Dustin Melton

[AussieZimFan]

Glenn Querl, the one that got away, but he got chucked away

[Googly]

What happened to Saul?

He's jacked it in I believe and possibly so has Matigimu, which is disappointing.

[Googly]

I know again this is old territory, but we have to sort out the club cricket in Harare. Its improved a lot but we need a couple more home grounds.
OG's seems to be in play, then there's OH, Alex, Takashinga and Sports Club (when available), but we need a at least 3 more. It becomes a bit confusing when to play club when there's franchise cricket. Lends itself to winter.
Somehow it has to become more competitive. Sometimes (often) guys make themselves unavailable because they're fishing, golfing, shagging, hung over, don't feel like it etc etc.
Back in the day only a family death or amputation was a half decent excuse, and you had to prove there was a body.
I'm not sure how we get this back, if ever.
Maybe a couple less clubs? They're springing up whenever another 11 people want to play, rather join an existing club, play for their seconds if picked, do well and maybe in a year you go up. That's how it should work.
This Takashinga 1 and 2 story needs cleaning up, one of them deliberately threw a game against the other to improve the other's points. That should result in extreme censure, not everybody laughing about it. And they chop and change players. Just give one of them and all their players a season's ban if they do it again. It's called cheating. Why is it ok?

We need to play way more T20's, like 3 or 4 times the number we play.

[secretzimbo]

Ya now thats a more useful and interesting conversation.

Like you say it's definitely improving but much work to be done still. Ideally you wouldn't want any 2nd teams in the 1st league. I think Rainbow 2 have been promoted as well? So going to be a double issue there with Taka and them making up 4 of the teams. Makes no sense.

The fact they've been playing so much of it at PE is poor too. All apart from 1 of the fields there aren't really good enough for supposedly the top level of club cricket - I mean you have international players playing sometimes. OG and Sunrise both back in favour with ZC helps for next season I suppose, and Taka itself will be back after being out of action for the last 6 months or so. I really would like a return to clubs being named after and based at actual grounds.

Problem is that the franchise season has extended, think it lasted about six months last season. Then you've got the NPL as well (50 over and T20, and T10) and the Zim Afro T10, and the North Vs South games etc. Suddenly quite hard to fit club cricket in if you want the very best guys playing in it regularly. Especially the bowlers, they just aren't going to play much club at all. Even if you can find a gap in the calendar in winter, you've got maybe 20 guys playing in England and then maybe 15 players probably with the national squad, suddenly it isn't that strong. They are supposed to be using each provincial league as qualification route to the NPL which in theory could be good and could revive interest and competitive nature in club leagues, but in reality no one has a clue how the qualification works and then we get a few random scratch teams as well turning up in the NPL which makes no sense.

There is/was talk that a franchise B league is starting up again this season with the U19's the sixth team. That just adds to the calendar. Becoming hard to fit everything in. There's definitely an argument for quantity, but quality is important too and it's hard to know which competition/format/level/teams to prioritise.

[Googly]

Jeez you've got your finger on the pulse. Nice.

Interesting that Sean W wasn't there to collect his prize today.

Ya the NPL qualification is a good incentive until they go and make it pointless by arbitrarily including a couple of other sides from nowhere.
It's the NPL itself that is potentially the problem. Why not give "ordinary" club the kudos it deserves instead of having a premium club comp? I guess the NPL pits sides from Mutare, Midlands, Harare and Byo against each other, plus they've got to find a couple of other arbitrary sides from one of the other 14 provinces for pretence?
All the ordinary club comps is teams from the same area so they don't have the travel expense, which players and clubs cant afford. I get what they're trying to do, but can't currently think of a better way.
I don't think including T10's is a good idea. Clearly they're hoping this T10 goes well and becomes a permanent thing.

[mightymaido]

Last I checked Dustin was playing for Alvaston and Boulton in the Derbyshire Prem

[mightymaido]

Ockbrook apologies

[eugene]

Last I checked Dustin was playing for Alvaston and Boulton in the Derbyshire Prem

This is good info. Melton-mania continues!

[Pat_Bee]

I don't think including T10's is a good idea. Clearly they're hoping this T10 goes well and becomes a permanent thing.

The t10 brings no real benefit from a purely cricketing perspective. We all know it’s a boozers/fixers league for people to bet on.

It does bring the floodlights and some exposure or whatever though. Allows people to see life maybe ain’t so bad in Zim and overseas guys thinking yeah, maybe I would spend my winter at a franchise there.

Course I’ll be following it don’t even mind a bit of The Hundred to be honest. It ain’t proper cricket by any means but passes the time of an evening.

[ZIMDOGGY]

What happened to Saul?

Went to prison.
80 years.
But he won the respect of Kim in doing so.