Under 25s Regionals

[secretzimbo]

Zimbabwe U25's played (and lost) two matches in South Africa this week;

(One-Day Match) Powerplay Sports, 256ao [48.4ov] (Z. Smith 57, Z. Muller 41; P. Mugeri 3/44, H. Malachi 2/35) beat Zimbabwe U25, 150ao [33.3ov] (P. Mugeri 40, Tawanda Maposa 24; J. Loram 3/20, B Chigova 2/17) by 106 runs.

Zim Batting card:
1. Rodney Mupfuidza 5 (10)
2. Spencer Magodo 0 (1)
3. Tony Munyonga 21 (57)
4. Ashley Mufandauya 0 (5)
5. Tashinga Makoni 0 (2)
6. Aisha Chibanda 3 (16)
7. Tawanda Maposa 24 (21)
8. Owen Muzondo 23 (38)
9. Prosper Mugeri 40 (30)
10. Harry Malachi 11* (17)
11. Arineshto Vezha 0 (4)

(T20 Match) Zimbabe U25, 137-8 [20ov] (T. Munyonga 35, S. Magodo 27; C. Claasen 2/7, S. Daswell 2/17) lost to Khosa U25, 141-5 [18.1ov] (T. Brits 45, Z Kathrada 33; K. Macheka 2/26, Tawanda Maposa 2/32) by 5 wickets

Zim Batting Card:
1. Tawanda Maposa 1 (6)
2. Rodney Mupfudza 2 (2)
3. Ashley Mufandauya 0 (2)
4. Tony Munyonga 35 (27)
5. Tashinga Musekiwa 23 (36)
6. Prosper Mugeri 20 (10)
7. Spencer Magodo 27* (19)
8. Tashinga Makoni 6 (9)
9. Kuda Macheka 2 (2)
10. Harry Malachi 9* (9)
11. Wallace Mubaiya DNB

[Googly]

Steve will have them doing thousands of laps.

[Googly]

A whole bunch of Flatheads playing for the Khosa u25's
They will be pleased.

[secretzimbo]

Interesting to see some of the names in the squad. And quite funny really - you have to laugh. There are guys in this squad who would have been twice as good as they are now if given opportunities at a younger age but they were not.

I know Googly was an advocate for Mubaiywa years ago. He was treated poorly.

Owen Muzondo was another. For some reason got bad treatment by the powers-that-be as a youth and never got the full opportunities his talent deserved. As a result is not as good as he could have been.

[TapsC2]

Steve will have them doing thousands of laps.

Is the squad weaker because the other guys were playing against Durham or those are his genuine picks?

[Googly]

Well you can add Marumani, Madande, Madhevere, Welch Jr, Bennett and about 4 others that aren't coming to mind at the moment. It's not even close to a Zim U25 side

[sam_ahm]

What kind of a side is this? Except Munyonga I don't know anyone. What I mean is, do they really think this bunch of players have the potential to be future internationals? Otherwise what is the point here. There are a lot of good U25s as googly has pointes out, that could have played here.

[Googly]

Well Munyonga is not u25 either
Perhaps some of the u25's I mentioned will join them at some point when they go to the UK?

Personally I think they'd be better off not calling it u25. There are a couple of older guys that have a much higher ceiling that do have a shot at the national side that would be better picks. There are a couple of guys in there that I don't think will develop as they hope.
I've been watching Maunze of late. There's a guy who can really play! He'd benefit greatly from some intensive one on one sessions with a guy like BT or Houghton and to be part of that UK squad. He'd do well in English conditions, he's tight, organised and knows his game, just missing something that could make him really good. Can't put my finger on it, but he could find that missing little piece I reckon.

[Googly]

As with a lot of players he doesn't move his feet early on. I think he possibly suffers from nerves, puts a lot of pressure on himself and doesn't play with a clear head.
Understandable because he knows he has to perform big. If you're not a Chosen One who has a 4 year free pass you need hundreds.

[sam_ahm]

Zimbabwe are pretty much losing everything across all age groups and formats. This cannot be good and needs serious retrospection.

ZC are making efforts to organize games now, so may be it will take some time for the results to show up, but as of now it doesn't look good.