[Series Thread] Afg U19 vs Zim U19 in India

Our guys have lost the 2nd match comprehensively as well, by 45 runs. This gives an impression that the upcoming U19 World Cup would be our worst outing ever.

AFG u-19 is actually quite strong. They made the quarterfinals last time, knocking perenially decent Bangladesh out (despite BD thrashing them by 10 wickets in the openeing match).

The worrying part is, we keep complaining about not getting enough game time for our U19s to prepare for the biennial event. But I can't imagine AFG team getting too much exposure as well. How do they still produce a U19 team that can show a bit of consistency that is completely absent among the Zimbabweans? Do the Afghan U19s play elsewhere regularly?

Only question mark over them would be, the Pakistanis and the Afghans appear to be notorious for fudging age and take advantage of that in sports. But that can't be true for everyone in the squad. We need a bit of soul searching here. Popular opinion in the forums from people on the ground at least indicate that we have not sent the best team there (and if so, will we ever?), so where are we headed?

Associates are allowed to field players 1 year older, so 20 yo on minnow sides is fine. But yes AFG, PAK, even BD in the past has age fudged. All of that is due to certificate ages etc.

As far as why AFG are decent, they are an athletic nation. They are already the best soccer team in SAARC, if I'm not mistaken. They are tall, and even their shorties are hella strong.

I live in a small to mid sized city in the US...pop of 1.8 million or so. The Muslim community is pretty diverse, including the largest Kurdish diaspora in the US. A handful of Afghans, some Pashtun but mostly Persian speaking ethnic Tajiks. The most athletic individuals in our Islamic community are the Afghans. I remember a particular pick up basketball game at this boojie school court in a rich neighborhood. Everyone kept shooting airballs inexplicably until we realized the hoops were 11 feet high (standard basketball rims are only 10 feet). Presumably this was done so urban kids ie "poor black thugs" won't wreck the goals by dunking on them.

A particular pair of Tajik brothers came by. The older brother used to play for my school team. He was only 5'10" but was strong, fast as f**k, could shoot the rock, and had handles. He was an Afghan Derrick Rose basically. His little brother was about 6'6" and not as skilled, IMO, but a better basketballer due to his height. At any rate the younger brother asked the older one to lob the ball to him on a fast break...and I rememeber thinking "even most pros can't dunk on an 11 feet goal! He has no chance!"

And I was wrong. He threw it down, and made it look effortless.

Another Tajik kid I grew up played D1 ball albeit at an Ivy League university (not known so much for their sporting prowess, lol). Thats still an achievement.

One of my best friends is a Pashtun who never played organized ball, but I reckon could have played D2 college basketball and football if he didn't decide on becoming an endocrinologist.

Interesting observation Kriterion about AFG being possibly of the most athletic nations in south Asia. Indeed this has been a factor. And those results against Pak and BD make me feel a little less concerned about Zim U19 for sure, but there is no consistent batsman!

A horror show again, loss by 74 runs chasing a sub-200 score. Only Mashinge and Murray can hold their head high so far on this tour.

Even worse in match 4. No wonder there is not much talk about this series here... Lost by a massive 159 runs!

Zimbabwe should probably never have received test status. How viable was cricket ever going to be in the country? The white population was always going to decline and there was little evidence in the 90s and still little now that it is a game that can really be adopted by the black majority.

eugene wrote:Zimbabwe should probably never have received test status. How viable was cricket ever going to be in the country? The white population was always going to decline and there was little evidence in the 90s and still little now that it is a game that can really be adopted by the black majority.

This; it's a general term yes, but one which has honest undertones. Olonga was rushed into the side in 1995 because he was fast wild and nasty, but because he was black, and Zimbabwe needed a black face. It happened with Nkala, Mandondo, Maragwede and many more

Unfortunately the number of whites is what it comes down to. But what if Zimbabwe were stable enough to keep its whites? Imagine if Taylor, Jarvis, Welch, Byrom, Currans, Ervines, Flowers never left. I think ZIM would have the potential to be ranked 7-8th.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/zimbabwe/co ... 96371.html Those scores for Somerset 2's don't illustrate an over rated player to me mate..

I think Sam Curran is three times the player Tom is. He bats and bowls, and is just as quick as well as having the ability, as a left armer, to swing the ball back in. Tom is a good bowler none the less.

Never seen Hopper or Evans but I heard the latter had some genuine pace. And am I correct in thinking Gary King had/has some pace about him?

I'm still holding out for Nick Welch to come back and play some cricket for Zimbabwe in the future

Kriterion_BD wrote:Unfortunately the number of whites is what it comes down to. But what if Zimbabwe were stable enough to keep its whites? Imagine if Taylor, Jarvis, Welch, Byrom, Currans, Ervines, Flowers never left. I think ZIM would have the potential to be ranked 7-8th.

FACT:

The health of Zimbabwean cricket is almost always measured by the amount of whites in the team.

We were decent in 2010/11 when we had 6 whites and then there is the 90s etc. Just a fact you have to stomach.

That said, there is a sweet side if you are a patriotic black supporter.

With the whites in the team, you would see more competition with the black players who will fight harder to be in the team and earn their spot, instead of seeing players like Prosper, who think its their God given right to be in the team.

The hard working black majority would stand up to create real competition, because we wont have 11 whites again. Everyone wins with everyone on deck.

Flakeman wrote:I found him to be much improved but Diplock and Munyoro made him look rather out of his depth on the day.

Diplock is a damn good bowler.

Flakeman wrote:Also he seemed to have a arrogance that he previously never had.

In what respect