Kenyon Ziehl and a return to Tests

[Train Driver]

I'm not sure whether to applaud Mr Ziehl for his admirable forward thinking or whether he is completely delusional

http://www.cricinfo.com/zimvsl2008-09/c ... 77367.html

If i may assist him in his master plan, YOU NEED YOUR BEST PLAYERS AVAILABLE Mr Ziehl

[jimbo]

I hope upon hope that Sibanda is back for the sri lanka series then we might well have something of a fighting chance of pulling off an upset or too. Anyway going back to the topic in hand it is a bit delusional thinking from kenyon ziehl. We saw what happened to zimbabwe against the presidents XI in pakistan when we lost by an innings. Whats more worrying about that match is that we had taylor,Williams and brent playing

[brmtaylor.com admin]

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/spor ... lanka.html

"Vusi is back from injury but will be travelling for a review in South Africa on 12 November. He is expected back in the team for the one-day warm-up match at Queens on 17 November. Ray Price has been rested for the four-day match, while the three youngsters — Shingi Masakadza, Tafadzwa Ngulube and Trevor Garwe — have been called up for the four-day match," Makoni said.
The Zimbabwe Select team leaves Harare for Bulawayo tomorrow, with Makoni declaring: "The boys are motivated and looking forward to taking on one of the best teams in world cricket."
After Bulawayo, the tour moves to the capital for five ODIs at Harare Sports Club on 20, 22, 24, 28 and 30 November.
Zimbabwe squad: Prosper Utseya (captain), Stuart Matsikenyere, Tatenda Taibu, Hamilton Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura, Tawanda Mupariwa, Chris Mpofu, Chamu Chibhabha, Keith Dabengwa, Graeme Cremer, Regis Chakabva, Timycen Maruma, Shingirai Masakadza, Tafadzwa Ngulube and Trevor Garwe.

Yep, resting your best player sounds like fielding your best XI Hopefully this means that Cremer will be included... surely.

[Train Driver]

Certainly seems like a brilliant move to 'rest' Ray Price, rest him from what ?, perhaps the 'selectors' think that they will keep him back as a secret weapon that Sri Lanka have no answer to in the ODI's ......

I notice that Tatenda Taibu is in the squad, any news about his problems ?

[brmtaylor.com admin]

The Sunday News journos are earning their money:

His sentiments were echoed by national convenor of selectors Kenyon Zigehl.

"It is my hope that we will give the Sri Lankans a good game. We haven’t had the best of preparations, but I feel we can rise to the occasion. However, we have to respect the Sri Lanka team as they have some very good players," said Zigehl.

The team includes two rookies in bowler Shingi Masakadza — young brother to batsman Hamilton — and Tafadzwa Ngulube.

However, there was no place for the trio of Cephas Zhuwawo, Jacques Muzarambani and Ray Price who, however, will bounce into contention for the ODI series.

[CrimsonAvenger]

Ah... I hope there is place for Barry Grunt as well, in the ODI team...

[aydee]

How much longer are Price, Cremer & Taibu going to stick around?... Seriously...

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Taibu's an interesting one. He tried to forge a club career in both South Africa and Bangladesh (and maybe even England, I can't remember) but had no success. He said he wanted to qualify for South Africa, but obviously that never amounted to anything.

It's tough to know whether or not Taibu is overrated... on a good wicket against ordinary opposition he does well. Take out his games against Bangladesh and his Test average is something like 21. He was well and truly exposed in the IPL - he was selected on reputation alone, Brendan Taylor, Vusi Sibanda and Elton Chigumbura in that order had all done more at T20 level than Taibu had.

For Taibu, maybe he knows that his only realistic chance of playing international cricket is by staying in Zimbabwe. For some of the younger players, including Taylor and Williams, I think their options are more open. Williams could easily qualify for a South African state team, while Taylor if he wanted to could work his way through the ranks in Australia.

The pecking order in Zimbabwe cricket is fast changing. Taibu was once considered Zimbabwe's great white hope, someone truly irreplaceable, etc, etc... but I think Ray Price, Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura - who are all worth their weight in gold now - have all surpassed Taibu.

[CrimsonAvenger]

I agree in Taibu's case. In fact, I bet he would stick around. He would need home board's consensus to be playing in IPL, and he can get it only if he is part of Zim setup. And he is no fool to jeopardize the money he would be getting there. Clearly he was a reputation choice.

I wonder if Cricket administrators in India would even know any other Zimbabwean cricketer's name apart from Taibu's. All they wanted to show was that they had inclusiveness on mind.

I expect Masakadza and Chigumbura to continue playing for Zim, but not sure about Sibanda. He might want to try his luck again in Australia. Price has nothing left to prove. If he is fed up of things around him, he would retire. But he must surely be on the IPL radar along with Masakadza. In case of Cremer though, Zimbabwe's loss would surely turn out to be someone else's gain. Like many here, I also believe that he can walk into the current Australian side as the lead spinner.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

In case of Cremer though, Zimbabwe's loss would surely turn out to be someone else's gain. Like many here, I also believe that he can walk into the current Australian side as the lead spinner.

Indeed. Krezja still has a long way to go. I like the bloke, he was able to spin the ball a fair amount which is rather important for a spin bowler (I'm looking at you Cameron White, with the one that goes straight on as his stock delivery). But while some were saying it was good to see he wasn't afraid to flight the ball a bit, well, when you're conceding 200 odd runs maybe it's not such the best thing to do. Krezja bleeds runs.

As much as I hope otherwise (and that he turns into the next Shane Warne!), the truth is he hadn't even taken a 5 wicket haul in First Class cricket so there was a fair amount of luck in his 12-fer. Will be interesting to see how he does on Australian pitches. When Bryce McGain recovers from his injury, I'd like to see him get a chance, although if the Australian selectors anything like Zimbabwe's (and their perseverance with White seems to suggest that they are - at #8 surely he's not included for his batting alone) I think the chances of that happening are pretty slim.

In fairness to White, he is actually a decent batsman and does alright at state level. He should probably be in the ODI team for his batting alone. The bloke who should be close to getting a game is Luke Ronchi... Haddin did bugger all this series, I don't think he has the luxury of automatic selection that Gilchrist did either. Haddin might be assured of a place for the next 2 games against New Zealand, but if he fails to perform I'd say Ronchi is a good chance of getting a Baggy Green against South Africa, who I think we play for the Boxing Day series. I'd love to see Haddin get a chance at #3 for one match (Ponting at #4). Will never happen - Ponting has a huge ego, that's why he sacrificed the series so he wouldn't get a suspension - but it would at least give Haddin a chance of proving his worth by having an extended period in the middle with people other than tail enders.

I'm not impressed with the state of Australian cricket at the moment