[Match Thread] Zimbabwe v New Zealand: Test Match

[hhm]

I'd love to have anything positive to say but sorry. I'm hugely disappointed the guys lost. Against such a pathetic attack we should've chased down that total.

[betterdays]

The day Ray is removed from this team because we have found a better replacement will be a good day. Not because I want RP gone - i REALLY don't, but because, despite the army of decent spinners we've got he's still clearly the Major in this Battalion ... but now he's an aging one and Lamb, Utseya, Cremer have to really stand up ... M'shangwe (not that i know anything at all about this young lad) too maybe

[betterdays]

Against such a pathetic attack we should've chased down that total.

That's high praise indeed for our batting line-up: which has 5 bats in it before no 6 and 7 debutants and Ray at 8 (laughable except for when you look who's after him). Not NZ's best attack by any strech but still included Vettori and Martin, both very useful bowlers and savvy enough to defend 4 an over for a whole session against, as i said, either debutants or tails. I think your disappoint is excessive - expect a lot of heartbreak ahead if this is disappointment - i think you'll find that this was a bright spot

[jimbo]

Pathetic attack??? Martin/Vettori and the Impressive bracewell, we did good make no mistake. last time we faced New zealand I believe it was a Two day Debacle as we got bowled out twice in a day. It shows the progress where we could have contemplated a victory when we could have played it safe

[aydee]

I'd love to have anything positive to say but sorry. I'm hugely disappointed the guys lost. Against such a pathetic attack we should've chased down that total.

Martin and Vettori have over 500 test wickets between them...

[eugene]

I'd love to have anything positive to say but sorry. I'm hugely disappointed the guys lost. Against such a pathetic attack we should've chased down that total.

Pathetic attack? Please, if you followed NZ cricket at all you would know that the squad NZ have brought is very talented.

[betterdays]

in hhm's defense they really missed Southee - though they were far from pathetic.

[sloandog]

I'd love to have anything positive to say but sorry. I'm hugely disappointed the guys lost. Against such a pathetic attack we should've chased down that total.

They were a very impressive attack apart from Patel, who, in my opinion, has gone backwards as a spin bowler. Bracewell and Martin are two very good fast bowlers and Vettori is Vettori, he's always good. Bit more credit where it's due please

[sscricket]

Congratulations to Zimbabwe. They can take the much cliched positives from this defeat.

I started following this team last month (I have been watching cricket for more than 20 years) and like most of us I am a bit of a backyard legend and playing through my television. It is a simple game and it is all easy from 6 feet away.
I am a bit of a cricket tragic and I like and support good cricketers in general regardless of where they come from.

I do place bets on games and I did put 5 bucks on Zim before this game(hoping Meth will play). I do see a lot of talent in this team and firmly believe they are due for more upsets.

The two things that will take Zim forward are bold selections and a proper mindset. Everyone outside (including Crincinfo) thinks Zimbabwe are at the same level as Bangladesh but believe me they are already light years ahead in terms of talent.
These players need the proper financial backing and aggressive mindset to win more games.

Go back to the Srilankan team in the 1996 World cup. They came out with two attacking openers and took everyone by surprise. This is exactly what this team needs, more aggressive players who are confident in their skills at the top of the order.

At the end of this test I realized I was wrong about Jarvis and wrong about Mpofu. These guys have justified their inclusion.

Right now they have core of about 8 players who are automatic selections and that is good. Alan Butcher needs to get the rest of his selections right like adding +Meth removing -Chakabva, -Utseya, -Chibhabha etc. Remember what happenned in the the 3rd odi when these players were absent. Zimbabwe won. Easy.

Some might argue that Meth conceded 85 runs. But did you hear Ross taylor say 320 was a par score. Intrestingly Meth was one of the few bowlers who bowled 10 overs in the game. If all the specialist bowlers had bowled 10 overs or bowled at the death they would have gone for a lot more.

Brendon Taylor should give Meth 7 or 8 overs to Meth with the new ball and I am sure he will either contain or take more wickets. He did not do that in the second odi or the third which was shocking.

In one dayers Zim has a fine middle order in Taylor, Taibu and Waller who can manipulate the ball at more than run a ball( this is better than Pak (minus Umar Akmal), WI, Bangladesh, on spinning tracks even Eng (vs Trott, Bopara, Bell who eat a lot more balls in the middle overs and have a much lesser range of strokes from what I have seen)).

If anyone watched WI vs England second T20 in England this year. WI lost the first odi and had no hopes for the second.They batted miserably and got 120 odd. But what was to come was simply spectacular. I have never seen anything like it. Out came a bowler called Santokie on debut who swung the white ball and then came Mathurin on debut an unconventional spinner. They destroyed the batting and WI won comfortably. Watch out for these guys who were only tried by WI after they had exhausted all their second string and third string options. There is a lesson here which is that if you dont try a player who you believe has sufficient talent to replace the incumbent you will never know. There is also a lesson that swing bowlers cause problems regardless of who is batting.

Even New Zealand did the same thing couple of years ago to find Guptill, Southee and Ryder instead of Sinclair, fulton etc.

I saw Meth and he swings it more than Santokie and is faster than Santokie. Zim will have to make bold decisions, replace some of the incumbents. Please dont say experience is better, it is only better if the experienced guy is a Tendulkar or a Ponting who is averaging in the 50's, otherwise the natural process of aging takes over where your eye cannot spot the line and length quick enough.

In one dayers and T20's Zim is losing it in the first powerplay and are always catching up. The openors eat away the balls and do nothing to inspire confidence or intimidate the bowlers. This has to change. What is the point of taking 40 balls to score 20 and getting out when you could have done it in 10 balls and have much better chance to win from there on.


Bowling wise they did not take wickets in the first 10 (this can be changed only if Meth plays now with 2 new balls) and Mpofu has to bowl first change and he does an excellent job of bowling a containing length.

Like I said and I repeat the management needs to give these guys more confidence on and off the field. When you play with a free mind you tend to do a lot better (like Taylor)

In summary, please dont construe my criticism as negative because people pay a lot of time and money to watch cricket and they should not settle for anything but the best!

[eugene]

This is why I like Taylor as an opener, at least in the ODIs. He provides aggression at the top of the order and can take the game away from the opposition very early on. It is hard to win when you are constantly playing catchup.