lobsang wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 8:02 pm
Honestly, it is annoying to go through these sad future scenarios and to hear members on this forum's predictions of what could happen after the trio of Williams, Ervine and Raza retire. Let's remind ourselves of the fact that Ervine went to play in Ireland with the hope that he could play for them and if the Irish board saw in him something special, he would have represented Ireland by now. In Raza's case too, He would have been wooed by PCB to play for them like what they did to Usman Qadir, the son of great Abdul Qadir. Usman was on the cusp of playing for Australia but finally he chose his birth-country.
Shumba, Madhevere and Bawa and even Myers, if he makes a comeback in the near future, have what it takes to become as good as these three if not better, it will all come down to their willingness to put in the hard yards. And remember we are not hoping for them to be like Kohli, Maxwell and ABD. there are many pessimistic souls on this forum. 2004 talent drought was way worse than what the departure of these three would do to say the least. Almost 15 to 16 players left Zimbabwe cricket for greener pasture . And that kind of players' exodus could have crippled even BCCI, CA and ECB for 4 to five years. Williams, Ervine and BT would have disappeared into oblivion if they played for India, Australia or England, considering the abundance of talents in those countries, coz they struggled initially in their careers. They kept getting opportunities in Zimbabwe thanks to the small pool of talents in the country and they got better as the years passed by with experience.
Burl can become a better player than Sikandar Raza and for that to happen, the administration or selectors must put some faith and support that he is important part of the squad moving forward, and Shumba by his age is way well ahead of Ervine in my opinion. And Madhevere is as talented as they come and not many would have said such things about BT at Madhevere's age when he burst onto the international scene. BT, Williams, Ervine and Raza are good players but honestly they are not irreplaceable at all. There is every chance that Myers and Murray may return in the near future and ZC will dangle an enticing carrot to bring them back for sure at some stage and then there is this Bawa kid, and Marumani could work on his batting coz he is extremely young. From bowling point of view, Ngarava and Muzarabani can easily serve Zim for another 8 to 10 years and few other will definitely emerge in between.
Now this part is very important as far as I am concerned, If I were Mukuhulani, I would not be that stupid to let the game die coz I and my colleague ( all corrupted ) can keep on milking ICC funds as long as we can field a team that can challenge and beat the number 6, 7 and 8 ranked teams more often than not and I will do everything in my power to assemble a team that can get us to ICC global events so that we can keep our pockets full of $€€$. Remember before 2019 World cup qualifiers took place, they did everything in their hands to bring back BT and Jarvis.
So after these three are gone, yes Zimbabwe cricket may suffer defeats that they would not suffer with the present team at the hands of lesser known teams for a year or two but I think these dorks at ZC will devise something to keep the engine working for as long as they can so that they pockets will not run out of those $$$$€€€€.
Optimism is good but there are some issues with the above.
1- In 2005 Zimbabwean schools cricket was stil considered one of the best in the world and the production line of kids was excellent. Part of this is why Bvute was happy to say goodbye to many at once. He banked on talent being there on the back of the good system at the time. Every article referred to the junior pathways as world class back then. I havent heard that being mentioned since mid to late 00's.
2-BRMT was considered a child prodigy from day one. Hence why he debuted in the logan Cup at 17 and played internationally 2 months after hid 18th bday. He also was pretty good early on too.
3- ICC have traditionally given 12 mil a year to ZC. You think Ervine and Taylor and Jarvis and all that would come back if they only got 4 million like Ireland? with no spomsorship? thats how its been but with waning attendance, participation results or care factor its possible. Even probable.
4- Is it truly good to always be optimistic? The old anecdote of not speaking up leads to condoning the issue. What if we applied this to another issue, like the 19s cheating thing talked about this week. You could take a kriterion-like view of being sick of the topic or 'its just one single tournament but it will bite them in seniors' untol a kid gets brain damaged, others quit and the pakistani mens team are hobbling in the field because they are all too old (as Asif said). No one wants us to be more optimistic than the people in charge. You do have to balance it and pick your spots though i agree, otherwise it's just doom and gloom.
5- Too late to get Murray back. Even if he came back cap in hand willing to suck dick for a gig, he hasnt played for 5 years! How good can someone be after 5 years out? Logan Cup good? sure! But no one can be international quality after 5 years of doing something else in the peak of your development.
I do like your thinking in yout last paragraph though. Thats speaking the language these guys understand. It is absolutely critical to retain our top guys for as long as their body holds and to throw hard cash at Curran, Schadendorf, Byrom, Welch, Muyeye and even Crtwright and Ballance and see what sticks. All those guys return, or most of them, and we are 9th in the world comfortably.
Although that would mean a 'white' team and that stupidly makes ZC burn up inside and makes them feel like cucks. Although i see no problem with a future of white batters and black bowlers. Which is where its headed if managed correctly.
