2023 World Cup Qualifier discussion

[CrimsonAvenger]

Ballance / Ervine to open in ODIs creating a spot for Madande down the order. Looks like the way to go. Keep Marumani around as well and let him bat lower down as well by rotating Madande (or on form, etc.), as he can be given an extended run at 6 or 7 in shorter format to gain confidence at this level.

No point reminiscing about Moor or Chakabva.

[sam_ahm]

Marumani's failures at international level means that he will surely not be in the frame for the Qualifiers. He needs more time to make an international comeback.

PJ is not a realistic option, he is probably the best option but I'm sure ZC are not going that way.

Realistically I'm looking at Madande continuing OR Chakabwa making a comeback. The latter cannot be ruled out, I think Regis may well want to have another crack at the qualifiers.

Yeah it’s a tough call, we’ve been mulling over it really ever since we got wind of it that Regis might not be available anymore. I think Madande is the best overall option, but it’s that log jam in the middle order that makes it more appealing to pick a keeper who can open.

Throwing another spanned into the mix is now Mavuta, now we’ve all been impressed with Burl’s leg spin but after watching Mavuta bowl this match it’s clear he’s a much better bowler & could be the X-Factor bowler we were missing in the Ireland series along with Blessing.

So if you’re playing Mavuta at 9 and let’s say Evans or Jongwe at 8, you’re probably now forced to either play Burl or a keeper at 7. If you have Burl there, then the keeper must open, and we might end up in the situation where we see the old ‘sacrificial lamb’ scenario where Madande is made to open just to fit everyone in.

On paper, Marumani opening & keeping is the best fit for everyone, but unless the kid can find his feet quickly it’s going to be too big a risk. I haven’t seen him keep, but from the reports here on the forum he’s a bit dodgy, you can’t take the chance that your keeper drops a crucial catch in a tournament with so much at stake.

Personally I’d still be making Ballance open with Kaia, he’s got the best technique of any Zim batter and he can anchor the innings that way. Imagine having Kaia & Ballance opening, we’d be more likely to get to the 10 over mark with all ten wickets still hand. Unlike the the last edition of the CWCQ where we’d constantly be 3 down inside the power play.

Yes, Ballance can play a role similar to David Malan does for England. Although I'm still OK if he bats at 3 so as not to expose him to the new ball and risk losing his wicket early.

Zimbabwe will have to wrap Blessing and Williams in cotton wool before the qualifiers, they are injury prone and it will be a huge loss if even one of them is injured for the big event.

[Googly]

Craig Ervine is also injury prone. Have you ever seen his left hand? Not sure what accident he had but he won't be doing any hand commercials. It's why he can turn a ball off off down behind square leg

Evans is also injury prone.

[jaybro]

Craig Ervine is also injury prone. Have you ever seen his left hand? Not sure what accident he had but he won't be doing any hand commercials. It's why he can turn a ball off off down behind square leg

Evans is also injury prone.

Do we have any durable cricketers??

To be fair, Raza is quite durable only missed games due to a broken wrist in 2014 and also they bone cancer scare after the Afghanistan series.

[Terryalderman]

Craig Ervine is also injury prone. Have you ever seen his left hand? Not sure what accident he had but he won't be doing any hand commercials. It's why he can turn a ball off off down behind square leg

Evans is also injury prone.

Didn’t he cut his thumb off when he was 12 and had to change from right to left handed because he couldn’t grip the bat anymore??

[sam_ahm]

UAE have beaten Afghanistan in a T20, while Nepal are beating Namibia and Scotland at home.

Two ways to look at it. One way to look is Nepal and UAE have improved drastically and may be a threat should they make it to the qualifiers. Other way to look at it is that if Scotland and Namibia are losing to Nepal then it should easy for Zimbabwe to go past them.

UAE beating Afghans came as a shock to me.

[jaybro]

UAE have beaten Afghanistan in a T20, while Nepal are beating Namibia and Scotland at home.

Two ways to look at it. One way to look is Nepal and UAE have improved drastically and may be a threat should they make it to the qualifiers. Other way to look at it is that if Scotland and Namibia are losing to Nepal then it should easy for Zimbabwe to go past them.

UAE beating Afghans came as a shock to me.

Nepal winning at home v Scotland & Namibia isn’t too crazy, home conditions and all.

UAE beating Afghanistan is wild and very suspect imo, but let’s not go down that road.

[Kriterion_BD]

UAE have beaten Afghanistan in a T20, while Nepal are beating Namibia and Scotland at home.

Two ways to look at it. One way to look is Nepal and UAE have improved drastically and may be a threat should they make it to the qualifiers. Other way to look at it is that if Scotland and Namibia are losing to Nepal then it should easy for Zimbabwe to go past them.

UAE beating Afghans came as a shock to me.

It just means the Qualifier will be extremely cutthroat with razor thin margins in basically every game. There won't be any easy games for any team, nor any pushovers. Any team which takes its foot off the gas for even a second will likely not qualify.

[sam_ahm]

UAE have beaten Afghanistan in a T20, while Nepal are beating Namibia and Scotland at home.

Two ways to look at it. One way to look is Nepal and UAE have improved drastically and may be a threat should they make it to the qualifiers. Other way to look at it is that if Scotland and Namibia are losing to Nepal then it should easy for Zimbabwe to go past them.

UAE beating Afghans came as a shock to me.

It just means the Qualifier will be extremely cutthroat with razor thin margins in basically every game. There won't be any easy games for any team, nor any pushovers. Any team which takes its foot off the gas for even a second will likely not qualify

Yeah Qualifiers will be cut throat. Zimbabwe will have to be full strength. Anything less and they are undoubtedly out of it.

[jaybro]

Looks like Nepal have done the impossible and qualified directly to the main event being the CWCQ in Zimbabwe, overtaking Namibia after winning 11 of their final 12 matches

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/wor ... tch-report