"Pro's woes" ... the steady decline of Pro Utseya

[jaybro]

Ok now I know there are alot of Prosper Utseya fans here on the forum and he has been a great warrior for Zimbabwe but the guy effectivley know as " Dots " is on the the steady decline. Sad but true the guy who used to come in and bowl his 10 overs without giving away more than 3 and over and pick up the odd wicket is now the guy who bowls his overs and gives over 5 an over away and still only picks up the odd wicket. It was ok that he never picked up wickets before because he kept things so tight but now he can't even do that. Im sorry but my paitence is up with Pro in my opinion he must go.

Here are his stats in the last 2 years of ODI cricket ( NZ series in NZ, Windies, BD in Zim, India and the 1st game v Pakistan ).

12 Matches
116 Overs
02 Maidens
10 Wickets
605 Runs
60.5 Average ..... Career 47.77
69.6 Strike Rate ..... Career 66.1
05.2 Economy ..... Career 04.33

All his number are down Average, Strike rate and most concerning his economy has gone to shit, for a guy whose strength was keeping the runs down 5.2 runs an over isn't cutting the cheese. Another concerning stat there is only 2 maidens in 116 overs !!! That's 1 maiden every 58 overs which is roughly once every 6 games, again if your role is keeping things tight his 1 maiden every 6 matches is not up to scratch. You could excuse him if he started to take more wickets but he sadley has even gotten worse at that even if so slightly. I think Pro was a great player back in the dark days he was the backbone of the bowling team but times have changed and so has the game. T20 cricket has taught the batsman to keep the runs ticking over all the time so the only real way to slow the run rate down is to take wickets so to force the batting team to be extra cautious. If Pricey was deemed to be on the way out and no longer good enough for International cricket ( which we all disagree about ) well I'm sad to say Preosper Utseya is on the same steady decline ..... In ODI's any way I still think he is well suited to t20 as I have also looked over his stats over the last 2 years

10 Matches
36 Overs
00 Maidens
230 Runs
06 Wickets
38.3 Average ..... Career 28.04
06.3 economy ..... Career 6.57
36 Strike rate ..... Career 25.5

Even though his Average and Strike Rate have gone up on his career, his run rate has gone down to 6.3 which is gold in t20 format ....

[zimlover]

Sounds more like you got something personal with him

[etoreveyi]

I would agree with your statistics to say he might be declining, but not totaly agreee on the reason of declining. First you need to consider change in international cricket, T20 in India etc, how that has affected Bowlers economy. Also the changes in the rules, powerplay rules, timing of his bowling esp if you check Prosper balls in the 2nd powerplay when most batsman are taking a higher risk. i would be happy to compare like for like, a similar player to Utseya who bolws spin and used to have a better economy back in early 2000s and has managed to improve his economy recently.

[Jemisi]

I think that Cremer or Mushangwe might be competing with him for a place, but he is still good enough to be in our team with Price gone.

[jimbo]

Thing is with ZC Selectors they are a fickle lot, They see someone like utseya doing well in 20/20 ( which in my opinion is the only format he should play internationally) and think that he can translate this over to odi and test cricket, thats what specialists are for. We will probably see someone like payangara play in the tests because of this one performance even though he only has one five for in first class cricket.

[takleg]

I have to admit, I'm not a big Utseya fan. I'd rather watch the two young legspinners, M'shangwe and/or Mutombodzi ripping it past the bat, but let's face it they are all very expensive. Yes, Utseya isn't Mr. Dots anymore, but he's still doing a job and I'd keep him in the side till a more consistent attacking spinner comes around.

[sloandog]

I'd just have Graeme Cremer in, simple. He bats, he obviously bowls, and his ODI record is much more attractive than that of Mushangwe, Mutombodzi and Utsea put together. It's just weather or not Cremer is actually willing to play

[Dr_Situ(ZimFanatic)]

We are just wasting our time on Utseya. He has started bowling lot of wides as well which is criminal for a spinner. We should groom the talented Mushangwe and Tinotenda. Having said that, I am sure we will continue to see Utseyas and Marumas.

[eugene]

Graeme Cremer is the answer to every question.

[CrimsonAvenger]

There is no need to Banish Utseya. I have been one of his biggest critics, but he still is one of the first names on the team sheets at least in T20s.

A few of us were wondering how he could warrant selection over Price in ODIs (and tests), and in many cases justifiably, but with Price gone, we still need him for that role. It is not as if he is going at 7 an over regularly. But he need not be the spinner of choice with eyes closed for all ODIs. We must be willing to experiment with the leggies (for me, currently Mushangwe, Cremer, Mutombodzi, in that order) based on the pitch and conditions (which we rarely do).

Utseya's batting need not be talked about for ODIs too, he is at best a face saving 25 off 45 guy who should come in at 9 at best. But he has an edge against left handed batsmen. He tends to keep them quiet.

For tests, I won't consider him. It is Cremer > Mutombodzi > Mushangwe / Utseya for me there.