Zim Board XI & Chairman XI picked

[TapsC]

Good to see Marumani in the other squad as well. My opinion is that we expected token pics and we got them. It could have been far worse.

Watch Elton have a blinder of a week and make his way into the team for the ODIs on a serious note I'm not mad at him being picked for T20 cricket. Did he not win us a game last year? It's better than picking Ervine who can barely hit a 6.

The reason why we will keep losing t20 cricket is that we don't pick specialists. A team with Waller Elton PJ Zhuwao Mire and Hami would have stood a chance because it only would have taken 1 of them to tee off and it could have been curtains. Picking guys who don't have the natural ability to hit a 6 leads to what we saw this last week.

It's unfair to pick on Ervine for the T20s. The same game you are talking about that Elton won is the same series where Ervine was our best performer in every single game, and he did score 29 in said game too.

The problem is that we think T20s are all about hitting sixes and going big. We saw that with K-long and how he would just swing the bat. That is not the case. You need to have a good balance in the team. You have your big hitters, but you also have your guys who hold down an end and can rotate the strike regularly to keep the run rate ticking. You don't pick a team of only big hitters. That idea was tossed away ages ago. Ervine provides that platform so that others around him can go big. Ervine too can hit them big. He has his 13 sixes in his T20I career. Granted it is not much, but it disproves the theory that he can't clear the rope.

Williams Raza and Taylor are fully capable of holding it together. Ervine is not necessary. Even Elton can rotate the strike. The balance we need is actually affected by having too many players who want to anchor the innings and that's how you end up with a total scored at less than a run a ball in a T20. Typical Zimbabwe selection problem.

All I'm saying Elton is more likely to win you a T20 (51 sixes in 54 matches with a strike rate of 142) than Ervine (13 sixes in 24 matches with a strike rate of 100). In fact a normal strike rate for the batsman who is anchoring an innings is about 120 in T20s. Taylor has similar stats to Ervine but his strike is 120. Williams has played the same number of T20s as Taylor and has a similar amount of sixes as Taylor with a strike rate of 130. Raza is another person who on paper actually has a shocking T20 record but Williams and Raza have the advatange that they bowl. Ervine and Taylor don't.

Now I have already mentioned Elton. The Legend Waller ( strike rate of 138 and 28 sixes in 31 games), Hami ( the anchor you said my guys didn't have with a strike rate of 117 and 65 sixes in 66 matches). Now ok those guys are retired but you see the kind of players we need.

Kamunhukamwe is exactly like Mire and looked dangerous at certain points. Those are the kind of players we need. There is a risk reward factor when it comes to picking batsmen in this format like Zimdoggy mentioned. The West Indians have understood that and their team will always be a threat in T20s.

The opposite of Ervine in T20s is Tiripano in test matches. You want them to cover a gap they should not be covering in the first place then you get frustrated when Ervine scores 29 runs in 33 balls or Tiripano can't get a wicket as Mushfiqur scores a double century.

[zimbos_05]

Williams Raza and Taylor are fully capable of holding it together. Ervine is not necessary. Even Elton can rotate the strike. The balance we need is actually affected by having too many players who want to anchor the innings and that's how you end up with a total scored at less than a run a ball in a T20. Typical Zimbabwe selection problem.

All I'm saying Elton is more likely to win you a T20 (51 sixes in 54 matches with a strike rate of 142) than Ervine (13 sixes in 24 matches with a strike rate of 100). In fact a normal strike rate for the batsman who is anchoring an innings is about 120 in T20s. Taylor has similar stats to Ervine but his strike is 120. Williams has played the same number of T20s as Taylor and has a similar amount of sixes as Taylor with a strike rate of 130. Raza is another person who on paper actually has a shocking T20 record but Williams and Raza have the advatange that they bowl. Ervine and Taylor don't.

Now I have already mentioned Elton. The Legend Waller ( strike rate of 138 and 28 sixes in 31 games), Hami ( the anchor you said my guys didn't have with a strike rate of 117 and 65 sixes in 66 matches). Now ok those guys are retired but you see the kind of players we need.

Kamunhukamwe is exactly like Mire and looked dangerous at certain points. Those are the kind of players we need. There is a risk reward factor when it comes to picking batsmen in this format like Zimdoggy mentioned. The West Indians have understood that and their team will always be a threat in T20s.

The opposite of Ervine in T20s is Tiripano in test matches. You want them to cover a gap they should not be covering in the first place then you get frustrated when Ervine scores 29 runs in 33 balls or Tiripano can't get a wicket as Mushfiqur scores a double century.

I don't disagree that you need a specialist T20 team, but I think we've definitely seen a move away from big hitters only to having balanced teams. It seems the idea in Zim though is just to hit and hope, which is wrong.

Ervine has arguably been our most consistent for the last couple of years. He by far was the best in all formats in that Ned/Ire series. It would be foolish to drop him just because he does not hit big. In saying that, I've seen many players score big without needing to clear the rope. Ervines problem is that he is part of a system that has not allowed him to develop further and have those skills of his grow so that he can use his style of cricket to his advantage.

K-Long has been swinging wildly, but to what reward? Having a team of hitters does not guarantee success. It took Elton how long before he actually scored a decent score. If the big hitters you mention were consistent enough, then the topic would not be that Ervine is too not a big hitter. He is just an easy target because for every 1 big innings from Elton, Ervine will do 10 steady built innings. Ervine will score you runs, but when the others around him fail, it looks like he is the one at fault, when in essence it is no this job to hit big.

I am happy for Ervine to score 29 off 33 if the others around him contribute doing the role they are intended to rather than only performing 1 every 10 or 15 times. Ervine can accelerate if needs be and go big if needs be. He is one of the straightest and cleanest hitters we've got, but unfortunately the system has failed him.

I compare him to Khawaja. Not many would select Khawaja in their T20 squad, yet he strikes at 132 in T20Is and has only hit 5 sixes. Even domestically, Khawaja has a strike rate of 127 and has only hit 37 sixes in 83 games. He has hit 274 fours. It is because of his style of play. You would not want to drop him with a striker rate of 127 but if you look at his six count you would. He plays a different style of game, but his stats go to show it is effective.

Khawaja can do that because the coaching around him and the system has allowed him to develop in such a way that he can play the way he does and do so effectively. He also has big hitting players around him who are consistent, so he does not need to adjust his game to suit. He does his thing by holding up the end, playing straight shots along the ground and ticking the runs over regularly, and the team is able to build a good score.

There is no risk and reward factor, we'll not much any more I don't think. There is sound structure to how every team across the globe pick their T20 sides except for us.

[ZIMDOGGY]

I’m split on the Ervine thing.

TapsC makes a great point, but is Ervine the scapegoat? Is he too good to leave out?

The conundrum with Ervine is this;
He is one of our biggest hitters, he often hits sixes with taht slog sweep shot and does it effortlessly. Look at the recent Teat matches, he was hitting a six every over at one stage. In the 2011 World Cup at the group stages, he was for a week registered as hitting one of the biggest sixes in the comp, one of his Canada sixes. He has it in him....

BUT,
Another Ervine trait is he takes a long time to get going. He needs 20 balls to settle in.
How many times have we seen him 5 runs of 20 deliveries in an ODI, then 30 off 50, and then 80 of 85? He is a slow starter but he accelerates very hard. It’s a skill you don’t have the luxury of in T20. He needs to find a way to get his eye in earlier.

On a related point, a lot of players hammer the ball and are aggressive in the longer formats, but are snails in the shorter formats.
PJ Moor is our closest equivalent to this atm, Michael Slater was also a classic example.
It’s all in the field placing.
Test fields basically bait you and say ‘it’s there for you if you back yourself’ and a confident player can feast, he just has to get it right.

Shorter formats are way different as the focus is on run restricting. You can hit dollies to mid on in the air and get away with it because the field is back or in an unconventional position. How many times have we seen that?

Because Ervine can clear the rope, he should be able to do better in T20s, but the dude needs to get his eye in earlier. Will say that twice.

[zimfan1]

The British are 76/4 after 11 overs.

[zimfan1]

93/5 after 13 overs

[Googly]

Where are u getting the score from?

[Googly]

Such a pity they’re not live-streaming and somehow trying to make some money out of this. It should be turning a profit.

[Donald]

The person who should have been in Bangladesh chisoro takes two wickets for less than 7 runs an over. What a bunch of idiots our selectors are. Maybe he has learnt his lesson now or at least ZC have

[Googly]

http://derbyshirec.cc/2IMrTZg

We were blitzed by 48 runs.
Ravi Rampaul can keep world class batsmen quiet, I’ve seen really good batters not know where to buy a run off his bowling, he’s a damned fine bowler. Marumani would have been at sea for those 5 balls he faced, he can work you it in one delivery if there’s a chink.
I’m afraid this team won’t beat a County Two’s side. Everyone was wondering where our cricket was at.

[sloandog]

It could get seriously ugly if the right players aren't selected.
Murumani being selected without even playing a FC game is a joke. Talk about being thrown to the lions