Is Foster Mutizwa Banned From Playing for Zimbabwe

[foreignfield]

Well thats just the type of player we need in the Zimbabwe team right now. Someone who puts a price on his wicket and occupies the crease all day. Passive or not that's just the missing link in Zimbabwe.

I don't know if he is that player, but if he were, yes it's a piece that's missing. On the other hand he could just have hit a purple patch of grittiness against rather ordinary attacks. Remember the Manicas sat out the first round when teams were at full strength.

I remember that Forster suffered a terrible loss of form (and supposedly confidence) after he last played for the national side. After his move to the Manicas his form has again picked up, that is true, but even in that line-up he has often cast a rather low-key figure. As a Goats' fan I can't remember many match winning knocks, nothing that really caught the eye. But you could always depend on him to grind out a 40 or a 60 and keep the best tail in franchise cricket company.

That said, I think he was treated rather unfairly when his international career was cut short after his only Test match. He had played two series against BD and NZ in 2011 where he didn't look dashing, not really like an ideal ODI player, but sort of gritty. He had a fifty against NZ and a couple of starts against BD, but averaged only in the low twenties (his ODI average is propped up by three fifties against Kenya). But nothing to suggest that he should be discarded for good after his next match. I believe we were talking about whether his game's not better suited to FC/Test cricket at the time. And then came the disastrous Test match in NZ where he batted at three--virtually opening (coming in in the third and first over respectively)--and he had scores of 6 and 18: but BT scored 11 runs in the match, Taibu 6, Hami 0 (opening after Vusi had jumped ship, which got Forster into the side in the first place), Tino 4, and Waller 23. To be dropped for good after that tour was harsh, but he didn't go home and score tons of runs in domestic cricket afterwards either.

[jaybro]

The other thing to remember is the quality of bowlers Mutizwa has scored his runs against, a second string Rhinos attack & the Eagles bowlers.

Now it’s easy to look and say well Williams or Waller didn’t score against the Windies but the quality of the Windies attack is obviously much greater.

Going back to the first round of Logan Cup cricket Williams, Ervine, Taylor, Raza & even Regis made runs against similar if not stronger bowling lineups than what Mutizwa has. Waller then also scored 100 in the practice match.

As I said make of this which ever way you like but I tend to agree with Dogg maybe we shouldn’t get too excited yet.

[Mr Twig]

Mutizwa is one more ton away from selection for SA in my opinion. Hopefully he can do it over the next few weeks.

[Jemisi]

Why so little A cricket for Mutizwa in all this time? It is one thing to discount his hundreds and not pick him in the national team but surely he should get a run in the rung below?

[Stoneman Returns]

Yes no chance for the failure old guys.

[Conant]

I emailed John Ward to ask about Foster Mutizwa and his lack of recognition from the selectors, I received this reply:

Yes, Foster is scoring more runs nowadays, but I think the selectors consider him a past player, when they would have great difficulty slotting him into the strong (on paper) Zimbabwe middle order in any case.

He is scoring runs in domestic cricket, but he is not the dominant batsman he used to be, and I wonder (but cannot say) if he is batting selfishly. He often seems to bat too passively, and if there is a crisis he just hangs in there without trying to take charge of the situation or protect his less capable partners.

In the match that finished yesterday he scored a century, but I was very disappointed that in the final session of the third day, when he played most of his innings, Mountaineers should have been trying to pile runs on quickly so as to give themselves enough time to bowl out Eagles a second time. I spoke to their coach about it, and he said he wanted to make sure they did not lose quick wickets and give the game away – at a time when his team was well ahead. Not the sort of positive play that wins championships! By the time they eventually declared, just before lunch, a draw was the most likely result on a placid pitch, and so it happened. So Foster was probably batting under misguided instructions there, but that seems to be the way he prefers to play at the moment, when a batsman of his talent should be seeking more to lead from the front.

Strange summary from John Ward. I wonder if hes ever watched him play.

And by the way I remember Foster 's strike rate being consistently high every time he made runs.

In any case how many of our players have any kindof match awareness at all?

Bu his figures alone, he should be getting a look in, whatever his temperament or intelligence.

[Conant]

I emailed John Ward to ask about Foster Mutizwa and his lack of recognition from the selectors, I received this reply:

Yes, Foster is scoring more runs nowadays, but I think the selectors consider him a past player, when they would have great difficulty slotting him into the strong (on paper) Zimbabwe middle order in any case.

He is scoring runs in domestic cricket, but he is not the dominant batsman he used to be, and I wonder (but cannot say) if he is batting selfishly. He often seems to bat too passively, and if there is a crisis he just hangs in there without trying to take charge of the situation or protect his less capable partners.

In the match that finished yesterday he scored a century, but I was very disappointed that in the final session of the third day, when he played most of his innings, Mountaineers should have been trying to pile runs on quickly so as to give themselves enough time to bowl out Eagles a second time. I spoke to their coach about it, and he said he wanted to make sure they did not lose quick wickets and give the game away – at a time when his team was well ahead. Not the sort of positive play that wins championships! By the time they eventually declared, just before lunch, a draw was the most likely result on a placid pitch, and so it happened. So Foster was probably batting under misguided instructions there, but that seems to be the way he prefers to play at the moment, when a batsman of his talent should be seeking more to lead from the front.

John Ward is confused. There is nothing strong on paper or otherwise about this middle order.

Craig had never been consistent or convincing. Williams and Raza even worse,

If the was talking about 3Hami, 4Taylor, 5Taibu then yes.

+1

I think foreignfield has summarized Foster's situation well.

I don't wanna but the conspiracy theory yet, for me it was just such bad luck that he got his only Test, and afterwards lost form in the Logan Cup till everybody (except us forumers ) just about forgot him.

Well he making runs now, even Taibu will have to sit up and notice.