with perhaps 2 players from thousands of schoolboys who are really good cricketers. That's per county, there's 18 counties. Surrey alone have 2000 schools that play cricket, so believe me the 2 youngsters they contract every year from 1000's of players are very good. Thats why County cricket is strong.

There are some unbelievably good prem club cricketers that just never made the grade because they didn't make runs in the very few opportunities you're going to get in One's. You've literally got about 5 or 6 games to impress as a batsman in Ones or you're going to be a casualty. The pressure to succeed is immense. They'll persevere with some guys because they like what they see technically, and those guys will get more opportunities, but there aren't too many of those lads. Muyeye is one of them actually. He will get many opportunities because he's clearly very good, but also because a guy of colour would also tick a much needed box, but he's certainly not doing enough yet to cement a first team spot. This is a big season coming up for him. He has to fire or he's going to be under real pressure. In fact there are very few players that can afford a shit season in their last year of contract. There's probably more job security in being a crash test dummy. If you're in a big county you may get a second bite of the cherry in a smaller one, but if you're not doing well in a smaller county you're done.

Here in Zim if you're half decent you'll play franchise for years and you'll probably get a game here and there in the national side for many years as well simply because there aren't enough good players around and very few players are doing enough to lock down a spot in the national side. Basically what the players here think is pressure is not even close to what most county guys have to absorb. Many don't even come close to understanding their own games, what works for them and what not to do. The fact that we can assemble a national side from this environment that can even vaguely compete is extraordinary actually.

[Donald]

Bennet was actually playing a very good innings against durham in his last match but was involved in a freak run out where jono campbell was throwing the bat around and bowler managed to get a touch to run him out at non strikers end.
He looked good in second innings against durham in the 3day match. Albeit pressure was completely off at that stage.
He will only get better i think

[mnelson68]

I look at Tatenda Taibu who was 18 years old when he made his debut and went on to have a very good career. You need to take your opportunity when you get one. Unfortunately for Maramuni , Shumba , Mayonga and Madhevere they just haven't shown enough and have had many opportunities to do so. They are batting with experienced players who they can learn from but they keep failing. I definitely see Campbell as a replacement for Ervine or Williams . He is the right age as well , just coming into his prime years. Bennet should now be in front of these other guys when an opportunity arises. I think Madande has something and is worth preserving with. How good would it be if DH could get one of the flower brothers back to help out with specialised coaching and the mental aspect of the game.

[secretzimbo]

People wanting Bennett in the team and expecting him to perform any differently to Wes and Co are grasping at straws.

It would be the same result . He’s even younger and even less experienced. Talented like them all but it’s not easy to be thrown into international cricket for anybody, let alone someone from Zim with few facilities and very little coaching and when you’ve only played 2 career first class games!!!

Meanwhile Campbell has worked very hard over several years , definitely a grafter. But he isn’t in the same league talent wise as Williams or Ervine so it’s relatively preposterous to say he will replace them. I mean he could surprise us, who knows? Hard work and the right mindset is half the game and he seems to have it.

[secretzimbo]

As has been the problem for literally as long as I can remember, the issue isn’t necessarily the talent.
The issue is the pathway.
You go from schools cricket (playing 10 games a year if you are lucky ) to suddenly being in the U19’s playing against 40 year old Afghan fighters, then you are back home with a handful of club games (when they happen) of varying quality depending on who shows up or is available. You have to scrap it out trialling for the franchises, not getting paid. If lucky then one of them will take you on. Then you have to do six months of nets before you get a look in.
Then if you break into the team you will play half a dozen first class games, which as we’ve seen has been exposed as low quality.
Score a couple of fifties and all of a sudden you are thrown into the national side playing against the best in the world.


All of the above is literally so unbelievably bad. There’s literally no single good part of our system/pathway.

[mnelson68]

People wanting Bennett in the team and expecting him to perform any differently to Wes and Co are grasping at straws.

It would be the same result . He’s even younger and even less experienced. Talented like them all but it’s not easy to be thrown into international cricket for anybody, let alone someone from Zim with few facilities and very little coaching and when you’ve only played 2 career first class games!!!

Meanwhile Campbell has worked very hard over several years , definitely a grafter. But he isn’t in the same league talent wise as Williams or Ervine so it’s relatively preposterous to say he will replace them. I mean he could surprise us, who knows? Hard work and the right mindset is half the game and he seems to have it.

The cupboard is bare mate , unless other players like Ballance are lured back then the future is bleak. I'm not saying Campbell is as good as Ervine or Williams but he's definately got the ticker and deserves a crack. Otherwise he will be disillusioned and quit the game or play elsewhere like PJ Moor

[Googly]

As has been the problem for literally as long as I can remember, the issue isn’t necessarily the talent.
The issue is the pathway.
You go from schools cricket (playing 10 games a year if you are lucky ) to suddenly being in the U19’s playing against 40 year old Afghan fighters, then you are back home with a handful of club games (when they happen) of varying quality depending on who shows up or is available. You have to scrap it out trialling for the franchises, not getting paid. If lucky then one of them will take you on. Then you have to do six months of nets before you get a look in.
Then if you break into the team you will play half a dozen first class games, which as we’ve seen has been exposed as low quality.
Score a couple of fifties and all of a sudden you are thrown into the national side playing against the best in the world.


All of the above is literally so unbelievably bad. There’s literally no single good part of our system/pathway.

Exactly on point. Exactly!!
If you tell someone from another country, particularly a member nation, this is the state of play here I don't think they'd believe you. That's why it is so critical to get an HPC going. It needs a really good coach and a couple of sharp throwers. There's no point in getting the staff standing at the end and providing no meaningful input. Get the best batters and work on their flaws and their mental game and try and make up in some small way for what we are lacking here, and that's game time against consistently good bowling. I've always maintained that you're not going to make an international caliber batter out of a guy who didn't dominate at school and its largely true. There are very few exceptions to this. We've got very few franchise batters that were exceptional schoolboys, and the very few we have seem to not be able to kick on. The most obvious example of the latter is Wes. He's still got time to turn it around and reach his potential, it's not like he's a lost cause at all.
He does seem to go out there with a fairly clear head each time, which is good. His extended poor run would have made a lot of people really yip up. We're also in an environment where players seem content to dine out on one good innings after 8 shit ones in a row. And the reality is that we're so desperate that it does buy the player time