What you guys say is true. But we have to recognise that, unlike us, NZ have stuck with their mature tried and tested players throughout, instead of throwing in novices. The likes of Brandon McCullum, Ryder & Oram have been through very lean patches but remain in the frame. So what you have is a physically and mentally mature crop of guys who've played together for a long time. This group of players can handle pressure and are willing to put their lives in line for the team. We've got the likes of Vitori, Jarvis, Mawoyo, Waller & Meth who can wait to be honest. Instead we should have the likes of Rainsford, Panyangara, Matsi, Ewing, etc. The sad part is when I mention this some guys respond as if to say these players are past it. Well, you're mistaken, these are the guys are not past it, they are at their peak or in their prime years - we need them now.bayhaus wrote:I was under that impression as well since NZ came to the WC after being trounced by Bang. I got a rude awakening! IF we think we are more talented than NZ they make up for it in bucketfuls of determination, consistency, team work and being clinical on the field, which will put our "more talented than them" to nought.CrimsonAvenger wrote:We need to have a serious relook at how we perceive NZ as an opponent. We (with that, i mean the Zim team, the ZC management, and us, the fans) are probably not taking them as seriously as we should, just because we feel NZ is not amongst the top rung teams in terms of perceived quality.
How many times will we keep sending in the likes of Jarvis & Waller etc and then they keep performing poorly!! Instead you'll keep on bringing up these kind of excuses - "Jarvis needs more time, Waller needs to come in earlier and have more time in the middle so he can build his innings, with time Vitori will learn how to bowl Queens"! They should do that in FC cricket not International cricket! Let me tell you something guys, we don't have that many games in our calendar, and before long they'll be expected to perform away in NZ, Ban & WI. By the time these boys learn, the cricket community will have read the riot act, reviewed our test status, or at the very least, the media will be inundated with such calls. If you've been reading the articles from the likes of Firdaws, Pommie and Cricinfo reports, you will notice that this has already started. These are people who've been on the ground not Bumble or Beefy blurting out things they haven't seen with their very eyes. I'm not pushing these seniors forward on the simple reasoning that 'they were around circa 2003-5'! The fact is they are more ready, have been on tour, are in some kind of form, and can certainly do better than these youngsters!!
This is purely a myth which has been created (with the help of a poor/lethargic Bangladeshi side) that the new blood of Jarvis, Vitori & Tino etc, has ushered in a new era of more success to Zim. Panyangra, Rainsford and even Mupariwa, will turn out to have had longer and more sustained success for the early part of their carrers in comparison to this bunch!
If Pakistan can pick Misbah for a T20, they surely we can pick Duffin!! The current national team, without Mpofu and Meth, would struggle to beat or even lose to a full strength Tuskers! That's a possiblity which anybody cannot deny. So what does that say about the strength of our national team!
... but it's not as if we're leaving out players with 50 tests and 200+ ODIs.
