Your XI vs South Africa (Test match cricket)

[clikcspeed]

I'm a fan of Vermeulen, but I think it's risky changing the successful combination of Masakadza and Taylor at 3 and 4.
I like Sibanda opening, but if I had to change one of the positions to accommodate Vermeulen it would probably be that one.
Although the other option which I put in another topic is play Vermeulen at 6, and go in with a 3 man bowling attack. It's probably not a "winning" strategy (which annoys me a bit, because you don't want to enter a game with a defeatist attitude), but it would strengthen the tail and maybe shortens the odds slightly on a draw.

Regarding Hammy/BT, I get your argument, I just thought it would be a matter of pushing everyone down which just adds a layer of padding. Vusi can even bat lower down since he doesn't like opening. On the bowling front, I think going in with 3 front liners is actually more risky - the Safers can bat really long innings (Sri Lanka a few weeks ago, India last year) so there has to be some holding bowler (a spinner) to carry the load. I'm not 100% sure if Prosper can do it (leaked a lot of runs vs Pakistan) but he's the best option in my view.

[foreignfield]

Ok, seeing as tests against SA don't come around very often and may never again depending upon how screwed Zim is, I will pick two teams. One that is more balanced and looks to the future. One that seeks to have as good a chance of a draw as possible.

Mawoyo has earned his spot at the top
Sibanda has several years on Vermuelen and having been dropped for the one dayers has as good a chance as anyone of having a day in the sun
Hami - certainty and we'll need some overs and a breakthrough or two from him
Taylor - first on the sheet
Williams - certainty and needs to make further progress with his spin for us to compete against top 8 teams
Chigumbura - still deserves a chance at 6 and like Hami needs to give us some overs and a wicket
Mutumbami - I like the way he plays in hard situations
Shingi - In without Vitori pushing him out
Panyangara - See Shingi - these two are a toss up at the moment
Mushangwe - The best spinner available if we are looking ahead
Chatara - It seems he has the attack leader's hat on

I like the fact that you include Mushangwe. As you say he's our best spinner, the most likely to cause a few problems for the SA batsmen. Prosper isn't even a holding option anymore. Red deserves a shot in the longer format, but I doubt Mangongo will pick him ... or maybe he will, just to have a kid in the dressing room he can punch when everything goes horribly wrong.

[Jemisi]

Yeah, I think we may as well go with Madziva as Utseya, they both bat a bit, they would both be asked to keep it tight along with Hami.

Mangongo may want to demonstrate some 'inspired' selection but may be smart enough not to do it with a batsman.

As for Mushangwe, if we are serious about getting better and being competitive, he is the best spin option. Including him is a risk as they may smash him, but they can just as well smash Utseya, without him having any chance of grabbing a bag of wickets. They could both easily go for 150, but Pro would be 1/150 vs Mushangwe having a show at 4/150.

[jaybro]

I'm not the biggest fan of Pro but he did pick up a few crucial wickets in the Pak series, but apparently he has chicken pox so doubt he will play so I guess it's now a choice of the extra batsman Vermeulan or the spinner M'shangwe or the all rounder Madziva or the wild card Jongwe ......

[zimfan1]

Utseya is a doubt due to chicken pox

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Some harsh comments about Utseya here. I'll admit his ODI performances have dropped off recently - he's never been a prolific wicket taker in the shorter forms, and if he's not being economical then he's not offering much. But I rate him as a Test bowler. I remember thinking, against West Indies last year, given half decent conditions for a spinner (old, rough red ball on a day 3+ pitch) Utseya can actually turn a cricket ball. I think we unfairly judge his abilities as a spin bowler based on what we see most often - him bowling in ODIs. But he always seems to come on after about 10 overs, and with the recent rule change that means he's essentially bowling with a shiny new ball. Even the best finger spinners would find it hard to extract turn.

So Utseya out of the Test side would be a big blow. Not to mention it weakens our batting; his Test batting average of 15 is more than adequate for a number 9 batsman.

Wasn't there a murmur about Sibanda getting chicken pox too? Not good, hopefully both recover quickly.

Sibanda can be more easily covered (by Vermeulen). Utseya is tougher to replace because there's nobody really ready to step up - it would be a baptism of fire for Mushangwe. We saw what happened to Cremer in 2005 against South Africa, and I think Cremer circa 2005 was a better bowler than Mushangwe is now. I'd be more inclined to ease Mushangwe into international cricket through more ODIs, and for this Test play another seamer and let Williams take on spin bowling duties.

[takleg]

Mawoyo
Sibanda
Hasakadza
Taylor*
Williams
Vermuelen
Chigumbura
Mutumbami (wk)
Utseya
Sasakadza
Chatara

[eugene]

This is the team that will win the test for us.

Mawoyo
Vermeulen
Sibanda
Taylor
H Masakadza
Williams
Mutumbami
Chigumbura
Mushangwe
S Masakadza
Chatara

[Jemisi]

Shingi and Chatara would really have to get into them quickly, say 4-50 on the first morning or something.

Not 1000/1 but maybe 20/1.

[PieChucker]

If
If we win the toss and put them in first
if there's a lot of zip in the track for the first hour
if Chatara and Shingi bowl really well
if we take every chance we get
if the Saffers are complacent and not expecting it
if the track flattens out
if our boys dig deep and bat with real guts

then we could take the game deep into day three!