Logan Cup: Rocks v Tuskers & Rhinos v Mountaineers (12th-15th Feb)

[secretzimbo]

Century for Chari. Yet another century for Slug. Pair of them showing their experience and class to win this and keep them in with a chance of the cup. Tuskers will end their season on 53 points.

Mountaineers on 50 with 1 game left, just need to avoid defeat next week.

[ZIMDOGGY]

That to me indicates that he's been told to bat him up front because it doesn't make sense. That was an astonishing innings he played for his century though. Damned impressive, and in fairness has earned him a few games to try and build on that. You need rock solid technique to be consistently good at opening. He doesn't have it. Whether he learns remains to be seen.
If you want to really improve someone that has huge potential and technique then let Evans bat in the front 4 or put him in a team that needs a 1-4 batsman. Leave him there for a season and you've created a good batsman. He's that talented, I'll put my c$$ on a block. Maybe I'm watching a different Evans, but it's clear as day that this guy has real ability. They're killing this guy without giving him a proper chance.

ZC have put huge faith in Marumani, Shumba and Madhevere. Its not going to look too peachy if they don't deliver. There has to be just an inkling of doubt by now that they're going to not set it alight internationally. These admin guys have no learning curve. It's tough out there.

Here are their two big gambles-
Bring Taylor and Jarvis back and we qualify. Didn't happen.
Invest in these 3 u19's to replace quality guys about to retire or have just done so. That remains to be seen, but I think they're going to struggle. They're good players, no one is arguing that, but they've had some exposure now and not knocked it out the park. What has to change to enable them to become world beaters? More cricket certainly, but if they play more international cricket with their current skill set you're going to get the same result- mediocre performances with the odd good one thrown in. When Ervine and Williams go we become a decent club side unless someone comes to the party very quickly. We had this ugly debate about the standard of our franchise and I think Compton and Gubbins have emphatically shown where we are at. We can wait for next February and if a County side comes out it can be driven home with a 20lb hammer yet again that we are not good.

So do they give up on these two options because it didn't pan out? The only other option is to hope someone really sharp emerges from our current system. That is the least costly approach and has not borne fruit in 3 decades. The likelihood of magically becoming world class from our franchise is not impossible, but almost.
Without being able to purchase a bunch of ready made international standard cricketers off the shelf from elsewhere you have to keep investing in the youth if you want to have the smallest chance of improving things.
You need to invest in a bunch of talented guys and maybe one or two, if you're lucky, have the goods. It's not an administrative game that has a high return on investment.
You're probably better off buying lotto tickets, but it is what it is. Cricket boards the world over have the same problem.

There's no perceived pressure yet to fix things. It's crisis management, that will only kick in when we're 15-0 after Williams, Raza and Ervine depart.

I still reckon the solution for nlw id to throw money at the diaspora. We can make a great team from there.

Where is Gary Ballance playing this year?

[TapsC2]

I think Curran's contract is up this year too. Interesting to see what happens

[TapsC2]

It might not make sense now but they should give Chari and Chakabva some matches in the middle order, especially Regis. He is one of the few guys who could cover the gap once Ervine and Williams are gone.

Our best chance is to look for 7 Hamilton Masakadzas instead of 4 BTs in the middle. That is possible

[TapsC2]

After seeing Regis rise from the ashes I think we can try Chari again. Very similar players actually. Regis just gained a lot of confidence. There is a reason why every single coach over the last 7 years has tried Chari.

[secretzimbo]

Chakabva's first class career average is 36, Chari averages 24. I don't think they are that similar.

[secretzimbo]

Where is Gary Ballance playing this year?

Most likely Yorkshire. He is contracted until the end of 2024 so I doubt they want to sack him/pay him off. He'll probably get some kind of ban, I'd guess 5-10 games, from the ECB, and he'll return in a few months in a low-key mid-week county game when everyone is talking about the next English cricket scandal/disaster, whatever that might be.

There's absolutely not a cat in hells chance that our current board would entertain a publicly-known racist white player anyway.

[Googly]

Where is Gary Ballance playing this year?

Most likely Yorkshire. He is contracted until the end of 2024 so I doubt they want to sack him/pay him off. He'll probably get some kind of ban, I'd guess 5-10 games, from the ECB, and he'll return in a few months in a low-key mid-week county game when everyone is talking about the next English cricket scandal/disaster, whatever that might be.

There's absolutely not a cat in hells chance that our current board would entertain a publicly-known racist white player anyway.

I'm quite certain that it's a moot point because Ballance has a life there, but the racist thing I don't believe counts for anything. The one thing we all know about in Zim is racism and we've ALL been subjected to it at some point. Nobody is going to get all woke and ridiculous here unless it suits an agenda.
I listened to an interesting podcast about this very issue this morning. I mean you dig deep enough into most people's past you're going to find something that the new world order will cancel you for. And what actually constitutes satisfactory contrition? Clearly an apology is not sufficient these days, you have to cut a finger or a limb off.
In Zim we've got men that used to shoot at each other that now do business together, but you call someone a nasty name and it's the end of the road? That's just plain horseshit. Someone could have kicked the crap out of you as a kid but now you have a beer with him, but if he called you a bad word it's somehow worse?
We all now know the new rules, no excuses going forward.

[Kriterion_BD]

Googly, the point is not looking for someone who's never said racist stuff (everyone has said bigotted shit at some point in their life)...its about making the proper amends for it. There's no way to 100% tell who's genuinely remorseful, but you can usually tell.

[Kriterion_BD]

Here are their two big gambles-
Bring Taylor and Jarvis back and we qualify. Didn't happen.
Invest in these 3 u19's to replace quality guys about to retire or have just done so. That remains to be seen, but I think they're going to struggle. They're good players, no one is arguing that, but they've had some exposure now and not knocked it out the park.

I must say I agree here. The U-19 guys will need to be managed the way Bangladesh did to Tamim/Shakib/Mushfiq 15 years earlier. Zim at present are around about where Bangladesh were in 2006-07. The top teams didn't care to play us or at least it seemed that way. We had to come up playing against Zimbabwe and a host of Associates (Ireland, Scotland, Kenya). The likes of Madhevere/Shumba/Marumani will similarly have to learn their games against Afghanistan, Ireland, etc and then build from there. Bangladesh too had limited opportunities against major sides (haven't toured Australia since 2008 or England since 2010, and hadn't toured India until 2017) but had to take advantage whenever they got them.