Zimbabwe v Netherlands | T20 WC 2022 | Super 12 | Match Thread

[sam_ahm]

Can we see 2024 world cup with marumani and welch opening the batting? Hope so

Also what is deal with qualifiers? Are we automatic for 2024 world cup

As long as Ireland don't finish in top 4, Zimbabwe will get direct qualification as they are ranked higher than Ireland.

[Googly]

I don't get the idea that we can't use the other guys because they just aren't good enough. What has Reggie, Milton, Jongwe, even Burl to an extent, brought to the team this tournament?

If these guys cannot perform, you lose nothing by switching them up. It is very clear from the last two games especially that Shumba is just not up to it, both as a batsman and a fielder.

The problem with this is that someone (coaches/selectors) have to assess whether the next set of players are better than whoever is not performing. How do you do that?
If you put the national players back into franchise they will most likely do better than them. That's the problem with not having strength and depth at domestic level. Someone doing really well in domestic cricket is not necessarily going to feature on the international stage.
The current non performance by most of the overseas blokes is a false dawn that our franchise cricket is sufficiently strong.

If you replace them on the basis that you're going to give them an extended opportunity and perhaps the new guys will eventually have a higher ceiling you're going back to a long "rebuilding" phase where we get even more soundly beaten. We've been rebuilding for 20 years, but we're now using mud instead of cement.

Just replacing players willy nilly just ain't going to work.
Goes back to the requirement for A games.
My argument has always been that if a batsman has not been an absolute stand out schoolboy with multiple big innings under his belt the likelihood of a mediocre player making a franchise side and then suddenly becoming an exceptional player are just so slim.
We do nothing with our youth until we have to do the u19 box ticking exercise, by which time it's generally waaaay too late.
I see they've made Schonken the U19 captain, no disrespect to him as he's a quality player, but there can't be a half decent black player this year in sight. Of course they'll spin it but it shows that our production line of good youth players has practically dried up. We're in massive trouble as far as schoolboy cricket goes. The standard of our recent school T20's was woeful, and below that it's even worse.
We don't even have enough good players to now afford to have some political or financial passengers as we did in the past, not that it will stop the usual disgraceful shenanigans.

I wish an honest reporter (no such thing) would take a tour around our various world class Academies that have sprung up amidst great fanfare and give a sitrep of what's going on. He could be forgiven that he was pranked with the wrong address

Our school and age group cricket has been allowed to degrade to such a degree that it will be extremely difficult to fix, it's depressing.
We still wait in vain for a properly staffed and well run national academy which is surely essential, never mind the other fictitious ones. The quality private coaches - Brown, Higgins etc have gone.
The recent good run our national side has had is a false dawn. It was down to a coach with a refreshing approach and one guy having a blinder of a year, underneath that there is not a lot, and under that is rot.

I saw a couple of posts suggesting Raza is now a national treasure and should be given a farm. Its fortunate that there are a few lying around, its not beyond the realms of possibility
Kirsty Coventry got one, why can't Raza?
A 200ha plot for a 50 and a fully fledged farm for a ton.

[Googly]

The farm will be safe
I've never been too sure what a main coach does if you have a batting coach, a bowling coach and then guys helping with fielding drills.
I guess he manages the coaches, oversees what's going on and lends a hand and deals with the interfering admin?

I think SZ raised the point that he also selects the team for the day from the squad along with the captain.
Is that standard or do the selectors have a say in the final eleven? I'm talking about a standard team, not one where there's outside interference for whatever reason.
If there's disagreement who has the final word? The convener?
I'm not trying to be funny, these are genuine questions

[Googly]

Does Mr Houghton avoid criticism because we didn't have a batting coach?
Surely from Jongwe down the instruction (as if you needed to give it) was to make sure we batted the full 20 overs.
Did those guys get a stern talking to?
Jongwe's ball was there to hit, he just plinked it, but maybe he should have tried to keep it down. You can also overthink it. It's cricket, shit happens.
Shumba's dismissal was a weird one. Was it a slower ball, did it get stuck in the pitch? Wasn't a good look, but it happens, batters make mistakes.

I really feel for these guys. They don't look out of their depth, they just go out cheaply too regularly.
A fair amount of that is due to the inability to rotate strike.
I think it was 65 dot balls and we didn't even bat the full 20.
The dot ball issue is massive, it's always been our problem.
One boundary, three singles and 2 dots per over gets you 140, which is usually the bare minimum to give you something to bowl at. That's 40 dot balls. I wonder what the average number is for the other teams? It would be a very interesting stat.

Everyone knows dots are bad, but its damned hard to keep them down if the bowling and fielding is good.

The one thing that has been on my mind is Chakabva's backlift. If you start that backlift behind your back it makes life very difficult to play a straight bat shot in the Vee, your highest percentage shot. Why has he never corrected that?
Surely a coach has said, you need to fix this.

[Googly]

Sorry am bored and contemplating

I think our selectors are Mutendira, Ewing, Shepherd and Prosper.
Who picks them? Why would they be better at selecting than the actual national coach?
Did they apply for the job or were they asked?
On what basis would they have been chosen?
Does it help to have been a quality player yourself to recognise ability in another? I'd like to think that's not necessary
Mutendira and Ewing aren't even around men's cricket, why would you choose two school coaches?
I doubt they watch domestic cricket, certainly Ewing and Mutendira have jobs. Do they just look at stats? Anyone can do that. Do they get paid?
I'd guess they look at stats and get unbiased feedback from franchise coaches. I'm sure the admin guys get the same information because there's no doubt they meddle.
If I was a selector, particularly an unpaid one and I got an instruction to pick someone that I knew wasn't the right guy I'd say f%£# you and step down. I don't see much of that happening , maybe the unpaid kudos of being a national selector outweighs standing firm on occasion?
Once the 14 or 15 players are selected do they then have nothing further to do with the eleven that are selected for that game?

[Donald]

I think everyone has forgotten about dion myers. Im sure he will be back.

Now he can hit a cricket ball and would be a better option than shumba

[Googly]

Yeah he's good. He's had a few opportunities and not really delivered. He's come back for the previous season and I'm sure will be back for the next one, but he's probably not playing much cricket over there and that is likely to be the case for the next year as well until he's finished his degree. Then of course there's no telling whether he will pursue his cricket.
The two youngsters not being talked about are Bennett and Welch Jr, both looked very good at the WC. I mean they performed on a World stage, already you're talking about guys with big potential. Bennett did particularly well, but at 4 or 5, I cant remember. The guy with real flair is Matty Welch, flair is only a piece of the jigsaw though, albeit a big piece when you're talking T20.
If ZC is administered correctly Bennett will be back, trust me. If Welch sorts out what is clearly a serious back issue he will also put his hand up.

[Googly]

Again there's Bawa. Also a guy with potential. Had a poor WC and has some technical issues but the talent is there

[slcricfan1]

Burl not bowling throughout this comp has been very disappointing. I understand why Ervine would have no confidence in him but still... Burl really needs to push to bat higher. Try bring stability at the top though I`m judging his batting quality on how high sloan rates him. Any idiot can tell the guy is talented but criminal how he is used

[secretzimbo]

Again there's Bawa. Also a guy with potential. Had a poor WC and has some technical issues but the talent is there

Uni I believe?