Series Thread: Logan Cup 2008-09

[Train Driver]

A tight table at the halfway mark, imho, just what was needed, leaving plenty of life and the title all to be played for in the second half

http://content.cricinfo.com/zimbabwedom ... ointstable

and some pretty good individual performances as well

http://content.cricinfo.com/zimbabwedom ... ew=records

Hopefully the competition will stay as hard fought as it has been so far.

[maehara]

...... blimey, one from cricinfo as well, so soon

http://content.cricinfo.com/zimbabwedom ... 87901.html

Bad news about Vermeulen though, i presume this really means that his Logan Cup is over.

Bowled one over, looks like that's what did him in.
As long as it wasn't another ball to the head...

[aydee]

Good game of cricket between Northerns and Easterns. Very surprising that Price and Cremer could only get 2 wickets between them on a last day track... Maskadza must have played very well. Also, Taibu got a pair! No good, especially when it looked in the last game like he was getting back into some form...

[Detective RDS]

Link: http://www.zimcricket.org/?pid=art&articleid=658

Hamilton Masakadza century delivered KO punch to Northerns

Northerns 207 & 267 in 81.5 overs (C.Zhuwawo 51, E.Chigumbura 44, R.Chakabva 35, S.Masakadza 5/102 P.Utseya 2/66 H.Masakadza 2/30)

Easterns 146 & 319-8 in 106.2 overs (H.Masakadza 142, S.Matsikenyeri 60, T.Maruma 38 R.Price 3/70 E.Chigumbura 2/68 A.Manyumwa 2/76)

Day 4 of 4

HAMILTON Masakadza played a true captain?s innings with his record 142 in the third round of the Logan Cup played at Academy ground on Thursday to ensure Easterns beat bitter rivals Northerns by two wickets and with that result upstage the rivals from the summit of the log table.

Resuming on 51 from Wednesday?s knock, the burly Masakadza batted for 326 minutes hitting a record 20 boundaries from 250 balls before Regis Chakabva halted his memorable knock off the spin of Raymond Price. But he had done his job as his younger brother Shingi duly took the bat from his senior to hit the winning runs with his only boundary in the 16 deliveries he faced.

Hamilton departed when Easterns needed 10 runs to win with two wickets in hand and Shingi joined Timycen Maruma who was as defiant as ever hitting five boundaries and a stupendous maximum off Trevor Garwe in his 65 ball 38 batting at number 9.

At the beginning of play on the final day on Thursday, few gave Easterns a chance as the target looked a huge ask ? 329 runs with three top order batsmen gone ? Benard Mlambo (10) Stuart Matsikenyeri (60) and Tinotenda Mawoyo (8) was huge.

But Hamilton had other ideas as he continued with his valiant knock getting runs on the board despite losing partners but his sixth wicket partnership of 51 with Foster Mutizwa renewed the hope that it could be done.

With Northerns bowlers struggling for wickets often hitting the wrong line and length, Hamilton prospered as the board kept on ticking to victory. After making 474 in two innings, Northerns believed they had done enough to notch a third victory in as many matches.

Better still their bowling triumvirate of Price, Admire Manyumwa and Elton Chigumbura have been enjoying a purple patch and it looked they had done enough when removing the top order early on Wednesday.

Hamilton who made 51 at stumps on the third day added 91 on Thursday to leave his side just 10 runs shot of victory when he departed becoming Price?s third wicket of the innings. Two wickets by Chigumbura and Admire Manyumwa were not sufficient to stop Easterns from snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

On reflection, Northerns bowlers did not probe enough as they could easily have removed the Easterns middle order and tail but they toiled allowing Hamilton Masakadza to built a firm foundation that gave his side victory despite his departure in the twilight of the innings.

Easterns who now have won twice and drawn once against the vastly improved Centrals lead the table with Northerns second with two victories against Centrals and winless Westerns. Round four resumes after the Easter holidays.

[Detective RDS]

Link: http://content.cricinfo.com/zimbabwe/co ... 98986.html

Logan Cup 2008-09

Curran upbeat about Logan Cup

Steven Price in Harare

April 9, 2009

Former Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran has defended the quality of cricket in the Logan Cup.

The tournament has been dogged in recent years by issues of substandard cricket by often substandard cricketers. But Curran, who is coaching leaders Northerns, insisted that things were on the up.

"If you would have asked me four years ago if we needed five teams in the Logan Cup I would have told you that we didn't need that because of the standards. Not anymore," Curran told the local Independent newspaper. "I think what we need in the Logan Cup is to have five teams. It helps to widen the selection base. That's what you want.

"If you look at the four teams that are currently playing, they each have a squad of 16 players. Some of the players in the squads are not getting game time, and if you were to combine that with Under-19s, you will come out with a fifth side, a very good side."

Despite Curran's bullish comments, there remain concerns, not only over the standard of play but also of the facilities. The board took a controversial decision to stage all the games in Harare, explaining that this had been done for logistical and financial reasons, but this has not gone down well.

"The explanations don't add up," a Bulawayo-based administrator told Cricinfo. "We have been assured that there will be meaningful cricket played away from Harare later this year, but what this move has done is to send a clear message that the board has abandoned the game away from the capital.

"Even last year the bulk of the players who turned up for the so-called outlying provinces were bussed to games from Harare. The game continues to die away from there, and this latest stunt will only accelerate that decline."

Steven Price is a freelance journalist based in Harare

© Cricinfo

[Detective RDS]

Worried about Mark Vermeulen's form and injury.

Seems that his Logan Cup is over and managed just a fifty(80) after his comeback.I guess,it will be difficult for him to come back missing the Logan Cup...

Charles Coventry and Tatenda Taibu also needs to get runs.They are really two experienced contenders.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Well, quite simply Taibu, Coventry and Vermeulen haven't done enough to get into the national team. I still reckon Taibu and Vermeulen would be in the Test team (due to their experience), but seeing that's not happening any time soon it's not really a factor.

As far as ODI's go, Mutizwa has surely cemented himself as the first choice wicket keeper after a fantastic Logan Cup so far - I hope he makes at least another century in order to get his average over 40. And Malcolm Waller has been a revelation too, he seems to be at home in the 4-day format so hopefully his form will carry over into the limited overs matches.

Hopefully Vermeulen recovers quickly from his finger injury - it seems he is good at second slip though, his name and "slip" are appearing in the same sentence an awful lot.

[Detective RDS]

That's right...Forster Mutizwa and Malcolm Waller are really in a great form in Logan Cup.They surely will be in the final playing 11 of Zimbabwe.

Means pressaure on the place of Vermeulen,Coventry and Taibu.

I still think that Charles Coventry will be selected in the next ODI squad of Zimbabwe as he is the leading run scorer in the List A competition Faithwear Cup and he is ODI/Twenty-20 specialist.He can really hit big sixes and score quick runs.We have seen that against India and New Zealand in 2005 season.Just he needs to put some runs in the Logan Cup under his belt to get the momentum going for his national selection.

Taibu is really in a poor form after his pair in the last match.Until he makes some runs,I really dont he will be selected also his outside cricket controversies are also a matter of concern too.We all know about his kit conversy too as an explanation of his absence

I also hope that Vermeulen will recover from his finger injury and get back into the action soon.I know it will need at least 6 weeks.

[Detective RDS]

Link: http://www.zimcricket.org/?pid=art&articleid=659

Easterns take an early lead in Logan Cup series


THE 2009 Logan Cup, domestic cricket?s ultimate contest which took a break on Friday after three rounds, is promising to offer expected fight from the usual culprits.
Defending champions Northerns who won their first two against Centrals and Westerns felt the pain of losing a match when Easterns put out the most spirited chase in the third match at Academy to win by 2 wickets with captain Hamilton Masakadza hitting the first century of the series with a valiant 142 on the last day. His fall came just 10 runs shy of the target for victory.

At the halfway stage, Easterns are on top with 45 points, eight more than Northerns, their bitterest rivals going into the fourth round next Tuesday. With 37 points garnered from their two victories before they lost to Easterns, the Kevin Curran coached side are still strong enough to retain their title.

The Elton Chigumbura captained side, were just unlucky to lose to Easterns who had beaten Westerns before they were forced into a draw against the vastly improved Centrals in round two. Easterns are still unbeaten with two wins and a draw.

Centrals who beat Westerns and forced a draw against Easterns have 29 points with Westerns at the foot of the log on 10 points ? all of which bonus points after losing all their three games. The Chamu Chibhabha captained Centrals who had points deducted for a slow run rate against Easterns, face Northerns at Alexandra Sports Club on Tuesday in round four matches.

The encounter is expected to run its full length as Centrals have hugely improved since domestic cricket roared into life this season. They were forced into a draw against Easterns in a match they could have won, so this is a chance for Centrals to prove that that was not a fluke.

Winless Keith Dabengwa captained Westerns face the unbeaten Easterns at Old Hararians in round four. The long break is expected to see some injured players returning to the field and better cricket could be on offer in the final stretch of this domestic cricket?s ultimate crash.

[Detective RDS]

Link: http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/inside.aspx ... 3206&cat=5

Westerns were further crippled by injury to skipper Dabengwa and Vermeulen in their match against Centrals. Dabengwa should be available for their next assignment against Easterns while Vermeulen will miss the match against Easterns but should be back for the last two encounters against Northerns and Centrals.

Good news about Mark Vermeulen's prospective.He will be back for the last two matches of Westerns in the Logan Cup.I just hope that Mark Vermeulen will dominate in his remaining 4 innings and will get some big scores under his belt something like 150+ to be selected in the next ODI squad of Zimbabwe.