Zim A v Pak A: 4 Dayers Series Thread

[jimbo]

Have a feeling that mpofu and tiripano will play and it will be between mumba and nyauchi to seal bowling slot for test

[tawac]

Seriously hope Streak can do a better job with the bowlers. Cremer hasnt the "best" bowler by any standards. But with him picking some wickets here perhaps it will give him some confidence going into the tests.

[tawac]

Have a feeling that mpofu and tiripano will play and it will be between mumba and nyauchi to seal bowling slot for test

Is Chatara injured or something? I don't see him being left out.

[foreignfield]

Cremer's performances so far in the longest format (tests) have been anything but noteworthy. In my view, primarily due to his lack of pace when playing on slower wickets - the amount of turn and drift are found out by the time the ball reaches the batsmen, so they can play him with ease.

I agree with that, as you know, but I believe gargamel also has a point in questioning Cremer's work ethic and stamina (both physically and psychologically) in the longer format. In the first Test against NZ he started off with an insipid spell where he was all over the place, looking decidely under-cooked. Then after bowling himself in for an hour or so, suddenly he found his length, got the ball through a bit quicker, made it turn and bounce -- bowling the way we always phantasize about when we think of Cremer or someone calls him 'world class'. He only took one wicket during that spell, but the NZ batsmen were very fortunate to survive ... although you also make your own luck and playing the opposition in with a series of long-hops previously certainly didn't help.

After that it all went downhill very quickly again, and for the rest of the series it seemed as if he was just going through the motions and what you described became the order of the day again: the batsmen just played his good balls off the pitch and put away his not unfrequent bad balls. He didn't even apply pressure from his own end.

[CrimsonAvenger]

Agreed. That is why it has been painful watching him over the years. In fact, this was the same issue with his predecessor Brian Murphy too. Too many loose balls that indicate lack of practice / game time as gargamel puts it. Who knows, with more cricket under his belt, Cremer could fix this issue, but he has to play somewhere to get that game time under his belt. His golfing sojourn did not help the cause either. Strang and Huckle were of the top draw compared to these two.

And Mawoyo falls as I write this. Regularly falling in 20s after putting his all into the starts. Ceiling hit, i suppose.

[Terryalderman]

It's hard to judge living in Australia (like a lot of us do) but Cremer does have a lot against him; match practice and poor quality opposition, bowling leg spin is the hardest art in cricket, no pressure applied at other end and he also made his debut in test cricket before he was ready. (He must put in some hours in the nets because at least his batting has improved!) This is a reason why you wouldn't be putting Mavuta into international cricket yet. Let him play A cricket first and gain his confidence there. I'd like to know in Zimbabwe's cricket history how many players given a debut before they were ready actually went on to have successful careers. Matsi, you could argue h masakadza, Ireland etc. Just because you play test cricket doesn't mean you'll become a test cricketer.

[CrimsonAvenger]

If there is something called "mediocrity index", our batsmen would revel in that score. Guys like Masakadza, Sibanda, Raza, Williams, Ervine, Chibhabha and Mawoyo just keep getting out around their modest average regularly. This match is a case in point. As if they need to keep that variance as close to zero as possible. We would top the list for sure in this, against all the other test playing nations.

And then you have those who maximize variance like anything - the likes of Chigumbura, Waller and Moor. Its either a single digit score or a huge harvest, given how and when they decide to turn up...

[zimfan1]

The more i think about it the less keen i am on the idea of having different teams for these two matches. The likes of Ervine and Cremer need overs and time at the crease under there belts, not sure that just playing them in this one game will be enough preparation for the Sri Lanka tests.

I think it will be a choice between Raza and Waller for one the batting spots, i would go for Waller in the 4 day stuff but reckon Raza may get the nod due to his bowling (which i agree is very part time).

[TapsC]

I think both Waller and Raza are batting better than Masakadza at the moment..he should be dropped.. if we want to play both of them then Raza might have to open with Chamu/Mawoyo.. Mawoyo also really doesn't have the numbers in his favour.if Chamu gets a big score in the next game then he deserves to play ahead of Mawoyo.

if we ever want to go anywhere we shouldn't pick players based on past glories..it sends the wrong message to the younger players trying to break through. the impression should always be if u consistently play well u will get picked

[CrimsonAvenger]

Why the heck did we even declare? Could have given more batting time to Richie and Waller! Imagine the world of confidence it would have given Waller if he had reached the triple figures. Does that mean he is already in the XI for SL test? Richie hasn't done anything to make his case worse as well. Regis is looking down the barrel now. Would make things interesting if he gets a big one in the second match.