Williams was roped in after outcry

[ZIMDOGGY]

Chigs and cremer so sound stupid I agree. Cremer may just be shy though. Taibu not really bright either.

I can't think of any current player who seems bright. People often cite
mawoyo, but I suspect that's more amazement at having a crisp British accent rather than a heavy African accent. I don't think that's necessarily a measure of intellect.

In fact, prosper utseya was intelligent, but in a conniving, Cunning dodgy way.

I am curious to know about your measure of intelligence, or bright for that matter. Hamilton, Tatenda Taibu and Tino Mawoyo passed their "O''s, did their A Levels and passed with flying colours and you can find nobody in that team who is bright? As a matter of interest, have you got A Levels, Zimdoggy?

I dont even know what that is. but I do have a double degree and a six figure salary.

Either way you cut it, I'm a smart prick, that's for sure!

[ZIMDOGGY]

Ive found our cricketers to be quite jacked up and quite intelligent. Ive found Panyangra to be very analytical , Chakabva to be a sound problem solver Aliseni is also highly educated , Propser has a very sound Cricketing mind. We need to be respectfull of our players and not think that they are not clever. Most have Olevels and Alevels and i know a few who are pursuing qualifications on a part time basis. Lets not b narrow minded and ignorant

Never heard Panyangara talk or seen Chakabva in front of a puzzle but I'll take your word for it.

Aliseni is very vocal on cricket groups on facebook, and he does seem a bit cluey, but thinks jhe is Tupac Shakur. Not dumb, but Im not looking at him and thinking he is incredibly intelligent. Maybe he is though.

Besides anyone can do a degree, it requires patience, like cricket.

I used to rock up to exams hungover.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Ive found our cricketers to be quite jacked up and quite intelligent. Ive found Panyangra to be very analytical , Chakabva to be a sound problem solver Aliseni is also highly educated , Propser has a very sound Cricketing mind. We need to be respectfull of our players and not think that they are not clever. Most have Olevels and Alevels and i know a few who are pursuing qualifications on a part time basis. Lets not b narrow minded and ignorant

The thing I've noticed about Zimbabwe cricket for the past few years is that they continuously lack the ability to make adjustments or to anticipate the adjustments the opposition might make. As a result, Zimbabwe have only won the odd match here and there which is probably due to the opposition being complacent or resting some key players. After the win, there is usually a resounding loss. I think there have only been a couple of win streaks, both against Bangladesh, and none longer than a 2 game streak. The common adage is that 90% of sports is from the neck up.

.
Oh please Kriterion you know ridiculous you sound? If that was the case 70 % of us here on the forums, if I can pound our own drum, would be playing for the national team.

Its natural ability, RESOURCES, practice - that goes without saying. Many excellent cricketers including some Australians can hardly string a coherent sentence together and still you insist on 90% of cricket being about brains? Come on. Your common adage is wrong.

I know you like being pompous and all knowing sometimes, of which I don't begrudge you; but in your eagerness to prop up our vocal Zimdoggy and Eugene, and paint Zimbo cricketers as a bunch of dullards, you have only managed to build a vain argument where substance is required.

What Aussie sounds dumb?

Besides Dmien Martyn, who just talks slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

[Kriterion_BD]

.
Oh please Kriterion you know ridiculous you sound? If that was the case 70 % of us here on the forums, if I can pound our own drum, would be playing for the national team.

Its natural ability, RESOURCES, practice - that goes without saying. Many excellent cricketers including some Australians can hardly string a coherent sentence together and still you insist on 90% of cricket being about brains? Come on. Your common adage is wrong.

I know you like being pompous and all knowing sometimes, of which I don't begrudge you; but in your eagerness to prop up our vocal Zimdoggy and Eugene, and paint Zimbo cricketers as a bunch of dullards, you have only managed to build a vain argument where substance is required.

Everyone in America knows that sports is 90% from the head up. That doesn't mean Kobe Bryant or Lebron James would be winning Noble prizes in Literature. However it means they are students of their games and know the ins and outs of it as good as anyone else does. They could still make lousy coaches, because being a coach is more about man management, etc. However any great player would make a fantastic consultant in their respective speciality. Kobe in how to be a more assertive scoring option, Lebron in how to be an overall team player. Of course that doesn't mean you or I could be the next Black Mamba but that those guys have a good academic understanding of their game.

One does not get the same vibe from a Hamilton or a Vusi or an Elton or a Panyangara. I am not suggesting that they are players of fantastic talent, but I am suggesting that they are achieving less than their natural ability precisely because they either cannot or don't care to understand the game. Elton after 200 ODIs should know when he needs to step on the gas pedal. Hamilton after 150 matches should know to ground his bat when running between the wickets. Panyangara and Chatara should know that bowling length balls at the death will get you punished. Vusi should know after 100+ caps that hooking the ball in the air with 5 men at deep square leg is a very stupid thing to do.

Afghanistan has about 10% the resources that Zimbabwe gets, yet their players are able to make enough adjustments to come from 2-1 down or whatever to tie or win a series against Zimbabwe, home and away.

I don't know how smart Taylor was, and can't comment on Williams, although SW seems to be about as sharp as a wagon wheel. But Cremer does seem to be a vast improvement over Chigumbura's captaincy.

[eugene]

Our guys have been making rookie mistakes their whole career.

[ZIMDOGGY]

I don't think Lebron and friends are very smart people, they are very much there because of their physicality.

However, the dediciation to their craft and fitness in America is something that Zimbabwe can learn from.

There would be no coke can hamiltons, mawoyos and tinashes in the USA. I think that's why the foreign contingency on this forum are very critical of the players approach more so than the native Zimbabweans.

When it comes to approaching sport from a technical standpoint, no one does it like the U.S. They pioneer almost everything. Although strangely, the sinbin/timeout was actually a rugby league thing, I learnt that a few days ago.

[jaybro]

This forum does love a petty arguement

Arguing about who is smart or not smart who really knows from watching interviews I always felt bad for Chigs the bloke was nervous as hell and obviously English wasn't his first language ....

The dumbest thing I ever heard from a Zim player was from BRMT after the t20 WC game against UAE in 2014, for those who can't remember we had to win with a really good net run rate. The commentators posted the target number of overs we needed the runs but after the game BRMT said they didn't know or had the figure wrong

How could the rest of the world know except the actual team .......

[foreignfield]

This forum does love a petty arguement

Arguing about who is smart or not smart who really knows from watching interviews I always felt bad for Chigs the bloke was nervous as hell and obviously English wasn't his first language ....

The dumbest thing I ever heard from a Zim player was from BRMT after the t20 WC game against UAE in 2014, for those who can't remember we had to win with a really good net run rate. The commentators posted the target number of overs we needed the runs but after the game BRMT said they didn't know or had the figure wrong

+1

Btw, this discussion is about altogether different things: being intellectually smart does not mean that you will maximise your sporting potential. Making the same mistakes over and over does not mean that you are stupid: it's not that you have ten minutes to figure out how to play a ball at 135 kph and then tick the wrong box. For most sports you only need an average amount of intelligence, a sound understandig of your sport (this is where good coaching comes in), but you need a strong work ethic, and even more you need mental toughness: that's what the "90 % is played between the ears" argument is all about.

[maehara]

This forum does love a petty arguement

It does keep the pageviews up.

being intellectually smart does not mean that you will maximise your sporting potential.

This. I'm sure everyone has met people who are academically smart be that haven't an ounce of "common sense" - they can quite happily write a research paper but have problems with somewhat more everyday tasks. (I may be one of them, couldn't possibly comment.) Works the other way around, too.

Zim players can be a smart as you like, it's not really relevant on the pitch. I would say, though, that they've shown themselves to be tactically lacking over the years.

[Kriterion_BD]

Btw, this discussion is about altogether different things: being intellectually smart does not mean that you will maximise your sporting potential. Making the same mistakes over and over does not mean that you are stupid: it's not that you have ten minutes to figure out how to play a ball at 135 kph and then tick the wrong box. For most sports you only need an average amount of intelligence, a sound understandig of your sport (this is where good coaching comes in), but you need a strong work ethic, and even more you need mental toughness: that's what the "90 % is played between the ears" argument is all about.

Well said FF.

I'm not arguing that Kobe and Lebron should be professors at Harvard. But to suggest that they are only playing basketball because of their physicality is grossly ignorant. They understand the game of basketball better than anyone else. Do they make mistakes? Surely they do. All the time. But they don't repeat the same mistake year after year. And they have a lot of success that precedes each mistake they make.

Tendulkar probably threw his wicket away in 80% of the innings in which he batted. But the difference between him and Hamilton or Williams is that Tendy scores an average of 50 runs before he makes that fatal mistake. Hammy and Willy will only rarely cross 50.

A lot of it has to come from the culture. From what I understand most of the black players in ZIM learn the game at a much later age, and its just difficult to catch up to most of the rest of the Test playing nations where kids are playing from a very early age and grow up in a culture of cricket. For most of Zimbabwe's players, they are in the game mostly for the money. One feels the passion, committment, and in depth understanding of the game is lacking.

The above is just my theory as to one of the reasons why cricket in Zimbabwe is stagnant. Of course the corruption of the ZC is an issue as well, but apart from that, thats my thought.

Besides, cricket was destined to be dominated at least in the 21st century and beyond by just England, Australia, and India. All other teams are just making up the numbers. Realistically speaking, 90% of the championships in Tests, ODI, or T20 cricket will be won by 1 of the big 3. And the smaller countries have little chance of ever even making it as far as the quarterfinals, etc.