Zim Progress

[CrimsonAvenger]

The point is, if we can't cling on to the talent that is qualified to play for Zimbabwe, if we can't attract talent to commit themselves for Zimbabwe, we are regressing. People are moving on from the game due to lack of money that affects their financial security in future. It does not matter how many people we unearth from the trenches and how much the game is spreading to the smaller townships across the country, kids who are taking up the game need to believe that cricket can be a good professional option. It does not look like that. So, we are regressing, no doubt.

[hhm]

Why is it that when white players make a move then there's some kind of tragedy to speak of. Hondo, a bowler who would do a better job than Jarvis, Vitori & Shingi combined is playing club cricket in England & New Zealand, yet he's still relatively young enough and good enough to play for Zimbabwe is out there securing his own future. He is a more high profile player than a lot of the players involved, yet he didn't spark a topical issue.

[CrimsonAvenger]

The reality is same whether it is Duffin, Lamb, Ballance who are involved or whether it is Ebrahim, Hondo, Mugochi, Mabuza et. al. Hope the points are clear now, irrespective of the colour. Let us focus on those points.

[aydee]

Why is it that when white players make a move then there's some kind of tragedy to speak of. Hondo, a bowler who would do a better job than Jarvis, Vitori & Shingi combined is playing club cricket in England & New Zealand, yet he's still relatively young enough and good enough to play for Zimbabwe is out there securing his own future. He is a more high profile player than a lot of the players involved, yet he didn't spark a topical issue.

To be fair, Hondo has played quite a bit of franchise cricket in the last few years, and not pulled up any trees. The last we saw of him, he was only playing the white-ball cricket, as he wasn't fit enough to stand up to 4-day cricket. He was a good bowler, and may well have still been going strong had his career not been crippled by injuries. He drifted away because he wasn't kept on by the Eagles, and he didn't want to go to the Rocks with a begging bowl when he was a long way short of the requisite level of fitness.

Much more relevant to this debate would be someone like Tendai Chitongo, who was just looking like he was cracking it at first class level, then disappears to South Africa.

Any talent drifting out of any level of the game is bad. The stronger that club cricket or franchise cricket is, the better. This means that players will be accustomed to a higher standard of play, and have to push themselves hard if they want to stand out. I'm not suggesting that this is true, but someone like a Duffin, Vermeulen, Mupariwa, Panyangara don't have any great incentive to push themselves, as they can have a franchise contract as long as they want. There is no one pushing to take their slots, even though all 4 are fairly mediocre cricketers by the standards that Zim would like to aspire to.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Why is it that when white players make a move then there's some kind of tragedy to speak of. Hondo, a bowler who would do a better job than Jarvis, Vitori & Shingi combined is playing club cricket in England & New Zealand, yet he's still relatively young enough and good enough to play for Zimbabwe is out there securing his own future. He is a more high profile player than a lot of the players involved, yet he didn't spark a topical issue.

I think all of us just accepted that because Hondo was so good it was only appropriate that he tried his luck qualifying for England or New Zealand.

[Jemisi]

Hondo and Watambwa and others were a part of the damaging exodus brought about by the terrible conditions in Zim during the last decade. It was a tragedy that they went. Problem was as others have said Hondo has been back and not outplayed the rest.

[eugene]

Why is it that when white players make a move then there's some kind of tragedy to speak of. Hondo, a bowler who would do a better job than Jarvis, Vitori & Shingi combined is playing club cricket in England & New Zealand, yet he's still relatively young enough and good enough to play for Zimbabwe is out there securing his own future. He is a more high profile player than a lot of the players involved, yet he didn't spark a topical issue.

I think you are just making things up now. Many on this forum have lamented the loss of cricketers such as Brighton Watambwa and Tatenda Taibu. Hondo is an unfortunate story has he has been blighted by injuries which have made him a shadow of his former self. He is no longer of international standard but that doesn't lessen the blow of his departure in the 2000s.

Most of the black players left for the same reason the white players did - lack of money, poisonous politics, and poor administration from ZC. I know you are a fan of the decisions that ZC made in the 2000s so I am not sure how this sits with your apparent 'sadness' over the departure of black cricketers. Your goals of ethnic cleansing didn't just take most of the white players, they also took many talented young black players too.

[ZIMDOGGY]

well ill be honest, i hate seeing white players leave HHM.

Same how you hate seeing black players held back in SA.

[cock]

well ill be honest, i hate seeing white players leave HHM.

Same how you hate seeing black players held back in SA.

Zimdoggy you are half right - I just hate seeing Zim losing any good player. But whose to blame them with the bunch of politically driven thieves in charge at ZC