Zimbabwe v Afghanistan Test Squad

[Pat_Bee]

I'm sure he has, but when was the last time Raza made runs against a big team? When was the last time we actually played a big team?

We’ve played “big teams” all this year, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some bigger than others but all bigger than us.

His last ODI 50 was a 68 against WI at the qualifier last year, and scored 72 against Bangladesh in a t20i back in May.

[Googly]

Ya just been looking at his ODI page. He gets plenty starts for sure. Very rarely goes 3 innings without getting to at least 30.
By far and away our most "reliable" player. He is a really good player though.
He's the king of throwing it away with a rash shot, but we'd have been really lost without him.

[Googly]

Interesting looking at Rohit's page. You see the openers struggle, he'll go a few innings of low scores, but then cashes in and will occasionally have a purple patch where he goes 5 or 6 innings of good scores. It's a brutal game, and twice as tough up front.

[TapsC2]

Made me look closer as well. Across all formats he averaged 40 in 2022, 45 last year and 27 this year. That is a serious dip when you also consider that the qualifiers are part of these stats. Without them he could be closer to 20.

His bowling is what's key for me right now. The stats haven't changed there. Picked up 33 wickets in 2022, 32 last year and 31 so far this year. Blessing has 39 wickets this year. Ngarava has 36. This shows that Raza is still very valuable and we can consider him as a genuine all rounder in our context.

[Googly]

He had that "purple patch" (just hate that expression) under Dave Houghton, mostly against Associates. I'm absolutely not rubbishing Associate bowling, they're full of world class bowlers.
Is his batting slightly on the decline because he's not sticking to a working formula and it's a mental thing or is it an age thing? I'm 99% sure it's currently the former.

If you're in a team with little batting support it becomes impossible to sustain the one man band operation. It has to get on top of you mentally. I think he's gone up a spot or two in the order and that's probably not helping.

[Smitty]

Surely there is a chance Zimbabwe could join the WTC? Otherwise the Logan Cup is basically pointless if we aren’t playing many tests

[sam_ahm]

If ZC want to legitimately buy some time it's almost time for the Big 3 to go. I'd like to see one of them make some runs in the remaining ODI or one of the 2 tests. One big innings between 3 of them in 5 innings, not a high bar.
15 chances!!

I feel Williams still has what it takes, but I'm becoming skeptical about the other two. They're not making a difference and they're chewing up time. Raza playing in the test is both disgraceful and an act of desperation.
The public are not buying his platitudes. It's arrogant to say the least when he says he's the one that needs to make runs and he owes us runs. Everyone needs to figure shit out real fast, it's not on him alone. Maybe be more honest where we're at and not be part of the smoke and mirrors?

ZC are gambling on "saving face" by giving a decent account of themselves in the test matches because they believe it's our strongest suit. Players haven't been able to hide in the T20's or the ODI's because nobody has performed so believe me there's even less places to hide in a Test. It's in the name.

Oh Newman is being touted as the next big thing. When will they ever learn to stop doing that ? It's pathetic. It's not even fun (despite the fact they think we're waiting for a failure) when it backfires because we need to stop embarrassing ourselves every single game we play, barring Equitorial Guinea!
There's nobody to pump up, EVERYONE is behind the 8 ball!!
We don't have a single generational talent. Give it up!!!
Cricket has moved on and we've gone in reverse.
We have to start with a base of players and learn all over again how to compete with the big guys. We have to learn how to compete first, forget winning
There's no quick fix, it's that dire. We need guys who will practice their arses off and be grimly determined to fight and regain a tiny bit of national pride. We are useless and pathetic and the laughing stock of the Cricketing world. It's worse than that, they feel sorry for us. End of!!
Winning a surprise low scoring game or dead rubber is just not cutting it.

Newman bowled reasonably, a bit short and wayward, but looked promising. Two of the wickets were after the damage had been done, stats dont tell you that.
I'd open with him next game. He's got something going for him for sure.

Do you suggest a return to the Kevin Curran days when winning matches wasn't in the equation, it was simply getting time in the middle for the young players? Opposition scores 350 - let's see if we can get 250 at our own pace?

I haven't seen Kevin Curran days but that could be a genuine starting point for rebuilding. However, for that they need more game time and that is unlikely against stronger opponents.

The only way for players to keep improving without feeling depressed is to play all year round or at least most of the year and that will be possible only if ZC actually invests in playing against associate nations, like I keep saying, play Oman, UAE, Nepal, whoever you get, they are decent sides and they have decent spinners, facing them will do more good for these players.

[Googly]

Only way to keep depression at bay is to pay them a living wage.

[eugene]

The Kevin Curran days were controversial, going into a game with little to intention of winning doesn't really jive with professional sport, but at the time we were so far behind I guess he was playing the long game with team development. Players like Williams, Taylor, Chigumbura did end up coming good.

[sam_ahm]

Well in the mid 90s when I pretty much started watching cricket, Zimbabwe kind of had a similar mindset that we've just got to be competitive or may be at least I thought so... It was a little later may be from 1997 onwards that Zimbabwe started believing in themselves that they can genuinely beat top sides.

It was around 1999 when Zimbabwe hit their peak and that peak continued until 2003, after which it all fell apart due to the mass exodus.

I remember in those days, late 90s ans early 00s, Zimbabwe wickets were hard and bouncy, very seamer friendly and the likes of Heath Steak, Andy Blignaut, etc.really enjoyed bowling on such decks. It was so much fun to watch those games.

I don't know how and why the pitches became slow and turning, that is so much unlike Zimbabwe pitches of the past.

I see people like Zolsky comment on Social Media that the win% during 90s and now is same... What kind of an idiot is that guy? There is absolutely no comparison between the Zimbabwe team of late 90s and the one we are witnessing now... I mean just reading that guys comments makes my blood boil... What an *** ****.