Zimbabwe v Afghanistan Test Squad

[Pat_Bee]

Word. his respectability has nose dived since he started pushing Faraz

[TapsC2]

We will see if Raza and co will live up to their word. On paper this format is our strongest because we have multiple options with the bat and they play it for 90% of the domestic season but Afghanistan has some serious bowlers. Eventually they will bowl a wicket taking delivery. Should be interesting

[ZIMDOGGY]

We will see if Raza and co will live up to their word. On paper this format is our strongest because we have multiple options with the bat and they play it for 90% of the domestic season but Afghanistan has some serious bowlers. Eventually they will bowl a wicket taking delivery. Should be interesting

It’s our strongest because we aren’t good enough to play our shots, so the tactic of dead batting and seeking out runs and hope not to get out is our best shot.

[55727835]

We will see if Raza and co will live up to their word. On paper this format is our strongest because we have multiple options with the bat and they play it for 90% of the domestic season but Afghanistan has some serious bowlers. Eventually they will bowl a wicket taking delivery. Should be interesting

It’s our strongest because we aren’t good enough to play our shots, so the tactic of dead batting and seeking out runs and hope not to get out is our best shot.

This is pretty much spot on. Gumbie plays best when he's not forced to make runs, it's why he should be opening every single test we play.

[Googly]

25 overs of Ghazanfar every day we bat ain't gonna be easy.
He's a brilliant bowler.

[55727835]

The second half of the season will produce more difficult pitches, it always does. In theory we're getting above average rains after Xmas.
Who are the guys scoring hundreds all the time?

I meant collectively. Every week people are scoring big. . Myers is a good example of this. The fact that someone can go to uni for 3 years but score big at least once everytime he came back is concerning if you look at it objectively. It should never be that easy. With him we are talking about massive scores... 206... 179.. then when we see him bat at the highest level we can see technical issues that can be fixed but were clearly not tested at domestic level.

Makes me realize that Welch will probably struggle just like the other guys. Naqvi too. The ceiling is obviously high but the initial struggles will be the same. In the press conference you hear Sammons talking about Mayavo scoring runs in Kwekwe where it was turning. We will find out soon enough if that means anything.

Sammons was talking about Mayavo in KweKwe? He was personally at Kwekwe intently watching Matt Welch score a run a ball match winning 80 on one leg and was waxing lyrical about him and I know as a fact he asked for him. .

Googs, wouldn't mind breaking this one down lol. In the other thread comparing Zim to Pak, we talked about Zim coaches actually getting a fair shout about who plays and doesn't. This would suggest that isn't the case?

[Pat_Bee]

I saw somewhere the ZC suits picked the squads for the Pakistan and Afghan series because old salamander was new on the job but now he’s had a look he’ll have more of a say.

[Googly]

It's definitely, emphatically, absolutely not the case. Any coach that has taken this job knows there's abnormal politics and they all endeavour to have a hand in selections, pretty sure its even written into their contracts, but they all fail.
For sure they have a say, but they are vetoed regularly. A national coaching job is big bucks, they're unlikely to rock the boat.

I'm sure Sammonds would have signed some type of performance based contract. Did he come in promising the world? Or is it a low bar like only having to beat those countries with a GDP of less than a million a year and are fighting a civil war?
If you're performance based you have to get as close as possible to having the major say in either team selection or squad selection or both or you're on a hiding to nothing. They're never going to allow you carte blanche and they're always going to veto.
They've all bought into giving these squads a very long rope and they're currently best friends and I think Mr Sammonds knows how to play the game well, but at some point the goodwill will expire. That will definitely happen if we miss out on another qualifier, but what are the expectations in the meantime? It looks like ffs you have to prove we're right about the generational gem talent squad. They're probably going to have to arrange a couple of games against Mozambique or he's in shit.

[Pat_Bee]

If you're performance based you have to get as close as possible to having the major say in either team selection or squad selection or both or you're on a hiding to nothing.

Word. Would take some serious negotiations to make a performance based contract even worth it.

[Marshmallow]

fast bowler Victor Nyauchi has been called up to replace Takudzwa Chataira, who suffered a right-side strain during practice earlier this week.