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Dion Ebrahim & Hondo NZ

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Opening post

Dion Ebrahim who turns out for Taranaki, has been granted resident status bu NZ Cricket.

Hondo also turns out of Taranaki (& Hawera United Cricket Club). Probably explains why Hondo disappeared in October last year, resurfaced in January this year

Although of course Taranaki suffered a heavy defeat including both of them.

Interestingly the press had this to say:

The continual assumption by CD selectors that outside talents coming into the region are better than CD locals, is still providing a major point of frustration. Quality development and coaching personnel from a number of districts have spent years bringing up talented players and when their players miss out due to this, it tends to leave people wondering why they put in so much extra effort.

Reminds me of our uproar against the likes of Hodgson, Slater, Burgoyne & Fickleburgh, not to mention the other wastes of money in prior seasons!

I don't understand the cricket setup in NZ. It seems there are multiple districts(of which Taranaki is one) which belong to various Zones, and clubs like Hawera United are Grade Cricket(Club), have various divions(1st, 2nd etc), and are under one of the districts. The progression point for district players like Ebrahim of Taranaki is Central Districts/Stags where Jarvis is. I'm a bit confused by just four zones, and yet there are six franchises in their FC cricket. Or perhaps I'm reading it completely wrong and there's nothing confusing because Central Districts and Northern Districts are the only ones with districts as their names suggest. Someone please explain. Anyway, in my opinion, the bottomline where all of this I concerned is that NZ are spreading themselves too thin. Too much money, too many levels & teams hence talent is diluted which explains the low quality coming through!

NB: Look forward to a Mangongo(Head), Hondo(Bowling) & Ebrahim(batting & fielding) coaching trio for Zim a few years from now.
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NB: Look forward to a Mangongo(Head), Hondo(Bowling) & Ebrahim(batting & fielding) coaching trio for Zim a few years from now.


:shock: I'm confused....what's wrong with the current setup? And what makes the trio so highly anticipated? Genuine questions, ...have I missed something?
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
The top level of NZ cricket has six professional teams (or franchises if you wish). They can be a bit geographically confusing so I will explain them a bit.

Northern Knights (also known as Northern Districts) - the top half of the North Island, excluding Auckland.

Auckland Aces - the city of Auckland.

Central Stags (Central Districts) - the bottom half of the North Island, excluding Wellington, and the top half of the South Island

Wellington Firebirds - the city of Wellington.

Canterbury Wizards - Canterbury province

Otago Volts - Otago and Southland provinces.

Below these six franchises is a provincial championship so teams such as Nelson, Taranaki, Manawatu, Canterbury Country Districts, Waikato, Northland, etc.,. This competition tends to consist of amateur players and fringe franchise players. These provincial sides act as feeders to their respective franchises.

Below provincial cricket is club cricket which is organised by each respective province. So Dion Ebrahim's path up the cricketing food chain would be as follows: Hawera CC - Taranaki - Central Districts. He is essentially playing third tier amateur cricket at the moment.
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
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eugene wrote:Below these six franchises is a provincial championship so teams such as Nelson, Taranaki, Manawatu, Canterbury Country Districts, Waikato, Northland, etc.,. This competition tends to consist of amateur players and fringe franchise players. These provincial sides act as feeders to their respective franchises. So Dion Ebrahim's path up the cricketing food chain would be as follows: Hawera CC - Taranaki - Central Districts. He is essentially playing third tier amateur cricket at the moment.

Thanks for the explanation. I take it you mean he's in 2nd tier cricket since he plays for Taranaki which is one of the feeder provincial sides(not a club). I think CrimsonAvenger once posted this article on him. Just not sure how close/far he is from selection to play FC cricket for CD. Maybe since he's an average player, the overseas tag must've made it difficult to consider him but now that he's a 'local' it will be much easier for them to have a closer look at him.

Anyway, I still think the cricket setup there only serves to dilute the talent because it's not concentrated enough. It seems to me 2nd XI cricket doesn't exist or something similar to Aus' u23 or the Provincial setup here in SA. So essentially, while teams like Taranaki & Canterbury Country Districts play 2-3day matches they are not classed as FC.
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FlowerPower wrote:I'm confused....what's wrong with the current setup? And what makes the trio so highly anticipated? Genuine questions, ...have I missed something?

Quite simply, preference! Steve is accomplished having produced the core of the Zim cricket team for the last 6 plus years, and perhaps another 6 more years going forward. Only bias would allow your mind to question his credentials.

Olonga aside, Dougie Hondo is arguably the best seamer Zim has produced since Streak. Unfortunately Zim's self imposed exile coincided with his rise. He knows the local setup, superb fast-medium seamer, wonderful swing bowler and vast experience.

Dion Ebrahim has bundles of talent and know how as a batsman, loves and is dedicated to the game. Mature, focused and disciplined individual with genuine leadership qualities. Never really settled in the Zim national team to make an impression, but no one doubted his quality and potential. Certainly among the all-time best fielders to play for Zim.

But your question is why these 3 in place of the current setup. Butcher is leaving and Grant is definitely not long term. Since he's got some time coaching a Franchise as well as the national team, expect him to split the moment he gets an offer even from a 2nd division county side. As for Streak, where have you heard of an England/Aus/SA/Ind bowling coach taking time off to go and coach a NZ T20, in the process abdicating his responsibility to prepare his Franchise's players for the new season. Such nonsense only happens because individuals like him take things for granted! Lack of games for Zim, more money or his need to gain more experience(of which we have no guarantees it will be used to benefit Zim cricekt over a long period) - don't qualify as excuses. Anyway the most important reason for my preference of these 3(among other options not mentioned) is that they add value to the permanent transformation agenda!

A guy like Ebrahim broke off from his Taranaki contract years ago to come and play in the new Zim Franchise system. He was living and working in a more stable economy & environment, probably getting paid better, but he left all of that - including the Club cricket he played in England during the NZ off-season. Having come down here and topped the batting charts for the Tuskers, he was thanklessly let go for no apparent reason, and forced to go back to NZ! Now we have the likes of Houghton and Slater instead! After the manner in which ZC treated him, you would've thought he would never come back to try and force his way into a Zim side still in the wilderness and with no immediate prospects of a return to Test cricket at the time. We need individuals like him.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Ebrahim was indeed treated rather poorly by Tuskers. Did he ever return the ZC car he held on to because he wasn't paid? It was a wonder that ZC didn't recruit Innocent 'I didn't do it' Chinyoka to go and 'retrieve' the car.
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
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