First unofficial Test : ZimbabweA vs South africaA

Wanted to see myers bowl to be fair.

Muthasamy must be kicking himself after the other batters feasted.

Ngarava nyauchi and blessing not a bad bet then for the Bangladesh tests.

No other bowler has shown anything to depose them from their spots in the test. Chatata hasn't done a great deal

Would be tempted to play a few of the senior guys who have been out for a bit in the next game. Guys like Raza,Ervine and Williams mixed with Myers and Shumba plus Ngarava. They need the match practice

Maybe even a full strength team

Ervine and Williams can play next match for sure.

Don't want them undercooked going into the Bangladesh matches.

The fast bowling situation is very worrying. Blessing is the only class player we have. Ngarava could Be a good find but needs more time and matches.

Donald wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:25 pm

Ervine and Williams can play next match for sure.

Don't want them undercooked going into the Bangladesh matches.

The fast bowling situation is very worrying. Blessing is the only class player we have. Ngarava could Be a good find but needs more time and matches.

bowling has always looked pretty dreadful in Zim in general for some reason

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:28 am

The players themselves should absolutely play every game to win whether its an international, A team game, domestic match, or U-19 level. But the fans really should only care about the national team performance, at the end of the day.

Everything else is just a means to that end.

Wrong. As a fan I am 100% watching an A series with intent. I want to see if the young players are up to the task and how they handle certain situtations. What happens when they are under the pump? What happens when they are in a good position? How do they handle a turning a pitch? A slow pitch? a flat pitch? A green one? How do they approach certain aspects of the game?

These are the players on the fringe or considered for national duty, so it is always important to see if they can make the step up. If they don't show the right stuff at the A level then when it comes to the national side, as a fan, I am going to worry because then it just means that the National side will stay poor and continue to just keep up a cycle of defeat.

Take this game for example. Pretty good batting pitch, but we go out in the 2nd innings and the guys end up batting in such a way that their S/R are in the 20's and 30's. They are inviting pressure on themselves and that is why we are 2 down for 22.

Madhevere will come good I reckon his only problems are temperament and fair enough hes only 20 and played more limited overs games

Kriterion_BD wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:38 pm

Sub-national teams (A teams) are usually ad hoc. They serve a purely developmental purpose and while selectors will try to create a balanced side, at the end of the day A team cricket exists solely for giving prospective national teamers quality game time. So if that means packing the team with spinners before a tour of the subcontinent, then so be it. Winning and losing are secondary to that aim. An A team coach won't be sacked because the A team keeps losing, if he's doing a good job developing players for the national team.

Winning games also rests on multiple players, when an A team might only contain 3-4 guys in the XI who will go on to be consistent national teamers. For example, look at this XI: how many of these guys have a realistic chance of being a national team stalwart in 2 years time?

Myers, Shumba, Madhevere, and Mumba. Thats it. Just 4 guys. And thats not guaranteed. It might just be Myers and Shumba, or even none of them.

For example, flat track and the guys come out to bat at a SR of 25. I get that they may be trying to save the game, but I am seeing the same mentality at a National level and now I am seeing it at A Level. This tells me it's not good. These players are going to go to the National side and play the same way which is not good enough.

I get that not every A side player will be a national team player and I get there are times when you go out there going, "we probably don't expect to win, so lets try to draw" kind of thing, but if the mentality and aura is of that that winning is secondary, then you will develop players who are not good enough. When these players get to the national side then, they will be accustomed to that and will just keep losing or not developing well.

All of the best in the world, in any sport, had a winning mentality from a young age. They always wanted to win. They pushed themselves and worked on themselves. They trained hard and always wanted to be better, to develop. This is what the A side should be breeding. You don't develop in the national side, you develop in the lower levels. By the time you get to the national side, you should be ready to win.

Zimco wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:18 am

Because of small player base in Zim players are expected to play in all three formats but that's not realistic for all players.

Rohit Sharma took ages to be a test player, pujara not a T20 player so I guess it's fine if Wes just plays odis and T20 for a few years until he scores runs heavily in the longer format in Logan and A games.

we still dont actually know if rohits a test player hes only come good for a couple years

CholeZimbo wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:59 am

CrimsonAvenger wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:30 am

I can understand the criticism of someone meandering along to a 20 out of 95 deliveries and getting out in a test match. The guy did not help the team after getting his eye in. But criticizing a 20 year old who scored 75 out of 250 or whatever is illogical. He is finding his feet - has got an opportunity to show his worth against the best opposition he has ever faced all his life, and hangs in there and grinds out and plays a perfectly normal "test" innings that was more than acceptable for anyone even 15 years ago. There are still old school players who play the role perfectly well for their teams - Pujara for example, Chanderpaul and Cowan not too long ago. It shouldn't even matter what surface he is playing on. It is how the rest of the team plays around that individual is what matters. A 20 year old playing pretty much the whole day facing a decent attack and scoring well can only mean one thing - confidence for his own future, which is the most important thing in such a match.

For me it could have been 140 of 250 balls if he played some of the dot balls for singles and two's

Or gotten out playing those shots.

Only because there are world class players out there who make milking Test bowling look easy doesn't mean it is. The same people who always moan about our slow batting are usually also the to first to cast a stone when someone gets out to a ball "he easily could have left".

The criticism directed at Shumba here is incredulous as Crimson has already pointed out. It's been obvious to me during the Pakistan series that the lad at this stage of his career does not have a clear strategy how to score against bowling that is better than anything he has faced before. Not really surprising after only a handful of FC games. This A series is the perfect opportunity to further find his feet, and hopefully work with the coaches on the areas where he can score runs against decent fast bowling.

If Shumba plays the same way in 2026 when Sa A again visit Zim, I'd be worried. Not now after a harsh introduction into the rigours of Test cricket and one innings top-scoring against an attack with four bowlers who have played for SA if I'm counting correctly.