Your XI vs South Africa (Test match cricket)

[gargamel]

1.Tinos
2.Vusi/Raza
3. Rex
4. Hammy
5. BT
6.Sean
7.Chatara
8. Mushangwe
9. Tiripano
10.Panyangara
11. Chigz/Mutumbami

[Jemisi]

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


If I were going to stack the team with batting to have the best chance of seeing a draw come the 13th, then I would go with

Mawoyo - can bat long
Vermuelen - Nostalgia and form mean he deserves a chance
Hami - a rare Zimbabwean with multiple international hundreds
Taylor - can he do an Andy?
Williams - time for a breakthrough century, surely?
Raza - Building upon his runs against the Afghans would be good
Chigumbura - He looks better at 7 than 6 somehow.
Mutumbami - Hope he doesn't run out of partners at 8 but can build a good stand with one of the batsmen above him.
Shingi - his batting looks nice at 9
Panyangara - his batting looks nice at 10
Chatara - Can he surprise the Saffer top order?

Three front line bowlers means the three back-up options will need to get through 8-10 over each per day. Hami should be up to that and Williams too, Chigs would have to come to the party as well. I think this second team is as deep a batting lineup as is possible atm. Yet it is still very capable of being knocked over for 95. Everything really hangs on the top 5. This lower order may help us get to 150 if the top gets swept away, but if we are to get 300 and some real sense of respectability it will take at least two solid fifties from Nos 1-5.

[jaybro]

I'm supplying my XI and then te XI I think they will pick .....

My Zimbabwe Test XI

1.T.Mawoyo
2.V.Sibanda
3.M.Vermeulan
4.H.Masakadza
5.B.Taylor
6.S.Williams
7.E.Chigumbura
8.R.Mutumbami
9.S.Masakadza
10.T.Panyangara
11.T.Chatara

I feel Sean will be a better chance of taking wickets then Pro and Chigs and Hami can bowl as Harare usually offers a little bit of movement for medium pace seamers .....

The Zimbabwe XI I think will be picked

1.T.Mawoyo
2.V.Sibanda
3.H.Masakadza
4.B.Taylor
5.S.Williams
6.E.Chigumbura
7.R.Mutumbami
8.P.Utseya
9.S.Masakadza
10.T.Panyangara
11.T.Chatara


I just can't see them leaving Pro out and the fact Mark never opened makes me question if they would be willing to get him to do so, plus I think they're more keen in Raza opening so if Vusi isn't fit I think Raza will open .....

In saying this you can never predict what the selectors will do especially when Mongongo is in charge not saying he doesn't know what he is doing just saying us seems radical most of the time .....

[AussieZimFan]

My XI is similar to ones already posted. Does anyone know what the weather forecast is for the 5 days? If there looks like there could be rain around I would pack the side with batsmen and hope for the best. Pity Vitori is injured as I would have liked to see how he did up against South Africa's quality batsmen.

[foreignfield]

Does anyone know what the weather forecast is for the 5 days? If there looks like there could be rain around I would pack the side with batsmen and hope for the best.

According to various sites there won't be any rain around, at any time ... well, maybe a sprinkle on Saturday.

[zimfan1]

Does anyone know what the weather forecast is for the 5 days? If there looks like there could be rain around I would pack the side with batsmen and hope for the best.

According to various sites there won't be any rain around, at any time ... well, maybe a sprinkle on Saturday.

Very rare for there to be rain at this time of year

[zimstarr]

hahaha the zim selectors are still looking for their default paper which has player lists written a year ago to select the test squad. if they don't pick vermeulen they must be evaluated mentally .

[clikcspeed]

Really looking forward to this Test. The guys just need to apply themselves, they know the conditions well and most importantly, they love playing in Harare. Here's my team:

1. Tino
2. Vusi
3. Mark
4. Hammy
5. BT
6. Williams
7. Mutumbami
8. Utseya
9. Shingi
10. Panyangara
11. Chatara

The mould of SAs attack is ideal for Vusi, he's very good at playing fast bowlers (non-existent vs spinners really), if we bat first, we just need to steady the ship during the first session.

We have a decent home record since 2011 (7 matches):
1 - When we lost (4/7), we haven't been rolled over easily, all matches have gone the whole 5 days with 1 exception, which we won (vs Bangladesh)
2 - We've had at least 1 centurion in 6/7 matches

The guys just need to maintain the same approach (which is to play to win) that they have used in the other matches over longer periods of time.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Really looking forward to this Test. The guys just need to apply themselves, they know the conditions well and most importantly, they love playing in Harare. Here's my team:

1. Tino
2. Vusi
3. Mark
4. Hammy
5. BT
6. Williams
7. Mutumbami
8. Utseya
9. Shingi
10. Panyangara
11. Chatara

The mould of SAs attack is ideal for Vusi, he's very good at playing fast bowlers (non-existent vs spinners really), if we bat first, we just need to steady the ship during the first session.

We have a decent home record since 2011 (7 matches):
1 - When we lost (4/7), we haven't been rolled over easily, all matches have gone the whole 5 days with 1 exception, which we won (vs Bangladesh)
2 - We've had at least 1 centurion in 6/7 matches

The guys just need to maintain the same approach (which is to play to win) that they have used in the other matches over longer periods of time.

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.

[Jemisi]

I wonder if Madziva isn't a slight chance to play the Meth role here?