Tatenda Taibu's return

[kartik]

U can never trust Zim man.they may well drop another bowler.lol

[Conant]

Having seven batsmen and Chigumbura batting at eight is not necessarily a bad thing.

So, assuming after Williams and Taylor bat , Taibu comes in at six, Matsikenyere, since he looks undropable now, at seven there is still room for four specialist bowlers (Chigumbura, Mpofu, and two spinners Utseya and Price/Cremer).

But if we had to chose it will have to be either Vermuleun or Coventry, and that if Coventry will open.

Either way, now that Masakadza has raised the bar a reliable partner has to be found. And both afore mentioned players will be looking over their shoulders at Vusi Sibanda.
To answer your question about Forster Mtizwa, Crimson, I think he can only come in the sixth batman, and that will not happen while Stewy holds fast on that position.

[tawac]

There is no doubt that Taibu will be in the 15 that makes the trip to Banglabash. Waller will be dropped from the squad. As for the first 11, well the likely candidates to face the firing squad would be between Vermuelen, Coverntry or Matsikinyere. But looking at the merits Vermuelen and Masakadza are fast becoming one of the best opening pair we have had in a long time. Matsikinyere has been in really good nick of late. This singles out Coventry who really needs to get his stock up. His 194* though great wont keep him in the team forever he has to get more scores on the board.

[shumbat]

tough call but we can only get better with competition for places.

[Boundary]

There is no doubt that Taibu will be in the 15 that makes the trip to Banglabash. Waller will be dropped from the squad. As for the first 11, well the likely candidates to face the firing squad would be between Vermuelen, Coverntry or Matsikinyere. But looking at the merits Vermuelen and Masakadza are fast becoming one of the best opening pair we have had in a long time. Matsikinyere has been in really good nick of late. This singles out Coventry who really needs to get his stock up. His 194* though great wont keep him in the team forever he has to get more scores on the board.

I don't disagree too much but isn't it strange that a guy who equalled a world record recently can't keep his place? I actually like the competition for places. I'd rather see more permutations in the Kenya series rather than in Bangladesh: drop Coventry for the 4th ODI and give Mutizwa a look in. When Taibu comes back, I think him, Coventry and Mutizwa should fight it out.

[Detective RDS]

Tatenda Taibu should be in the team. He is a world class player. A very good wicket keeper batsman. I reckon when he comes back Brendan Taylor will handle the wicketkeeping gloves back to Tatenda Taibu.

I think the pressaure will be on Charles Coventry, Stuart Matsikenyeri and Mark Vermeulen to score big runs to retain their position in the XI. For now, Forster Mutizwa will be kept as a reserve, I reckon as well as Vusimuzi Sibanda if he makes the national squad again.

For me, I would axe Matsikenyeri from the lineup to make way for Taibu looking towards the future although he is in a great form right now. That's only my personal opinion.

I would like to have Masakadza and Vermeulen as the openers, Coventry at 3, The 4th and 5th position will be shared by Taibu and Taylor followed by Sean Williams at 6, Chigumbura at 7 and then rest of the bowlers.

[tawac]

For me, I would axe Matsikenyeri from the lineup to make way for Taibu looking towards the future although he is in a great form right now. That's only my personal opinion.
I would like to have Masakadza and Vermeulen as the openers, Coventry at 3...

Interesting point here RDS but I really hate to disagree with you on Matsikinyere. He has done everything to cement his place in the National Side. His recent domestic and international performances are great to say the list and he deserves a place in tha side. He has shown maturity in his innings and has been a consistant performer. For me Coventry is not a No. 3 batsman. This has always been a problematic possible for Zimbabwe. We have tried so many players from Campbell, Goodwin, Carlise, Wishuart, Andy Flower, Ebrahim, and in resent times it hasnt changed much. I wouldn't mind Masakadza having a go and we can open with Taylor or Matsikinyere. Coventry is more of a No. 5/6 for me but then again that the same position Taibu bats at????

[Detective RDS]

Interesting point here RDS but I really hate to disagree with you on Matsikinyere. He has done everything to cement his place in the National Side. His recent domestic and international performances are great to say the list and he deserves a place in tha side. He has shown maturity in his innings and has been a consistant performer.

I know, you will...

Infact, I think most of the guys here will disagree with me in this matter. So I wrote ''only my personal opinion''. Yes, Matsikenyeri has been in a tremondous form in the domestic circuit plus add he is an experienced player. Another fact is that, he has scored most of the runs internationally against Kenya and Bangladesh in recent times. He faced a lot of strong teams like Sou, Aus and Ind in the early stage of his career but wasn't successful. So, I think the big test of him will be against the strong sides. But it's true that he is well suited at number 5/6 position rather than the higher batting order.

[Sir Mupariwa]

Sometimes domestic cricket form does not make a good summary about a player’s performance and whether they should play an international match or not. There are some big stage performers like Taibu who can come up with a good knock almost out of nowhere. In most of your arguments I have noted that you are not putting a lot of emphasis on the type of wicket and the opposition we are playing. We should not forget that every team struggles in Bangladesh and recently Australia and New Zeland almost lost in Bangladesh. Experience of subcontinent pitches has to be taken into consideration and below are a few states we might want to consider before we make any conclusion

Charles Coventry
Has played onlt 3 matches outside Zim scoring 0 and 12 at St John & Georgetown respectively versus West Indies and a score of 3 in Bristol England. No sub-continent experience, I am not ruling him out but its 50-50.

Mark Vermeulen
Hasn’t played against Bangladesh away but has played three matches in the sub-continent against Srilanka, India and Pakistan scoring 22, 2, 17, 10, 1, and 7

Scores and Av against Bangladesh in Bangladesh


1. Sean Williams

2, 61, 68, 0, 14, 3, 8, 59, 38 average 28.1 in 9 matches

2. Tatenda Taibu

64*, 46, 0, 31, 17, 14, 3, 12 averages 26.7 in 8 games

3. Elton Chigumbura

41, 30*, 27, 7, 1, 27, 31, 10, 31, 32, 27, 64, 0, 1, 7, averaging 24 in 15 games


4. Stuart Matsikenyeri

33, 0, 16, 50, 5, 9, 27, 25, 24, 75, 15, 7, 10, 10 averages 21.8 in 14 matches

5. Brandon Taylor

31, 23, 1,36, 52, 38, 1, 1, 4, averaging 20.7 in 9 matches


6. Hamilton Masakadza

54, 3, 9, 33, 23, 2, 3, 41, 2, 13, 16, 2, 17, 10, average 16.28 in 14 matches

Bangladesh will be a different ball game altogether Taibu should play

[Conant]

Well said Sir Mpariwa. But Coventry shouldn’t struggle in the subcontinent as long as we don’t insist on batting him at three. I regret to say Mark Vermeulen would struggle coz he likes the ball coming onto his bat; Masakadza has a rather low average but he is adept at spin though his strength lies in playing the quicks.
Now unfortunately one of the man of the moment Vusi Siyanda is totally unsuitable for the subcontinent because he is really desperate against spin blowing, though not as bad as one Chamu Chibhabha.
Now of the batsmen in our team Sean Williams is the one who adapts to any surface, Taibu, Chigumbura and even Matsikenyere, because he can work the ball round.