1st ODI | Zimbabwe Vs Ireland | 18th Jan 2023

[Googly]

And bowled a beamer that got rid of their best batsman
Has to account for something

[Googly]

I'd give Chamu a shot in place of Madhevere. Have to reward good domestic form and we know its his head that gets him out and not his ability. He can play!

Alternatively Maru in place of Madhevere. Madhevere needs to go the cooler for a short stay.

[Googly]

I’m not desperate to see Chamu play tbh, I’d rather one of the following options

A) Stick with Wes

B) Give Marumani a go

C) Open with Madande & drop Wes down the order

D) open with one of the middle order guys

Keeping in mind when Williams returns, surely one of the middle order guys has to open, unless of course everyone shuffles down a spot and Madande opens.

Zimbabwe often takes the option of sacrificing someone out top rather than push everyone up a spot, I thought DH might be different but opening with an out of sorts Wes and hiding Ballance at No.4 shows he isn’t.

It's a bit harsh throwing a middle order guy with no experience as an opener into the deep end

[secretzimbo]

I can’t quite believe multiple people are now advocating for Chamu Chibhabha of all people to be in the side. Madness.

[secretzimbo]

All his recent ‘good form’ was from number 4 btw, certainly not opening.

[secretzimbo]

The only openers in the squad are Marumani and Kaia. Why are we picking middle order batsman as openers, let alone guys who are 37 and has failed at international level 100+ times for 18 years

Surely you have to give Marumani a similar run as Wes and indeed Chamu originally had

[TapsC2]

The only openers in the squad are Marumani and Kaia. Why are we picking middle order batsman as openers, let alone guys who are 37 and has failed at international level 100+ times for 18 years

Surely you have to give Marumani a similar run as Wes and indeed Chamu originally had

Domestic form has to be rewarded to balance the ecosystem. ZC is not just the men's national team. Once you start picking failures over and over again based on talent or preference then you create an environment for revolt the day the team flops on the big stage.

I will give a recent example. Remember when Innocent Kaia randomly pitched up on that UK tour and the Internet wasn't happy? A few players were not pleased by that reaction because they had seen enough of him domestically to know he was decent. Less than a year later he scored the first century from a "new" player since Mire in 2017.

These are real peoples lives at stake here. A national contract transforms lives for most players. ZC is one of the highest paying organisations in the country. It's very easy to spark a revolt if you don't play fair and then the results stop coming . The senior domestic players have to be kept happy just like the senior national players.

Its different with the bowling department because the bowlers being picked are usually doing ok. Our batting is struggling. Alternative methods need to be tried out. If I'm being honest maybe 2/3 of our wins in the last year could have easily gone the other way. Raza finding form has been a true miracle.

[secretzimbo]

The furore over Innocent Kaia in Scotland d wasn’t because anyone thought he was a bad player.
It was because he was totally unannounced until he literally took guard in the middle - even the commentators didn’t know who he was. Also because it was a T20I and he hadn’t played a single game in the most recent domestic T20 comp and at the time had only played about 7 T20 matches in ten years.

Your logic about rewarding domestic form is good logic in general, but not for 37 year olds who have had very long and underwhelming international careers already.
You don’t see England selecting Darren Stevens for good reason, despite his domestic stats.

It’s great that Mavuta has been rewarded for his domestic stats because there is a chance he has a future in the side long term.

[sam_ahm]

Chamu Chibhabha's selection has to be short term as I said. We are probably looking at the best possible side for the WCQ, irrespective of the players age. So in a way I understand. If he comes off it is good. His experience will come in handy in big games.

Youngsters are to blame, Chamu wouldn't have got in if the likes of Munyonga, Madhevere, Marumani and the likes had performed and grabbed their chances.

I'm not a fan of Chamu's selection, however, I think creating unnecessary pressure on him because of his age and past record is also not correct. I always liked Elton Chigumbura, he played match winning knocks but towards the end of his career, there was too much criticism around his selection. Chamu is far behind Elton, but he has earned his recall, so let's see how he goes.

[CalZim]

Just wait until the next series when Maruma and Shingi Masakadza are selected based on domestic form

Like SC says it’s fair enough to reward form, but if you are above 35 (and we already have quality players available) then they shouldn’t be recalled to the team.

Seems a very strange call with Chamu but maybe he is there to lend experience to the younger players (something he has never shown before ) and was never meant to play.

Either that or Dave is desperate for an opening batsmen because everyone other than Kaia are failing at the minute.