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***Official*** New Zealand in Zimbabwe & Zimbabwe/New Zealand/India ODI Tri-Series

Hey if anyone is following club cricket at the moment, squads etc, can you please tell me if micheal bates is in the auckland side? He was a freind of mine from school, very good bowler, played for nz under 19 a few years ago. The reason i ask is ive lost contact with him, and lol while playing demo of icc 2005 today, he was on the list which shocked me.
 

Woody_cloudofsm

School Boy/Girl Captain
Hey prince you seem very cluey on zimbabwe cricket are you based there? im in sydney myself as i said to you i was there when stuey carslile made that hundred and ewing made his debut. i just wish this side which has promised so much for so long coems good. Ebrahim is very popular down here with cricket fans thats all. I dunno that dominating first class cricket in zimbabwe counts for much if you gavin ewing or vermulen these guyz need to be able to average at a bre minimun 30 plus after 10 tests to have a realistc chance of making it as test players with the bat anyway.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Woody_cloudofsm said:
Hey prince you seem very cluey on zimbabwe cricket are you based there? im in sydney myself as i said to you i was there when stuey carslile made that hundred and ewing made his debut. i just wish this side which has promised so much for so long coems good. Ebrahim is very popular down here with cricket fans thats all. I dunno that dominating first class cricket in zimbabwe counts for much if you gavin ewing or vermulen these guyz need to be able to average at a bre minimun 30 plus after 10 tests to have a realistc chance of making it as test players with the bat anyway.
Im based in Sydney. Havent always been though...
 

Right arm fast

State Vice-Captain
Woody_cloudofsm said:
bondshnebond ur comments are fair enough occonner did pitch the ball up so much that if it didnt swing hed be serving up half volleys. but to tell you the truth i just can see jimmy franklin getting smashed all over the park if he even gets it slightly wrong somedays he looks lethal its hard to get a gauge of how good he is time will tell i guess. What is occonner doing these days he musnt be older that his early 30's
he and his wife own an orchard up in central otago and hes retired from all cricket
 

Woody_cloudofsm

School Boy/Girl Captain
so prince you are zimabwean by blood and live in baulkahlm hills im based inc astle hill closeby to you. really he and his wife own an orchard good on him shayne occoner was a great cricketer.
 

Chubb

International Regular
Prince EWS said:
You bag the sh*t out of Ebrahim and then pick him anyway?? Zimbabwe's batting is bad enough without having a specialist fielder at number 6!

Utseya isnt test standard with the ball - hes too toothless really. I'd consider him if he could get his batting more consistant. Cremer has potential, I'd stick with him for a while.

I'd definately recall Vermeulen and Gripper, and I'd consider Marillier. Taylor has to be in there somewhere.

1. Trevor GRIPPER
2. Neil FEREIRRA
3. Mark VERMEULEN
4. Stuart CARLISLE
5. Hamilton MASAKADZA
6. Brendon TAYLOR
7. Tatenda TAIBU
8. Heath STREAK
9. Andy BLIGNAUT
10. Blessing MAHWIRE
11. Graeme CREMER

12. Craig WISHART / Dion EBRAHIM / Elton CHIGUMBURA
13. Douglas MARILLIER / Gavin EWING
14. Douglas HONDO
15. Edward RAINSFORD / Tinashe PANYANGARA / Chris MPOFU
That's a good side Prince, but I am very concerned about Vermeulen and his injury. Bowlers know he can't take on the short ball anymore, and you can bet if he played Fleming would work him out in a flash. Got to try Douglas Marillier if you ask me, he was in good form in the Logan Cup. You could even play him as a spinner instead of Cremer and put in Elton Chigumbura.

Gavin Ewing and Barney Rogers are bound to play a role in the ODI series and I would consider Ewing playing instead of Cremer in the event of Marillier replacing Ebrahim.

I was very disappointed with the Zimbabweans in this test, especially since they had NZ 113-5 and a stronger-looking batting lineup. I guess that even though Wishy, Carlisle et al are good in comparison to Matsikenyeri, Sibanda etc. they had many more off days than good days in international cricket.

I wonder if Blessing has given up on his dream of breaking the world test batting record? Has he really stopped "Working hard on it"?
 
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Prince EWS

Global Moderator
That's a good side Prince, but I am very concerned about Vermeulen and his injury. Bowlers know he can't take on the short ball anymore, and you can bet if he played Fleming would work him out in a flash.
The good thing about him though, is that he is a good back foot player. You can try and bowl bouncers to him, and if you get one right, youll hit him. But if you get it wrong, and bowl too wide, hell clobber you through the off side.

Also, there are other batsmen in world cricket who have been hit in the head by Brett Lee... its nothing new. Travis Friend in the nets worries me more, but he had a successful stint in international cricket after that incident, so it doesnt bother me that much.

I was very disappointed with the Zimbabweans in this test, especially since they had NZ 113-5 and a stronger-looking batting lineup. I guess that even though Wishy, Carlisle et al are good in comparison to Matsikenyeri, Sibanda etc. they had many more off days than good days in international cricket.
I definately expected more from batsmen 5-8, but it just wasnt their test it seems. I really think Carlisle has what it takes to be a quality test match batsman - he has just been shuffled around too much. His best position is number 4, and thats where he should bat. He should be given the respect he deserves by the selectors now, as the days of Grant Flower, Murray Goodwin and Andy Flower sitting in the middle order are long gone. Carlisle should be batting number 4.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Got to try Douglas Marillier if you ask me, he was in good form in the Logan Cup. You could even play him as a spinner instead of Cremer and put in Elton Chigumbura.
He had one or two brilliant innings, but overall, he was very inconsistant. As for his bowling, it seemed that Trevor Gripper was a better option in the Logan Cup, so I dont see Marillier being picked as a specialist spinner. As long as he doesnt open though, I'd be happy to see him given a go.
 

Chubb

International Regular
But didn't the doctor who inserted steel plates into Vermeulen's skull tell him that if he got hit again he'd be killed? That's got to prey on your mind.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Prince EWS said:
Theres something about Mahwire that makes me think he could completely run through a side if the pitch offered a bit. I never rated Hondo at all, and Rainsford is injured more than hes fit.
i thought mahwire bowled some pretty impressive outswingers in the first inning, even outbowled heath streak.
btw is blignaut injured?
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Chubb said:
But didn't the doctor who inserted steel plates into Vermeulen's skull tell him that if he got hit again he'd be killed? That's got to prey on your mind.
Should've used nano-genes.

EDIT: Can't believe I typed that. Think I'd better go do something more worthwhile, like eat...
 

Woody_cloudofsm

School Boy/Girl Captain
ok so prince if you live around the corner your blood is mainly english then how are you so knowledgable on zimbabwean cricket i would like to know?
 

social

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
tooextracool said:
i thought mahwire bowled some pretty impressive outswingers in the first inning, even outbowled heath streak.
btw is blignaut injured?
He played in Aus last season for Tasmania (??)

I think he's another white Zimbabwean that has decided enough is enough.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
social said:
He played in Aus last season for Tasmania (??)

I think he's another white Zimbabwean that has decided enough is enough.
I'm very sure that he went back to Zimbabwe after the end of the season - maybe even went half way through. Had a very injury interrupted season from all reports, and didn't end up playing a match I'm pretty sure.
 

Chubb

International Regular
vic_orthdox said:
I'm very sure that he went back to Zimbabwe after the end of the season - maybe even went half way through. Had a very injury interrupted season from all reports, and didn't end up playing a match I'm pretty sure.
Andy Blignaut is back in Zimbabwe but he is injured. He made his comeback in the tests v. SA and played in the later rounds of the Logan Cup for Mashonaland.
 

Chubb

International Regular
Here's a few interesting comments from Macsood Ebrahim, Convener of Selectors.

Zimbabwe will stick to the same batting line-up that crashed twice in one day in the first Test, according to Macsood Ebrahim, the convener of selectors. But the bowlers might be replaced, for he felt that they did not stick to their task.

Speaking to the Zimbabwe Herald, Ebrahim said, "We were expecting the back-up bowlers to keep pressure on the New Zealand batsmen but Chris Mpofu and Cremer were a big let down. They bowled the wrong line and too short and this allowed New Zealand to make 400."

However, the batsmen, who failed dismally for 59 and 99 (eight of the 20 batsmen to fall scored ducks), would not be replaced because there were no alternatives. . "I don't think there is anything we can do about the batting because, to be honest, what we had for the first Test is the best batting line-up we could come up with, something that we based on performances for Zimbabwe A against Pakistan A and also the Logan Cup.

"When we selected the team I thought we had come up with the second-best Test batting line-up since the days when we had the likes of Andy and Grant Flower, Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin in the same team some years back. So it was very disappointing to see them perform so badly. We expected at least 300 in the first innings, which would have been acceptable."

He supported Tatenda Taibu's decision to bowl first because the pitch favoured seam movement, which the bowlers utilized first-up, but from then on things rapidly disintegrated for Zimbabwe. "I thought the decision by Taibu to bowl first was an excellent one because the conditions on Sunday morning favoured seam bowlers and the wicket looked best for batting from Day Two onwards. Blessing [Mahwire] and [Heath] Streak bowled beautifully in the first session and even the fielding looked very sharp. But things got horrendous in the last two sessions."


That's actually talking a lot of sense there, which is unusual from a ZC selector.
 

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