2nd Test WI vs Zimbabwe at Roseau, Mar 20-24, 2013

[jimbo]

Sibanda got out too a bad shot but at least he fronted up to the west indies quicks

The rest of the innings was quite crap to be honest.

WI Two day win anyone?

[Jemisi]

We'd have to bowl pretty well for a two day windies win. If they bowled us out in a session - say 35 overs after scoring 200 more. I can't see them declaring at tea, and we'd be doing well from this position to get them out for 330.

[zimlover]

It was exciting to watch Vusi take the attack to the west indies, i guess he was in a hurry to save his spot in the squad before the spinners came in.As for Masakadza i am still very disappointed with how he has batted in the test match,Taylor looked settled for a while but ended up pissing his wicket away. Watching the west indies bat is gona be painfull, they look st on tearing our spin attack into pieces. Why cant our batsman do the same to shillingford and samuels really they are not that good we need warrior batsman not sissy boys

[ZIMFAN]

Does anyone else think that Utseya in for Price was anything to do with maintaining the white player/black player ratio following Williams for Chakabva?
Or is that just me being overly suspicious...

I must say that is exactly what I thought. With Price in that would have 7 whites, 4 blacks. Too many for some to handle...

[Ming]

Does anyone else think that Utseya in for Price was anything to do with maintaining the white player/black player ratio following Williams for Chakabva?
Or is that just me being overly suspicious...

I must say that is exactly what I thought. With Price in that would have 7 whites, 4 blacks. Too many for some to handle...

Price did nothing extraordinary last time round. I'm not shocked that they're trying Utseya. It's not as if we're dropping Muralitharan for a club player. Now, am I confident that Utseya will do a Shillingford...that's another matter. Again, I hope he performs beyond my wildest expectations!

I am, however shocked that they're persisting with Cremer. On the basis of what I saw yesterday, M'shangwe and Mutombozi have a future in the team.

[FlowerPower]

Does anyone else think that Utseya in for Price was anything to do with maintaining the white player/black player ratio following Williams for Chakabva?
Or is that just me being overly suspicious...

I must say that is exactly what I thought. With Price in that would have 7 whites, 4 blacks. Too many for some to handle...

Price did nothing extraordinary last time round. I'm not shocked that they're trying Utseya. It's not as if we're dropping Muralitharan for a club player. Now, am I confident that Utseya will do a Shillingford...that's another matter. Again, I hope he performs beyond my wildest expectations!

I am, however shocked that they're persisting with Cremer. On the basis of what I saw yesterday, M'shangwe and Mutombozi have a future in the team.

Tend to agree with you Ming, except as much as I see Price bowing out, I'm not overlly convinced Utseya is the heir apperant. And yes Cremer is lucky to have survived, but I wouldnt have dropped him just like that, having said that, he hasnt really convinced he was worth the second chance. Interesting what happens for the home series vs Bangladesh (mind you with Hossain, Mushfiqur, Ashraful, Tamim, all in good touch, with Shakib to come back, and Robul, and the other Robil(?) all bowling upwards of 135, and the new boy Gazi.....) we'll need our best team in the fight off for the wooden spoon, no room for sentiment, its a must win.

I'd say Jarvis is proving to be a Test bowler and not so much limited overs. Mpofu is a must. Raisford wrong needs to be corrected. Cremer's batting may tip it for me, but Mushangwe and Mutombodzi are in my mind. Regis out points to Mutambami. Williams over Waller (for the Tests).

1. Mawoyo 2. Sibanda 3. Williams 4. Masakadza 5. Ervine (LR combo) 6. Taylor 7. Mutambami 8. Cremer/Mushagwe/Mutombodzi 9. Jarvis 10. Rainsford 11. Mpofu

I just worry about Gazi and Shakib if we can't deal with Shillingford....

[aydee]

I just worry about Gazi and Shakib if we can't deal with Shillingford....

Shillingford is at least the equal of those two as a bowler. Plus the pitches have been extremely helpful to him, which will not be the case at HSC, which tends to favour the seamers.

[Ming]

Tend to agree with you Ming, except as much as I see Price bowing out, I'm not overlly convinced Utseya is the heir apperant.

Indeed. Beyond his bowling, Utseya, when he doesn't look miserable, look like such a darling little chappie - hardly intimidating or distracting. If we want to use Price wisely in the future, we could use him as a consultant to teach bowlers how to get under the opponents' skin. Price could work in tandem with another consultant who could teach our bowlers how to scowl and look threatening. Methinks we could recruit some irksome Australian from years past.

Cremer's batting may tip it for me, but Mushangwe and Mutombodzi are in my mind. Regis out points to Mutambami. Williams over Waller (for the Tests).

1. Mawoyo 2. Sibanda 3. Williams 4. Masakadza 5. Ervine (LR combo) 6. Taylor 7. Mutambami 8. Cremer/Mushagwe/Mutombodzi 9. Jarvis 10. Rainsford 11. Mpofu

Looking at your team, it's true that that's a long tail without Cremer, although Mutombodzi has shown he can hold a bat sometimes (he has first class century to his name).

[foreignfield]

Someone previously asked whether we missed a trick by not retaining Mushangwe. The way Cremer is bowling (way below his best), this rings true now. In addition, the option of replacing Cremer with Mushangwe would have allowed us to retain Price in the side who, I fear, has been dropped due to the (racial) balance of the side.

The final hour or so was painful to watch and had my crying for Mushangwe/Price (just to get away from the reality unfolding). Prosper for all his qualities is not a test match spinner, Cremer might still come into his own today (that's hoping). I noticed he was bowling with a bit more pace yesterday, and the quicker ones were the ones that had the batsman in a tiny bit of bother. Pro was just lobbing them up invitingly ...

[aydee]

It really is a damning indictment of the Logan Cup standard that Cremer has been picked up wickets for fun in the last couple of months, presumably whilst bowling the same stuff.

Those calling for Mushangwe, it is worth poining out that he has gone at 4 rpo in the Logan Cup this year. Clearly he showed a lot of potential in the ODIs, but I would like to see him play some 4-day cricket at A-team level (maybe the Bangladesh warm-up match) before he is thrown into a test match.