Dave Houghton Head Coach

[sloandog]

Then again, the pope could be declared Hindu in the morning and pigs might fly..

[zimbos_05]

It's nice that Dave has spoken to Gary and Eddie, but you've got to think the chances are fairly slim. Why would county players leave security to come back to a system that could turn on them tomorrow.

Yes the WC is a lure, but the chance of qualifying for a WC goes up with these players there from the start, not after we've made it. It would also be very unfair to just walk into the side when others have done the hard work.

It needs to be made clear that these guys are coming into a system that works and is long term, not just a fly by night thing.

[Yvmnaidu]

first we should Target t20 worldcup. win against Ireland & Scotland is not easy. we can't beat westindies definitely. atleast. we want 4 players nickwelch, ryanhiggins, Hilton Cartwright, Dustin Melton should bring into t20 worldcup. Eddiebyroom & garyballance is test & odl players.

[Googly]

That idea about having to do the hard yards in the system before getting a shot is something I disagree with. Whoever may come along has been doing the hard yards somewhere to become as good as he has, why does it matter where? Since when did ZC worry about what the players thought of anything?
It implies that you have to pay penance here, which is more or less true. Plus if they make you play a year of domestic and club cricket here after what they've been exposed to, believe me you can only get worse, not better, thats the problem that wont be fixed, maybe if 10 guys come back and they can raise the standard a bit then thats different.
How many games did Miri and Munyonga play before they got a national call-up?
The penance is playing in a stop start system that organise and cancel games on a whim and more often than not waiting for months for your pittance. Aside from the national guys, and only when they're preparing for something, players here don't practice anywhere near enough to get good at anything. They'd faint if they did a quarter of what the top players do.

[sloandog]

Yea I agree with that.

I always think back to the Sean Ervine saga in 2011 just before the world cup. He was set to sign a new contract with the board and then join up with the squad in India. I think he pulled out lot minute due to having a bad feeling. Low and behold, two years later, the shit hit the fan.

[zimbos_05]

That idea about having to do the hard yards in the system before getting a shot is something I disagree with. Whoever may come along has been doing the hard yards somewhere to become as good as he has, why does it matter where? Since when did ZC worry about what the players thought of anything?
It implies that you have to pay penance here, which is more or less true. Plus if they make you play a year of domestic and club cricket here after what they've been exposed to, believe me you can only get worse, not better, thats the problem that wont be fixed, maybe if 10 guys come back and they can raise the standard a bit then thats different.
How many games did Miri and Munyonga play before they got a national call-up?
The penance is playing in a stop start system that organise and cancel games on a whim and more often than not waiting for months for your pittance. Aside from the national guys, and only when they're preparing for something, players here don't practice anywhere near enough to get good at anything. They'd faint if they did a quarter of what the top players do.

I agree. I would definitely say that our players are getting better experience playing overseas than playing domestic in Zim.

I meant more if a player was part of a WC Qualifying campaign and ZIm did manage to qualify, then you get left out of the Zim squad for someone who just decided to come back, you'd feel hard done by, and by previous history, we could end up with more accusations of racism well and truly at the forefront, particularly from certain journos and social media types.

In saying that, I definitely don't think anyone coming back should be made to have to do their time in Zim domestic first. I would be adding Cartwright to the list. He did pretty well in BBL last season and would be a valuable asset to the T20 side. I would be bringing him in for this format

[slcricfan1]

That idea about having to do the hard yards in the system before getting a shot is something I disagree with. Whoever may come along has been doing the hard yards somewhere to become as good as he has, why does it matter where? Since when did ZC worry about what the players thought of anything?
It implies that you have to pay penance here, which is more or less true. Plus if they make you play a year of domestic and club cricket here after what they've been exposed to, believe me you can only get worse, not better, thats the problem that wont be fixed, maybe if 10 guys come back and they can raise the standard a bit then thats different.
How many games did Miri and Munyonga play before they got a national call-up?
The penance is playing in a stop start system that organise and cancel games on a whim and more often than not waiting for months for your pittance. Aside from the national guys, and only when they're preparing for something, players here don't practice anywhere near enough to get good at anything. They'd faint if they did a quarter of what the top players do.

I agree. I would definitely say that our players are getting better experience playing overseas than playing domestic in Zim.

I meant more if a player was part of a WC Qualifying campaign and ZIm did manage to qualify, then you get left out of the Zim squad for someone who just decided to come back, you'd feel hard done by, and by previous history, we could end up with more accusations of racism well and truly at the forefront, particularly from certain journos and social media types.

In saying that, I definitely don't think anyone coming back should be made to have to do their time in Zim domestic first. I would be adding Cartwright to the list. He did pretty well in BBL last season and would be a valuable asset to the T20 side. I would be bringing him in for this format

Is Cartwright actually realistic? Has the guy ever expressed interest at all?

[ZIMDOGGY]

Cartwright would be great. He’s not coming back to the Australian team anytime soon I don’t think and he could do some serious damage in the short formats.

He would be like Sean Ervine, but better in the bat dept.

[zimbos_05]

Is Cartwright actually realistic? Has the guy ever expressed interest at all?

I would definitely say it is worth picking up the phone and starting the conversation. He is not anywhere near the Aus team. Going into a T20 in Aus, there is nothing to lose. He is already based here. He is familiar with the conditions. He is playing regularly. There is nothing to be lost

[eugene]

Houghton surely won't last long if he has ideas to parachute in a bunch of white players. I can hear the cries of racism go up once Timycen Maruma is overlooked for Gary Ballance, Maruma has after all scored far more runs in the Logan Cup than Ballance.