T20 Team

[hhm]

MATSI, MATSI, MATSI!!!!!!!!!

-Most Runs by a Zimbabwean Batsmen!
-Highest Score by a Zimbabwean!
-Most Boundaries by a Zimbabwean!
-2nd Most Sixes by a Zimbabwean!
-HIghest Strike Rate by a Zimbabwean! (away with Ballance!)

BEST ZIMABWEAN BATSMEN OF THE TOURNAMENT!

PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT!

Zimfanatic, Zimfanatic, where art thou?

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I wouldn't complain if Matsikenyeri made the New Zealand tour. I think good domestic form should be rewarded and while I'm not fully convinced that it will translate to good international performance (history tells us it won't) I don't see any harm in him taking Chibhabha's spot for the Twenty20's and being the reserve batsmen for the ODIs.

There are many better middle order options for Test matches though; Waller, Mutizwa, Ervine, etc. So if Matsikenyeri plays; limited overs only. In ODIs if Matsikenyeri could contribute in a utility role (ala James Hopes towards the end of his international career, mid 20's average at a highish strike rate) in the lower middle order to free Waller up to play in the upper middle order that could be a good result for Zimbabwe.

[sscricket]

Keep in mind Matsi is still fidgety outside the offstump on length deliveries because of his baseball like stance. He comes down hard pushing at the ball and not getting behind it like he did to Chatara today.
His deficiencies were not exposed today but there is a high level of probability that Southee & Co bowl those kinds of deliveries as their no 1 stock ball and it will be hard to handle in test or odi's. In t20 he might be able to get away with it.

So having said that, I would have Matsi in the side to give him one more chance given his current form.
Here is my preferred list of batsmen in the order of quality and skill
Taylor, Taibu, Waller, Hamilton and that is it.

So there is a couple of spots there that can be filled by anyone at the moment. I rate Saurumba very highly and think he should be given a chance because he has such a good technique but you guys will throw rocks at me and strip me of my forum membership.

[Flower power]

So there is a couple of spots there that can be filled by anyone at the moment. I rate Saurumba very highly and think he should be given a chance because he has such a good technique but you guys will throw rocks at me and strip me of my forum membership.

I am also for Sauramba to be on a plan for him to be the heir to Taibu with the gloves . We don't want to be in the SA situation were they have to depend on Boucher who is now aging and not getting the runs .
Forums are for airing views and not stoning members when they give their views .Otherwise it will be like ZC were if you air your views you risk your job.....

[Jemisi]

By all means comment SS, you are allowed to be wrong. You won't be stripped of membership. Sauramba needs to do plenty more to earn a place.

[hhm]

Here is my preferred list of batsmen in the order of quality and skill
Taylor, Taibu, Waller, Hamilton and that is it.

Interesting list. I rate Taibu & Waller highly, but to put them in our top 5 batsmen!! I'm sorry sscricket but I definitely don't see things the way you do though! This is the order of my list of guys currently playing in Zim at the moment: Vusi, Taylor, Matsi, Vermeulen, Hamilton, Craig (which excludes that bugger Sean, who can easily argue for 1st place)

As always, I still rate Vusi ahead of everyone else. Since we resumed Tests I haven't seen any attack dictate terms to him in ANY of the matches. If he had picked up centuries instead then I doubt anyone would disprove that! As it is, against the new ball he's been taking the attack to all bowlers who've been thrown at him and succeeded each time! It's a pity the NZ short format games caught him in bad headspace!

One only needs to think back to how both Taylor&Hami played against a quality Pak side, and even Bangladesh. They were tied down in both innings by Pakistan, and despite productive scores in that Bangladesh Test, their seamers&spinners were on top of them for long key periods to the point than many of us felt they were letting the game slip in that first innings, so much so that if it weren't for Vusi's impetus upfront we would'nt have gotten anything from both matches. We cannot ignore Taylor's results against NZ, but 36+yr old Martin, Bracewell & Patel!!

We've seen Taibu go through purple patches and do the same thing against a lot of quality full sides(not understrength), when he was even younger with a less compact side around him, but that didn't prompt me to elevate him above Vusi, Matsi & Vermeulen. He even had the added responsibility of keeping and captaining! I still rate him the most dependable batsmen we have, but would struggle to fit him into my top six for our Test side.

Despite being highly critical of Craig for months he's shown all of us what he can do, and I even rate him ahead of Taibu, but I'm not sure if I can slot him ahead of the other five. He will get his chance again, and I doubt many of you will question my rating him ahead of a lot of the other guys.

Matsi&Mark may be a surprise but they’ve received acclaim from greater past & present cricketers and commentators alike. Who am I to question that high praise! When I recall seeing them on song, I’m tempted to put them even higher!

Anyway, in the first ODI between Pak&Zim, Taylor got a higher score than both Vusi&Younis Khan, but it was clear from both the fans&commentators' perspective that the battle for class was only between Vusi&Younis Khan. Younis went on to take MoM, by virtue of his side winning, but Vusi stood out. Not only that, he completely dominated his partnership with Taylor, just as Younis put the much improved Hafeez in the back seat - in both instances they all faced a relatively similar amount of balls, but their junior partners struggled to get off strike with singles let alone boundaries. There was no comparison at all! The same played itself out numerous times when Hami found himself in partnership with Vusi, and I am bold enough to say both of them will continue to be outshown by Vusi if they find themsleves in a 50+ partnership! Opportunites have been few, but Taibu has briefly suffered the same fate as well. Vusi has been superb! Credit where it's due!

A lot of the judgements are being based on how our team has played since we got back to the Test fold. Let's not go on performances which are fresher in our memories but on how the player performed against all attacks, particularly the toughest competition - session by session, new ball, spin, fresh bowlers etc! On that basis you will struggle to put anyone above the Vusi thus far.

Do you all remember this being said at a time when our credentials were starting to be questioned by the cricket world, after we faced by far our toughest opposition so far(including the latest series)? Who was singled out as our shining beacon?

Vusi Sibanda, despite his tendency to get out playing the pull shot, is an example of this aggression. Sibanda has a fearless attitude in the time he spends at the crease. He is as sublime a driver of the ball as he is a puller and he showed improved shot selection as the series went on. Sibanda is a naturally attacking batsman and so, unlike some of his counterparts, he does not disappear into a shell when the bowling looks too difficult to take on. Younis Khan, Pakistan's man of the ODI series, singled out Sibanda and said that, "he performed in every game, even though he did not make a big ton, but in future he will be their star."

Have we had any other past/present player with a better pedigree, say anything superior about any of our other players?

[sscricket]

I will rest my case when Vusi and Matsi if they get selected in the first place play well in NZ (not slow 30 or 40's) with real knocks that have an impact on the game.
Of course NZ is not the greatest of teams but they should at least perform here to merit selection in the future.
I am a little bit more forgiving of guys down the order not performing but at the top you have to perform. It is by far the best place to bat for in any team according to me.

[Jemisi]

How can you have Vusi ahead of Taylor atm, Hhm? Not on long records or short form is he ahead of him. The bottom line in business matters more than how pretty the shop window looks.

[FlowerPower]

How can you have Vusi ahead of Taylor atm, Hhm? Not on long records or short form is he ahead of him. The bottom line in business matters more than how pretty the shop window looks.

Excellent! I have been looking for such a term! Aptly put!

[hhm]

How did that bottomline look after the Pakistan Series? Have we had tougher opposition since our resumption?

I encourage you to peruse through global cricket reports which cared to review Zim cricket at the time. This very article in Cricinfo to which I refer, from currently the most diligent reporter on Zim criceket affairs, is very much in stark contrast to your assessment Jemisi! Our very own Pommie, would've told you that!

It's not about beauty, you can't deny the man his innate class, it's about stepping up when it counts the most - which he did, and he got respect for it. HUGE respect!!!!