T20 Team

[sscricket]

I dont know if there will be specialist squads but I think Matsi and Muzhange are pretty much in whatever squad is selected.

[hhm]

I think FP's got a pretty good T20 Zim XI based on the tournament!

This is how I think the selectors will go(not me):
TEST:
1Mawoyo, 2Vusi, 3Hami, 4Taylor, 5Taibu, 6Waller, 7Chigumbura, 8Price, 9Vitori, 10Jarvis, 11Mpofu
ODI:
1Vusi, 2Taylor, 3Hami, 4Matsi, 5Taibu, 6Coventry, 7Chigumbura, 8Price, 9Utseya, 10Vitori, 11Mpofu
T20:
1Vusi, 2Taylor, 3Hami, 4Matsi, 5Taibu, 6Coventry, 7Chigumbura, 8Price, 9Utseya, 10Meth, 11Vitori

Assuming 15 players will travel, that makes it a squad comprising of:
1Taylor(c), 2Vusi, 3Taibu(wk), 4Price, 5Vusi, 6Mpofu, 7Chigumbura, 8Utseya, 9Matsi, 10Vitori, 11Jarvis, 12Mawoyo, 13Waller, 14Coventry(wk), 15Meth.

Anything more than that will come from Ewing/Mutizwa/Craig/Ncube/Shingi/Cremer/Mushangwe. Not only would it be stupid, but I doubt non-internationals like Nathan Waller or Muzhange will be picked to go on tour, just for the T20 game. One of them can sneak in if Mpofu's injury is serious, but in that event I suspect Shingi will get the nod. I expect common sense to prevail and Cremer is left to recover and play in our domestic competitions, while Craig is rightly allowed to continue rebuilding his game at FC/ListA level. They won't be brave enough to pick Cremer ahead of Mushangwe anyway, so leaving them both out is the best way to go. No need for more than two spinners if the pitch is more conducive to seamers. That leaves Ewing and Mutizwa. Personally I think considering that we're going on tour, the experience of Ewing, not to mention his brilliant form thus far, will be of great value to the players, so he should get the nod ahead of Mutizwa who hasn't done much wrong, but very little to write home about either!

[sscricket]

I dont know if there will be specialist squads but I think Matsi and Muzhange are pretty much in whatever squad is selected.

This is not my preference. But I got hints from Streak that they will be in.

[Conant]

Picking Muzhanje simply for one T20 is foolhardy, extravagant and over- ambitions. This is much like picking Chibhabha to go play the solitary ODI in NZ, though I doubt Mssrs Muzhanje will appreciate the comparisons with that poor underachiever.

However, I pretty go much with hhm’s team, and his thinking. The amazing thing is that he’s finally acknowledging that Brian Vitori is part of Zimbabwe's IMMEDIATE future; even asI realize you state here this would be the most likey squad chosen by the selectors. Three months ago even as the young paceman was wrecking havoc in the practice matches against Oz and Bangladesh you would’t even countenance the thought that he could be selected for Zim's comeback match in Test cricket . At that time had had pretty much nailed it too.

I don’t know though that I would put in Coventry ahead of Waller in the ODI squad; in any squad in fact. Two months ago I wrote that Waller perishes so quickly sometimes because he puts the needs of the team ahead of his, in hopeless positions. Put him in his right order, at five, and he will sparkle. In fact the key to getting the most out of your players is understanding and utilising players to their strenghths, which is why now you will undestand how Meth went for a handiful in that forgetful match against New Zeand, against all anticipation. By all means take him along this time. That greenbelt will suit him just fine.

In truth Waller hasn’t failed – he just hasn’t lit up this tournament that’s all (I can think up of many who haven’t but still have their places nailed to the selectors mast: Chigumbura, Price, maybe even Jarvis. Spare a thought for one Foster Mtizwa who has been asked by his unappreciative side to come in and slog at 8.)

I hope Masakadza Jnr does make it. A combo of him and Vitori opening has me salivating.

Rushing in Cremer will be a great travesty of all concerned, including those competing for places with him. I saw somewhere he featured in a poster’s T20 team. Oh yes, the culprit was sscricket. Mate, you gotta be kidding me

[sscricket]

I think FP's got a pretty good T20 Zim XI based on the tournament!

This is how I think the selectors will go(not me):
TEST:
1Mawoyo, 2Vusi, 3Hami, 4Taylor, 5Taibu, 6Waller, 7Chigumbura, 8Price, 9Vitori, 10Jarvis, 11Mpofu
ODI:
1Vusi, 2Taylor, 3Hami, 4Matsi, 5Taibu, 6Coventry, 7Chigumbura, 8Price, 9Utseya, 10Vitori, 11Mpofu
T20:
1Vusi, 2Taylor, 3Hami, 4Matsi, 5Taibu, 6Coventry, 7Chigumbura, 8Price, 9Utseya, 10Meth, 11Vitori

Assuming 15 players will travel, that makes it a squad comprising of:
1Taylor(c), 2Vusi, 3Taibu(wk), 4Price, 5Vusi, 6Mpofu, 7Chigumbura, 8Utseya, 9Matsi, 10Vitori, 11Jarvis, 12Mawoyo, 13Waller, 14Coventry(wk), 15Meth.

Anything more than that will come from Ewing/Mutizwa/Craig/Ncube/Shingi/Cremer/Mushangwe. Not only would it be stupid, but I doubt non-internationals like Nathan Waller or Muzhange will be picked to go on tour, just for the T20 game. One of them can sneak in if Mpofu's injury is serious, but in that event I suspect Shingi will get the nod. I expect common sense to prevail and Cremer is left to recover and play in our domestic competitions, while Craig is rightly allowed to continue rebuilding his game at FC/ListA level. They won't be brave enough to pick Cremer ahead of Mushangwe anyway, so leaving them both out is the best way to go. No need for more than two spinners if the pitch is more conducive to seamers. That leaves Ewing and Mutizwa. Personally I think considering that we're going on tour, the experience of Ewing, not to mention his brilliant form thus far, will be of great value to the players, so he should get the nod ahead of Mutizwa who hasn't done much wrong, but very little to write home about either!

These squads will serve up more of the same. Playing catch up in one dayers. But they will get some losses to start with and go on clueless experimentation like they did against NZ at home. hhm you are leaving out Chakabva who is darling of the selectors and chibhabha who is a matchwinner from another dimension totally at your peril.

I dont see anyone threatening in that line up except Taylor.

Vusi, Hami, Price and Utseya across all formats means "respectable losses" instead of wins.
I do like Matsi because I think he is selfless unlike the other batters ahead of Vusi and Chibhabha,although his technique leaves a lot to be desired.

Hami will find his one-sided kiss of death batting make him look like a medieval Knight rather than a top order batsman.

Vusi will find the pitches too fast for his bat to come around. He does not have quick hands or good eye anyway so that is a just a disaster waiting to happen.

Utseya and Price are likely to get collared around the small grounds of NZ. No disrespect to Price intended.

Beginning to sound like hhm! Please bear with me

Zim will fall behind the ball game as usual in the first 10 overs and beleive me with NZ in home conditions there is no coming back. Taylor will threaten briefly because I as much as I thought his footwork was not ideal I saw during this tournament that it is actually his strength and the bowlers will take some time to figure it out.

I am witholding my comments on Price, Vitori, Chigumbura,Coventry, Waller and Taibu because I think they might click in a game or two and I dont want the forumites to gang all up on me. I dont have any hopes for the rest.

If you need my comments on any of the other players feel free to ask.

Anyways, I am disappointed in the Tuskers and hope Meth will get his opportunities with the bat and ball but more so with the bat at least for Zim rather than the Tuskers. Clearly he is better than Dabengwa, Trenchard and Horton in this format.

Trenchard did score today and score quickly but he was the one who allowed the RR to get to 16 or 20. He is just such a big guy with such a poor technique. Once again his horizontal bat position deserting him and head bobbing up and down all over the place. Batting is as much a science as it is an art.Please dont reason with me bcos I dont go by Crincinfo scores to assess players like most fans do.I want to see it for myself first hand and then use Cricinfo to validate what I see.
This will be his best knock in his t20 career(mark my words) and the Eagles did not seem to bother when him and horton were at the crease. I expect the tuskers to lose more than they win in the near future.

Dabengwas batting is not even worth my keystrokes.
NCube and Querl are whole hearted triers while staddon is just poor with the ball.

I will no more be a fan of the Tuskers and I am defecting to the Mountaineers who I beleive are tactically superior and play fearlessly. Believe me I did not even rate them before this tournament started. Not everyone is as good as Conant!

I am excited about Muzhange, Sarumba who are the finds of this tournament for me and my money is on them any day. Kasuza has some way to go but not a long distance.

Due to my overwhelming disappointment with the tuskers, I am retiring from this forum as of this weekend. I will not be posting anything starting Monday. I will comeback during the NZ tour if Zim win anything.

I hope I have contributed in some way towards shaping the perceptions and thought processes of the community towards the Zim players and if you have any comments for me or questions please do not hesitate during the next 2 days. I will respond until Monday.

I enjoyed interacting with you guys especially hhm, fp, zimfan and better days who are the usual suspects as well as others around here.

Meanwhile I will be watching the cricket played in Australia and the big bash with Perth and Melbourne Renegades as my favorite teams. I will also watch all the aussie home games against NZ and India during this time and see if I can improve my understanding of the game and the current players while enjoying the action which will perfectly aligned with the evenings in my timezone.

[Conant]

[I will no more be a fan of the Tuskers and I am defecting to the Mountaineers who I beleive are tactically superior and play fearlessly. Believe me I did not even rate them before this tournament started. Not everyone is as good as Conant!.

I am a bookmaker, I 'm trained to spot value . But thanks for the compliment.

And your insights a great pleasure to read. See you in New Zealand!!

[eugene]

God I hope Matsi isn't selected. We may as well send Coventry and Chibhabha too. Then we can have the special trio all in the team at the same time.

[betterdays]

I dont go by Crincinfo scores to assess players like most fans do.I want to see it for myself first hand and then use Cricinfo to validate what I see.

I've seen this leveled at a few fans over various forums but I believe most fans form their opinions (in many ways) and validate those opinions from then on out.
not sure it matters which order: see first then cricinfo/web or cricinfo/web then see. Either works for me (but I do, like most I suspect, seek some visual assurance at some point)

[hhm]

I seem to have put Vusi in twice!

Looks to me that we'd be short on the batting side so it has to be a batsmen. Taibu was probably kept out of the T20s to recover so he should be ok to keep in the Test match, which should mean there's no need to take Chakabva on tour. That leaves Mutizwa and Ewing.

In fairness, while I may not rate him, Mutizwa hasn't had much of chance in this competition, just 2 not outs for low scores and nothing else. Despite a mixed return in the ODIs against NZ, his performance in the tour game probably gave Chakabva the nod as he did better. But the fact is Waller had more ODI chances than Mutizwa got this season, and apart from the 99* in a dead rubber they were equally poor till then - hit-and-miss most of the time. I think we'll get more of the same from both of them, which is why i want Ewing there instead. Nonetheless it will be practical from the selectors' standpoint to pick Mutizwa ahead of Ewing considering he's been in and around the team:
1Taylor(c), 2Vusi, 3Taibu(wk), 4Price, 5Mutizwa, 6Mpofu, 7Chigumbura, 8Utseya, 9Matsi, 10Vitori, 11Jarvis, 12Mawoyo, 13Waller, 14Coventry(wk), 15Meth.

sscricket, true Matabele fans are no quitters (funny to think that the Sotho people gave Ndebeles this name)! Learn from the Eagles fans, they didn't throw in the towel and have risen from the ashes, so hang in there! I'm sure you'll come around the forum.

As much as I may prefer it otherwise Conant, these youngsters ARE part of the immediate setup! In my book, that's not say they are better 4-5 day bowlers than Rainsford/Panyangara, or better batsmen than Ewing/Duffin. As it is NZ are experiencing an embarrasing ordeal in Oz. We all remember what happened after they got an unexpected drubbing in Bangladesh, they went on to pretty much embarass India despite losing the series. Just as India selected a full strength side to face WI this time around after they were surprised the previous time, I expect NZ to ensure they have a full strength side the give us a mighty spanking in home conditions! We all know they are more than capable of blowing us away! So my prediction is than none of our novices will return with their stocks raised! The requisite physical, mental & t6echnical maturity to deal with such a situation away from home will be lacking and they WILL be woefully exposed. The conditions will then be ripe for the selectors to look at the mature-experienced guys more closely.

eugene, let's hope for your sake that Matsi is not included. I'm confident he will actually prove my theory as he will probably outperform a lot of his less experienced compatriots. This situation is made for him.

[Jemisi]

Sscricket. No Vusi, Hami, Price becuase they mean respectable losses? Who will you replace those guys with to get better improvement?