Shumba has an average of 22 and a strike rate of 113 in T20I.. the strike rate stays the same if you add all his T20 games and the average goes to 26. He actually almost single handedly won us a T20 against our opponents on Friday which won us the series. Against Ireland he anchored ok whilst Raza was attacking. He got runs against Sri Lanka in the warm up. He has gotten out on his own mistakes, he wasn't completely done by a delivery. My argument for him would be to move up the order and anchor when Ervine goes. He can play that role. Otherwise overall he deserves to be in the squad.
Marumani averages 12 in this format with a strike rate of 95.. the stats get better when you add all his games to an average in the 23 and a strike rate of 126 but what this clearly shows is that he is a domestic bully. Shumbas stats barely changed an he actually has a higher T20 average. he was doing well in ODIs and what he has learnt is to hold his nerve and not attack everything but he is still far from the finished product
Munyonga's stats are not great but they are actually better than Marumani's in T20i. They also jump the exact same way Marumani's stats jump when you add all his games. So it was probably a call between him and Marumani.
These guys are actually all very close and I don't think they mind that 4 out of 5 of them are at the world cup. They will all be at the next world cup I'm sure. They are kids with 15 plus years of cricket left
In terms of quality I`d go with
1. Wes
2.Shumba
3. Marumani
4. Munyonga
Shumba and Marumani very close
Wes has also been really good. Unappreciated. Yeah, he hasnt hit big scores but consistently getting Zimbabwe to a flyer
Shumba has an average of 22 and a strike rate of 113 in T20I.. the strike rate stays the same if you add all his T20 games and the average goes to 26. He actually almost single handedly won us a T20 against our opponents on Friday which won us the series. Against Ireland he anchored ok whilst Raza was attacking. He got runs against Sri Lanka in the warm up. He has gotten out on his own mistakes, he wasn't completely done by a delivery. My argument for him would be to move up the order and anchor when Ervine goes. He can play that role. Otherwise overall he deserves to be in the squad.
Marumani averages 12 in this format with a strike rate of 95.. the stats get better when you add all his games to an average in the 23 and a strike rate of 126 but what this clearly shows is that he is a domestic bully. Shumbas stats barely changed an he actually has a higher T20 average. he was doing well in ODIs and what he has learnt is to hold his nerve and not attack everything but he is still far from the finished product
Munyonga's stats are not great but they are actually better than Marumani's in T20i. They also jump the exact same way Marumani's stats jump when you add all his games. So it was probably a call between him and Marumani.
These guys are actually all very close and I don't think they mind that 4 out of 5 of them are at the world cup. They will all be at the next world cup I'm sure. They are kids with 15 plus years of cricket left
In terms of quality I`d go with
1. Wes
2.Shumba
3. Marumani
4. Munyonga
Shumba and Marumani very close
Wes has also been really good. Unappreciated. Yeah, he hasnt hit big scores but consistently getting Zimbabwe to a flyer
Talent wise Marumani is far ahead of all of them in the shorter format. I am willing to die on this hill.
Madhevere overall has the highest ceiling to be a quality bat across formats - whether he will go on to fulfil it, we'll see.
Shumba had a great 2021 but if you look at his stats in 2022 it is very bad. Averaging 14 at a run-a-ball SR from 14 games. He also had the benefit of playing the easier Qualifier opposition which Marumani's stats do not have.
Ya I'm in full agreement. Everything I've seen about Marumani points to the fact that he has huge capacity to improve, whereas Shumba may be approaching a ceiling.
I suspect Marumani could surpass Madhevere, there's just something about him that gets my attention.
He has not had the exposure Wes has had. Wes went to St Charles in SA, was always exposed to a higher standard of cricket, always batted up the order etc etc, whereas Marumani was down the order, less cricket of a lower standard and has not been backed to play in our national side. I think he may well overtake them all. This coming season will tell a story.
I believe the same thing with Evans. I know he has huge potential with the bat. I don't know why they don't see that.
He makes mistakes because he just hasn't had time in the middle because he has always batted basically as a tail ender when he is very far from that. If ZC want the best for themselves they need to ensure Evans bats at least at 5 or 6 in Domestic cricket and persevere with that and I'm prepared to guarantee it will pay big dividends.
Jongwe is another. He needs a stern talking to and told to focus on his batting and put in the real hard yards. I've watched him very carefully and he has got massive potential. He needs to be told to lose 10kg or fuck off as well. It's ridiculous that such a gifted athlete is allowed to waddle around. He watches the ball very carefully and has actually got beautiful hands, he could be way more than a lower middle order batsman.
Whilst we're on the topic of weight, what are the coaching staff doing about it? A lot of the team are chunky with big toilets. You either want to be the best you can be or you're just taking up space because there's noone competing for your spot. If you're Rohit Sharma you can have a belly and sit out the yoyo's, everyone else needs to get into shape.
Chivanga bowls 2 overs and is blowing. Just tell the dude to shape up or fuck off, it's very simple, you don't have to be diplomatic about it. Ngarava is another with a big toilet. These guys need to get into waay better shape.
Jongwe is a passenger in the side. The brains trust clearly don't trust his bowling anymore. I think in terms of his bowling he is effective on slow wickets which allow his slower balls and variations to grip a bit. On a flat wicket he is cannon fodder. Realistically his best bet moving forward is to get his batting to a point where he can be a batting allrounder at 7 with Burl moving up the order.
I see Shumba as an opening batter in the long term, look how he did for the Under 19s.
Good points
Ya currently its effectively it's a head to head between Jongwe and Evans and unless they decide Evans is too white he will win the battle for bowling all rounder.
I just think Jongwe is talented enough to be a batsman of note, plus if they both improve there's room for both.
Maybe Shumba will step up, I'm not convinced.
Burl is not doing enough to look a certainty. They clearly don't trust his leggies enuf because he often doesn't get to bowl, which I find strange and I've always said he's batted too low down, but maybe he won't cut it up the order? His domestic stats are not what they should be and he's up the order in that.
Chatara has bowled really well, but with equitable selection Evans will be close to replacing him just as a bowler. You shouldn't be opening and bowling 115kph. Look it seems to work for him, maybe a 115 opener is not something people get to face too often. When he's getting it right he really does bowl beautiful away swing, a touch too short, but handy nonetheless.
Jongwe is a passenger in the side. The brains trust clearly don't trust his bowling anymore. I think in terms of his bowling he is effective on slow wickets which allow his slower balls and variations to grip a bit. On a flat wicket he is cannon fodder. Realistically his best bet moving forward is to get his batting to a point where he can be a batting allrounder at 7 with Burl moving up the order.
The brains trust should trust him. Especially in T20's, where he might only need a couple of overs. Theres something about the guy, that if I needed a magic moment then I'd chuck the ball to him. He's done it plenty of times. Like I said the other day, Evans is far more likely than Jongwe to give you a tidy reliable 1-20 off his 4 overs. But Jongwe has the ability to pop up and break a partnership or to bowl a great over at the death or just make something happen. He's a great character and I'd always want him around the team. He's batted much better this year too.
Googly is right though, unfortunately he has piled the pounds back on again, which surely must hamper his ability somewhat.
Ideally in some conditions there is a place for both of them in the same XI at 7 and 8. Frontline spinner and the two big seamers - that gives so many options and a lot of batting depth if both Evans & Jongwe continue to work on batting. Jongwe once opened for the Under 19's remember.
Either way it's nice to have that competition for a place and hopefully they keep pushing each other.