After a brief hiatus…

Participate in discussion with your fellow Zimbabwe cricket fans!
hhm
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by hhm »

Thanks guys. Glad to be back, hopefully I’ll remain unscathed.

To be quite honest Eugene, I honestly do not know what to make of Chibhabha. All I can say is that he is not doing ‘Justice’ to his undeniable talent! He can be a thrill and pull out all the shots, and has variety and intelligence behind his bowling, but when and how he can put everything together to generate a performance remains a mystery. Come to think of it, the name Coventry crosses my mind as mention some of that as well.

Vusi at four looks to be a good solution there Bayhaus. It's worth highlighting that I nearly got my head bitten of when I mentioned him for that position once, as the reason from most then was that four is reserved for the best batsman – that being Taylor in their opinion, while Vusi does not have the makings of a number four! In this case I thought figured at three, he would in actual fact be as good as an opener. In any case if ‘Mr No Footwork ‘ is opening, more often than not, Vusi will be there before any visible abrasions appear on the leather. What better reason or motivation for Vusi to pile up the double-hundreds than for him to see the team’s ‘best batsmen’ in the pavilion without the scorers being troubled much.

Well FlowerPower, as an avid follower of the Tuskers myself, and having consistently put Mpofu forward as the leader of our attack, it’s clear that I was misread on this one. Again, on numerous occasions I have questioned the relegation of Mpofu to a first or second change bowler, preferring him to take the new ball at all times. What I expressed is in the form of a concern, and I made what I believe to be an accurate assessment - an admission that he has reached his potential or made the most of his abilities. Mpofu is our best right now, but due to his obvious limitations and in harmony with our aspirations, he shouldn’t be. Better must realized sooner rather than later.

:lol: You know what, for that T20I slot I actually had Dabengwa but the probable uprising against him would have prompted most to open an inquest for Lamb’s absence, especially after he prostituted himself rather productively for those wickets when we were really under the cosh. At Ten Lamb is clearly in there to bowl (and prevent the presence of the puny Utseya), and yes Dabengwa arguably offers more with the bat. Between you and me just read Dabengwa in place of Lamb. Only take care to ensure the forum is not privy to that information. It's bad enough that I threw Matsi at them without any significant score from the recent games.

As hard as it is for me to acknowledge this, Elton’s bowling when on top, offers more value than Meth, so I’ll stick with Elton for now. After I verbally brutalised him repeatedly, his response immediately after that reminded me(us) why I(we) originally fell in love with him. This is in no way a slight towards Meth, but the fire surely building up in his belly due to being constantly overlooked will be released to far greater effect than was the case with Forster. For Tests I reckon Meth, Jarvis and Shingi(plus Cremer), are the next generation. The technical team just needs to do to the raw Shingi, whatever they did to the raw Mpofu.

Forgive me for coming across as one who rejoices in the failings of Vitori BRM. At such a young age, and having achieved and displayed enough to prove there’s potential, I want nothing more than for him to prosper. After all, it can only be for the good of the team for which we share a common desire to see succeeding. What I ask you to do my friend is to forget that Vitori made his debut against Bangladesh, and assume he made his first appearance during the Pakistan tour. If he is still around after our return tour against the Black Caps, you and me can ‘have a glass of scotch’ over this one. Far from being a knee-jerk reaction or a conservative mindset, my inclusion of our experienced performers is in harmony with the proven fact that cricketers in general peak at about 29 (late twenties), with most batsmen doing so well into their thirties. Likewise Vusi’s seemingly drastic turn in fortunes is not down to some particular tweak in his game, but is simply a coming of age. It would be narrow-minded to discount the same happening in the case of those I’ve put forward.

Even if I had the privilege as head coach/captain, on the back of that fine knock, I wouldn’t drop Mawoyo for the next Test, then again I wouldn’t have picked him in the first place, but eventually he WILL be dropped.

As a side point, I could be mistaken, but have you noticed how often you somehow manage to bring in the superior Jarvis, in your defence of Vitori, so as to deflect focus on Vitori shortcomings?

Anyway, like I’ve pointed out before guys, I’ll always be on either extreme, but never in the middle. So don’t get lost in anything mentioned. Let’s just revel in the exchanges.
1Mawoyo 2Vusi 3Hami 4Taylor(c) 5Craig 6Matsi 7Taibu(wk) 8Elton 9Cremer 10Rainsford 11Mpofu 12Jarvis

Conant
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by Conant »

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:Good to see you again hhm, I see you still aren't one to shy away from the big calls. ;)

I am saddened to see your agenda against Brian Vitori continues and even more saddened that you seem to be taking delight in his quiet series against Pakistan. The kid is 21 and broke world records in his first couple of games for Pete's sake yet you're already claiming that his decline into obscurity was inevitable. It wasn't because of the standard of the Bangladeshi batsmen that Vitori was able to hit the right lines or get it to swing both ways at good pace. He and Jarvis have shown a great deal of potential, and most importantly they have both delivered good results, so they should be persevered with.

Hhm will always eat his words, especially with regards to Vitori. Or else Vitori is gonna make him eat kookaburra :D

Boundary
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by Boundary »

Good to have you back hhm. I'm always more diplomatic about my love for the Tuskers than you but I have to disagree on Mpofu. You say he's reached his peak and that that peak isn't good enough for the national team. That may be so but I don't think we've seen his peak yet. We should remember this guy (like many others I guess) hadn't had a professional set up until 2009. He even didn't acknowledge he needed to develop an offcutter until the SA pasting. Now he needs to gain more weight and bowl faster to add to his experience. Can you honestly say you know how he'd respond to those two issues, especially knowing how competition will hot up in the next few years?

Regarding Vitori, it's fair to say the lad is inexperienced but he was picked ahead others for a reason, potential and bags of it. He delivered against BD, struggled against Pak but his overall balance sheet is healthy.You sense an overall decline as increasingly tougher opposition find him out, I sense a steep learning curve. But all the media reports have mentioned his work ethic and willingness to learn, that should stand him in good stead. He didn't come through the Surrey or Gauteng youth systems, so it's understandable that he'll be lacking a bit of armour in his repertoire early in his international career. I suppose the "let's talk after the NZ tour" will suffice for now.

hhm
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by hhm »

Conant my nemesis, I missed you too! :D I see Flowerpower would dearly like to displace you as my greatest detractor!

Not to worry Boundary, I have no problem with Mpofu. He is after-all still only 25 and technically still to reach his peak, but considering he's that age already, I doubt any amount of bulk will increase his pace to a notable degree. What I do know(and hope for) is that as he grows older, he inevitably becomes more mature, more intelligent and understanding of his game, so naturally will know where to put the ball and place it there more often. That way his average and strike rate will conform to expected standards, not just in our domestic setup. I merely pointed to the goal that in order for us to be competitive internationally, a bowler of his level should be battling to get a place in our national team as a first or second change bowler, and stressed that any of our finds should be well ahead of him in quality. Guys like Jarvis, Vitori etc are thereabouts, however, sooner rather than later they should reflect that kind of gulf in class.

I hope Vitori is not injured. But seeing that he hasn't featured in either of the two FC games that the Rocks have played, the only chance he has to gain some decent match practice will be against the formidable Tuskers batting lineup which, unless common sense prevails regarding Ewing selection, won't the least bit be affected by national call-ups (even with the missable Craig Ervine called-up). I doubt Vitori will be released because T20Is and ODIs will be taking place simultaneously. Chances are he will be undercooked for the Test as the ODIs or even inclusion in the Two day tour game will hardly be pointers for match fitness. If that’s the case I say he shouldn’t be picked, and if for some stupid reason they are preserving him for that Series then Ali&co should know that Ross Taylor and his men are no pushovers.
1Mawoyo 2Vusi 3Hami 4Taylor(c) 5Craig 6Matsi 7Taibu(wk) 8Elton 9Cremer 10Rainsford 11Mpofu 12Jarvis

Conant
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by Conant »

hhm wrote:Conant my nemesis, I missed you too! :D I see Flowerpower would dearly like to displace you as my greatest detractor!
Its FlowerPower, hhm. There's two of them. It took me a while, too, to realise it.

Strangely I also had the same feeling before thought about you and FlowerPower, and had already contrived to take a back seat, fold my arms and enjoy what will should no doubt turn out to be a robust discussion full of fireworks and intellect. Come to think, that's precisely what I'm gonna do

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FlowerPower
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by FlowerPower »

Conant wrote:
hhm wrote:Conant my nemesis, I missed you too! :D I see Flowerpower would dearly like to displace you as my greatest detractor!
Its FlowerPower, hhm. There's two of them. It took me a while, too, to realise it.

Strangely I also had the same feeling before thought about you and FlowerPower, and had already contrived to take a back seat, fold my arms and enjoy what will should no doubt turn out to be a robust discussion full of fireworks and intellect. Come to think, that's precisely what I'm gonna do
Hadn't picked that up! hhm, I'm honoured you think I'd be your detractor! I don't often agree with everything you say (ok less often than I disagree), but believe it or not I love reading your thoughts!

And yes there are two, FlowerPower and Flower power...two distinct individuals
1. Mawoyo 2. Duffin 3. Sibanda 4. Taylor 5. Masakadza 6. Williams 7. Chakabva 8. Creamer 9. Jarvis 10. Rainsford 11. Mpofu

hhm
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by hhm »

Conant wrote:contrived to take a back seat, fold my arms and enjoy

:D Only a matter of time!

So which one is Grant and which one is Andy Conant? :D You would think Flower power by virtue of being first on the scene should be Andy and FlowerPower should be Grant, but the unconstrained zeal of the Stragglers Flower in taking taking his host’s son to task in such ‘concrete’ fashion leads me to think assigning Andy to FlowerPower is about right! Then again there’s Andy24, probably a Whittal admirer.
1Mawoyo 2Vusi 3Hami 4Taylor(c) 5Craig 6Matsi 7Taibu(wk) 8Elton 9Cremer 10Rainsford 11Mpofu 12Jarvis

Conant
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by Conant »

hhm wrote:
Conant wrote:So which one is Grant and which one is Andy Conant? :D The unconstrained zeal of the Stragglers Flower in taking taking his host’s son to task in such ‘concrete’ fashion leads me to think assigning Andy to FlowerPower is about right!
Ahem..., just about right!! Flower power is much more restrained and has a lesser strike rate to the more belligerent one... :)

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Flower power
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Re: After a brief hiatus…

Post by Flower power »

hhm wrote:
Conant wrote:contrived to take a back seat, fold my arms and enjoy

:D Only a matter of time!

So which one is Grant and which one is Andy Conant? :D You would think Flower power by virtue of being first on the scene should be Andy and FlowerPower should be Grant, but the unconstrained zeal of the Stragglers Flower in taking taking his host’s son to task in such ‘concrete’ fashion leads me to think assigning Andy to FlowerPower is about right! Then again there’s Andy24, probably a Whittal admirer.
It just makes the forum interesting , if guys are able to pick the difference between the two Flowers . It just goes to show that guys are involved in this thing and are not just running through the forum .
The nature of our writing brings two distinct characters , he who has eyes or has a mind can see . Shows too that your analytical skills are being put to show.

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