[Match Thread] Rhinos v Eagles (Logan Cup)

[Jemisi]

Yeah, I remember you saying that, just another glaring example of your point

[MidWest Rhinos]

Hi MidWest Rhinos, welcome to the forum

I take it you work for the franchise? Are you able to shed any light on the club cricket situation in Midlands? It's an area a lot of people are interested in but unfortunately not much news ever gets published.

Hi. Thanks for the welcome. Yes I work for the franchise, at the moment we are trying to modernise the way they do things. Basically stealing all the ideas used by IPL, BBL and County to get the team some more exposure. I'm surprised it hasn't been done already actually!!

Club cricket here is quite good. At the moment there is a league with 8 clubs. The standard varies from club to club but in general it's pretty good. Kwekwe is top of the log but it helps that they can field 8 Rhinos when they aren't playing franchise! We have our problems, the league includes Gweru and Chinhoyi so there is a major problem with distances. We also suffer from a lack of grounds. Gweru has to either play its home games at Kwekwe or KK Queens which means that there really isn't any club cricket played in Gweru.

Despite that, we are happy that a lot of guys (though not enough IMO) have progressed from the club scene onto franchise. So we're getting there, we have a lot of plans but sadly it's the same old story, money is an issue. We are trying to attract sponsors but a franchise with little exposure is going to attract very little sponsorship so this is just a small part in trying to right that.

It's great that there is this page so we'll try and fill you all in with what we are trying to do.

We're also on Facebook and Twitter and will hopefully have another website going in a week or two. It's already up but is very much in development. I'd actually appreciate it if you would have a look and let us know what you think. It's just a homepage for the moment but you can find it at www.midwestrhinos.moonfruit.com

[jaybro]

Greg Lamb scoring runs and taking wickets maybe he could an option as a batting spinning all rounder for the test team ?

[foreignfield]

Greg Lamb scoring runs and taking wickets maybe he could an option as a batting spinning all rounder for the test team ?

After the Pakistan Test at Queens (Mawoyo's Test) where he looked the most dangerous among all our spinners and scored useful runs in the frst innings I thought he had that roled nailed down. But then he got injured, and never really got another look in. Of course it didn't help that don't play a lot of Test cricket.

Lamb bowled very well, giving it a fair rip, while Price was his usual miserly self - I thought they complemented each other very well. ...

I think Lamb has cemented that number 7 slot for now, at least when we're playing at QSC (the next test against NZ) or on the subcontinent.

[aydee]

Hi MidWest Rhinos, welcome to the forum

I take it you work for the franchise? Are you able to shed any light on the club cricket situation in Midlands? It's an area a lot of people are interested in but unfortunately not much news ever gets published.

Hi. Thanks for the welcome. Yes I work for the franchise, at the moment we are trying to modernise the way they do things. Basically stealing all the ideas used by IPL, BBL and County to get the team some more exposure. I'm surprised it hasn't been done already actually!!

Club cricket here is quite good. At the moment there is a league with 8 clubs. The standard varies from club to club but in general it's pretty good. Kwekwe is top of the log but it helps that they can field 8 Rhinos when they aren't playing franchise! We have our problems, the league includes Gweru and Chinhoyi so there is a major problem with distances. We also suffer from a lack of grounds. Gweru has to either play its home games at Kwekwe or KK Queens which means that there really isn't any club cricket played in Gweru.

Despite that, we are happy that a lot of guys (though not enough IMO) have progressed from the club scene onto franchise. So we're getting there, we have a lot of plans but sadly it's the same old story, money is an issue. We are trying to attract sponsors but a franchise with little exposure is going to attract very little sponsorship so this is just a small part in trying to right that.

It's great that there is this page so we'll try and fill you all in with what we are trying to do.

We're also on Facebook and Twitter and will hopefully have another website going in a week or two. It's already up but is very much in development. I'd actually appreciate it if you would have a look and let us know what you think. It's just a homepage for the moment but you can find it at http://www.midwestrhinos.moonfruit.com

Great work Rhinos! This sort of thing should be standard procedure at franchise level.

In terms of website content, the more pictures, videos, interviews the better. Also, as previously mentioned, it would be great if you were able to shine some light on the local club cricket, with league tables, scorecards, etc.

Hopefully this additional exposure will help place you guys in front of potential sponsors, as well as giving them the platform via which their association with the MidWest Rhinos can be seen by potential customers.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

Hi. Thanks for the welcome. Yes I work for the franchise, at the moment we are trying to modernise the way they do things. Basically stealing all the ideas used by IPL, BBL and County to get the team some more exposure. I'm surprised it hasn't been done already actually!!

...

That's great stuff mate, it's really good to see. MWR should also be applauded for their engagement with fans - the Twitter feed, new website, coming on here to chat with people, etc. When it comes to sponsorship dollars, that social presence could be the edge that MWR has over the other teams.

Is there a significant local support base - do many people attend home matches?
What sort of things do you reckon can be done to inject more life into domestic matches? You mentioned IPL, BBL, etc - is there a feeling amongst the franchises that domestic Twenty20 cricket could be a way to increase the profile of the sport?

[grant]

Good work MidWest Rhinos!

And I assume this is the official ZC facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/downforcricket?fref=nf
To be honest, I'm quite surprised - it has managed to get only 929 likes by now..... even though it's probably the best source of info about anything ZC-related

[gargamel]

What is the go with Kondo - 12 off 79 and out bowled again? Surely there is a better prospect around for Mashonaland?

Crazy isn't it. I mentioned this a few weeks ago. He's been on the circuit since the dark old days of Faithwear 2006 and has done nothing in all that time, yet still gets a game. For Mashonaland no less, this is supposed to be the cricket capital of the country and there's been no better opener come along?

Honestly, the Harare friendlies league should be engaged to supply a few players. Surely there's a few guys in there who, if nothing else, would like to say they had played First Class cricket or want to get a page on Cricinfo?

The truth there are 19 batters ahead of Kondo in Mashonaland with the lading run scorer with a century and 3 fifties being Gary Chirimuta who in my opinion is the the guy to replace Hamilton. He has tried his luck at 3 of the franchises with no luck Rhinos looked promising but he was messed around by the stand in coach at Tuskers there was serious interest but the difficulty in securing accomodation on a play as you earn contract was not a sound prospect. As for the Eagles the coaches have made so many false promises to by calling the young man to train but clearly the fact that he plays for the second best club in Zimbabwe he will not be picked. All he can do is score runs in this second round of fixtures.

[aydee]

What is the go with Kondo - 12 off 79 and out bowled again? Surely there is a better prospect around for Mashonaland?

Crazy isn't it. I mentioned this a few weeks ago. He's been on the circuit since the dark old days of Faithwear 2006 and has done nothing in all that time, yet still gets a game. For Mashonaland no less, this is supposed to be the cricket capital of the country and there's been no better opener come along?

Honestly, the Harare friendlies league should be engaged to supply a few players. Surely there's a few guys in there who, if nothing else, would like to say they had played First Class cricket or want to get a page on Cricinfo?

The truth there are 19 batters ahead of Kondo in Mashonaland with the lading run scorer with a century and 3 fifties being Gary Chirimuta who in my opinion is the the guy to replace Hamilton. He has tried his luck at 3 of the franchises with no luck Rhinos looked promising but he was messed around by the stand in coach at Tuskers there was serious interest but the difficulty in securing accomodation on a play as you earn contract was not a sound prospect. As for the Eagles the coaches have made so many false promises to by calling the young man to train but clearly the fact that he plays for the second best club in Zimbabwe he will not be picked. All he can do is score runs in this second round of fixtures.

Thanks gargamel, interesting input as always. Shame that the website and fb group about the Harare Metro league never really got going.