It seems to me that he is the only person in recent times to have developed well at domestic level, and then found the transition to international (and higher level) cricket quite easy. Have a look at his First Class stats over the past 4 seasons:
He keeps bettering his previous years average. After a poor start in 2004-05, a reasonable go of it in 2006-07, he has done very well in 2007-08 and if his start to 2008-09 is anything to go by should continue his record of getting better year after year. He has scored three First Class centuries now to an overall average of 32.17. It is still early days in his career though - a few not outs and a few fifties (3 centuries, 0 fifties - as soon as he makes a start he goes on to make a century; his highest score in the double figures is 39) and his average could rise into the 40's and 50's. There are 5 more matches for Easterns in the Logan Cup, supposing Mutizwa plays 8 innings if he scores 500 more runs in the series (not out of the question considering the strength of Easterns) his First Class average will rise to 42. And a similar (or better, which statistically we expect) performance in next years Logan Cup would see it rise to around 48.Season Matches Inns Not Out Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
2004-05 (Zimbabwe) 2 3 0 5 3 1.66 0 0 10 1
2006-07 (Zimbabwe) 5 8 0 211 107 26.37 1 0 16
2007-08 (Zimbabwe) 4 6 1 207 102* 41.40 1 0 18 3
2008-09 (Zimbabwe) 1 1 0 124 124 124.00 1 0 3
His domestic one day average isn't great, but at 28 it is adequate and comparable or better to most of his national team counterparts. His ODI average - only against Kenya, but still they are probably better than the Zimbabwe domestic teams - is very healthy at 41.
So is it safe to say that, besides the usual suspects (national team members) that Forster Mutizwa is our most promising domestic talent? Yes, I think it is. Steven Nyamuzinga hasn't done too badly for himself at Logan Cup level either. Regis Chakabva has only one First Class century, but has 4 half centuries as well. But Mutizwa now has 3 First Class centuries - I'm pretty sure that is the most First Class centuries by any current player not to have played a Test match.
Where does that leave Mutizwa as far as the national team is concerned? He only broke into the team because of the Taibu situation and the strange fact that Chakabva wasn't in the squad, but by the conclusion of the series of the series he leapfrogged Chakabva and probably also Taibu. Mutizwa has become our first choice wicket keeper because of firstly a bit of luck, but then some very good form with the bat. Lets not overlook his wicket keeping form - his numbers are impeccable. 47 catches, 4 stumpings at First Class level in 12 matches. That's 4.25 dismissals a game, by comparison Adam Gilchrist's stats are 756 catches and 55 stumpings in 190 games - 4.27 dismissals a game.
As we know Taibu is in atrocious form at the moment, so as far as I'm concerned Mutizwa has earned his spot in the first eleven. Probably in both forms of the game, although upon returning to Tests we would be made not to play Taibu (with or without Mutizwa).
Mutizwa has proven himself against lower level opponents, but as far as I know he hasn't even played (officially recorded matches) for Zimbabwe A or Zimbabwe Provinces, which makes his rise from domestic cricket to international cricket all the more fascinating. In his first match against higher class opponents - a 2 dayer against Sri Lanka A - he made 42 not out. 16, 13 and 26 against the Pakistan Academy wasn't totally disgraceful considering they are all 'starts' and the team totals were all under 200. Against India's South Zone, his first officially recognised match against international type opposition - he made 40.
He's yet to play against a full member nation, so this will be the true test for Mutizwa. But by the looks of it, he is prepared for this and one thing is for sure - I will be less nervous to watch Mutizwa walk to the crease and face the likes of Harbhajan or Ishant Sharma than if it was Matsikenyeri or Dabengwa!
I'm firmly on the Forster Mutizwa bandwagon, his performances have been very pleasing and I hope that he continues to churn out the runs for the national team.
