sloandog wrote:Yeah exactly mate i agree.
The fact that he never even scored a boundary is pathetic, and highly embaressing. I'm not just saying this but i honestly think Stuart Matskinyeri could do a better job. He's got a better technique with the bat and his offspin in handy...
Shall I count you in as member number 2 in the "Bring Back Matsi" club ?
A talented batsman but a modest, hardworking character, Stuart Matsikenyeri is the third of three school friends from Churchill Boys High School, Harare to represent Zimbabwe in international cricket. - Cricinfo.
Neil Johnson, Alistair Campbell, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), Grant Flower, Dave Houghton, Guy Whittall, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Ray Price, Eddo Brandes
There are definitely positives zimbabwe can take, but there are far too many question marks as well. Technique against spin must improve. It appears as though only chacabva, ervine, and utseya have the ability to play spin comfortably. of course thats 3 batsman which is probably the same number top sides like england and SA have. but taylor, masakadza,taibu, and others look totally at sea once spin comes on. and those 2 are your most experienced and renowned batsman.
at any rate, it was good to see ervine and regis play spin well and confidently. utseya too. he did as well as u can expect of a spinner, and he might be a genuine all rounder if he keeps it up. taibu, i dunno what his problem was, he might have scored 60 odd today, but he's been quite poor in general against BD and i don't understand his entirely cross-batted technique. he uses the reverse sweep more often than any of the drive shots!!!
on the bowling front, mpofu was impressive. he's improved a lot. i'd go ahead and blood kyle jarvis in for the world cup, because he can at least cut his teeth at the top level and has a lot of potential as well as genuine pace. the likes of rainsford, and the little i saw of keegan meth simply won't cut it at international cricket. Shigarai Masakadza looked a much better product, dunno why he got dropped.
But Price and Utseya were the only class performers during this series, and they need more support from the batsman in order to become wicket takers. but they are amongst the tidiest bowlers around, and i was quite impressed with how tightly they bowled throughout the series.
bangladesh too have their work cut out, and i really don't want to see guys liek Raqibul and/or Junaid batting at the top. Chasing 188 they might look good, but what about when India piles 300+?
i just dont understand the selectors thinking they bring in dabengwa as an extra spinner when we have 3 world class spinners in the team already.. in cremer, utseya and price we need the extra batsman in the team for balance instead of dabengwa and i believe it should be steve marillier he has been consistantly scoring runs in domestic cricket
It's an Insult to Greg lamb that Dabengwa was picked ahead of him for this tour. Lamb has played reasonably well in ODI's and has picked up wickets and solidified the middle order. It was his cool 30 odd that helped us beat Sri lanka in the tri series game
