[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v New Zealand: Test Match

[FlowerPower]

Is it just me or is n-cube useless here?

It isn't just you. We need to stop picking just anybody.

I really hate "supporters" who slate players having an off day...the kid got a wicket in his debut 3 in his ODI debut...and the player you clamour for (my favourite mind you) didnt he go for 85-0 against the same batting on this very pitch?....neither here nor there but I dont get this selective slating...

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Is it just me or is n-cube useless here?

It isn't just you. We need to stop picking just anybody.

I really hate "supporters" who slate players having an off day...the kid got a wicket in his debut 3 in his ODI debut...and the player you clamour for (my favourite mind you) didnt he go for 85-0 against the same batting on this very pitch?....neither here nor there but I dont get this selective slating...

I agree FlowerPower. I can understand in the heat of the moment calling a particular spell useless or a passage of play etc, but I don't think it's fair to dismiss a player entirely on the back of a couple of overs.

Probably with the benefit of hindsight another bowler could have added something different to the attack, but I don't think Ncube has performed too badly on debut.

As mentioned above, NZ's day but not by a large degree! Credit to Sibanda, Taylor and especially Waller for fine half-centuries. It's all about perspective, 313 all out chasing 426... when NZ won the toss I think we would have taken that. We bowled NZ out when there was an expectation they could put up 600 or more, and we scored over 300 which is a fairly respectable result against Vettori. It never ceases to amaze me how many people underrate Vettori.

Overall what I've been most pleased about with Zimbabwe's return to Test cricket is that the team hasn't merely been "competitive", they have been more than that. And with a few first choice players on the sidelines too; Cremer, Vitori, Lamb and maybe Chigumbura.

Not to mention, it's great to watch Zimbabwe playing Test cricket again. There is a satisfaction about watching the game develop that you just can't get from ODIs or T20s and from an entertainment perspective I have been totally engrossed by the Zimbabwean Test matches. Nothing has been painful to watch; even the 140 collapse against Pakistan featured a fascinating revival from Taibu and Jarvis.

[eugene]

If Vettori was from India, Australia, or England he would be much more prominent than he is.

[Jemisi]

Is it just me or is n-cube useless here?

It isn't just you. We need to stop picking just anybody.

I really hate "supporters" who slate players having an off day...the kid got a wicket in his debut 3 in his ODI debut...and the player you clamour for (my favourite mind you) didnt he go for 85-0 against the same batting on this very pitch?....neither here nor there but I dont get this selective slating...

Ncube isn't just having an off day. He averages two wickets a game in FC cricket and doesn't get swing or seam or pace. He seems like an honest tryer, and that is good, but he has been elevated well ahead of his performance. He isn't in the Cephas Z. class, but he is heading in that direction. He took a wicket with a long hop.

This isn't an old heads vs newbies thing either. We should pick the best options. Ncube is well down the list. I've been clamouring for Meth over Ncube in this test because we need better batting in the tail but more importantly - because in the squad that was picked for this test, it was Meth vs Ncube for that spot. Meth has done far more to earn it. If he were to prove that he wasn't up to international cricket, then I'll stop calling for him. If it were Chatara vs Ncube, I'd go Chatara. If it were Shingi vs Ncube, I'd go Shingi. I believe that a player should earn his place and then if after a decent number of chances, he fails to take the opportunity then find another player who has earnt it.

[hhm]

Good doctor, foreignfield, FlowerPower etc, if I was apathetic towards someone before and after they made 160 not out against a far more qualified international attack as was fielded by Pakistan(as well as faced their new ball onslaught twice), how can I be any accommodating towards someone who made half and one who barely made a quarter of it!

Anyway supreme rearguard action from Waller & Chakabva there. I absolutely loved every minute of it Good job by the guys. Mind you I'm a Zim cricket supporter and my prediction was that we would have a first innings lead remember. How else would we have achieved that unless I expected this pair to contribute meaningfully along with the rest.

As for bad talking players! Guys are you in the diaspora or what - to be more precise - in a cricket playing nation. For all our adulation for our team and the players, it's an open secret that the media and majority of cricket fans think we're crap. You only need to pick out a few sensible comments on Cricinfo to see that. Even if you're blind. Teams are treating us as a glorified XI match to blood in new faces with limited/no risk. So why the sensitivity!

Like me you should be tired of defending Zim cricekt and it's players to a lot of other people 'who know cricket' too! NZers and Pakis are hard on their young debutants(who completely outperform ours) as well. Let's be real!

[jimbo]

Im sure meth and Cremer could have got 50 between them, How we miss them in our tail

[sscricket]

NCube is suited for one dayers where someone can support him from the other end or get help from the pitch. He is not a test match bowler. If he is getting only two wickets at domestic level per game he is simply not good enough for tests.

Meth is a matchwinner who should get his much deserved chance in tests purely on the basis of what he has done at the domestic level which is winning games single handedly.

[BaijuSpeaks]

NZ will declare once they have 300 runs lead on board. As seen in the finishing overs yesterday, Price is able to produce good grip and turn off the surface even with the new ball. Then, I wont be surprised if Vettori puts his hand up and convince his Captain to declare with a lead of 250 .
And it's almost sure, even if we bowl extremely well, they will get to this score. So, we have to try our best to not lose the game from now on.

So, the only way out is to delay the scoring rate as much as possible.
Give as many overs as possible to Price. Let him bowl over the stumps and put a defensive field.

[sscricket]

Jarvis is overrated. He bowls straight overpitched deliveries. Any batsman worth his salt should punish him.
Zimbabwe will need a lot of luck to come out undefeated from this one.....

[andybligz93]

not a bad effort from the lads , jarvis and ray gave us a sniff last night if we can get through there middle order early we know what there tail is like. you just never know fellas. like to give a mention to waller , my gosh hes in good form also to sibanda very unlucky not to get a ton also a good knock from taylor. like a few of you have mentioned be nice to see meth in there as well as cremer , but we dont have them and anyone picked on the park has to do there job and we take what we have. today could be a huge day in zim cricket if we can roll them cheaply and go in and knock the runs off. its a new day and who knows ncube could take 5 for.