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Zimbabwe best Test XI

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Post by BuLioli Wed 18 Jan 2012, 12:23 pm

Hello all. Been enjoying the threads on the all-time test XI teams. So as a 1st post, thought i might turn to Zimbabwe and try and get a strong XI out:

1. Guy Whittall
2. Grant Flower
3. Alistair Campbell
4. David Houghton
5. Andy Flower (c/wk)
6. Tatenda Taibu
7. Andy Blignaut
8. Heath Streak
9. Paul Strang
10. Ray Price
11. Henry Olonga

That was actually really tough! And i'm sure many better suggestions come will come through soon. But how do you think this team would match up to current sides?

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Post by Biltong Wed 18 Jan 2012, 12:30 pm

Well you basically have most of the players when Zim was at their best, but even then they weren't really that competitive. In my view only Heath Streak was ever a serious threat in their bowling attack.
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Post by Biltong Wed 18 Jan 2012, 12:31 pm

Oh and welcome to 606v2
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Post by Galted Wed 18 Jan 2012, 12:35 pm

Don't think they'd fare too badly against current sides, especially at home. Didn't win a lot but they were quite a difficult team to beat in the mid to late 90s when most of the players above were playing. India & Pakistan lost a few to them during this period.

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Post by BuLioli Wed 18 Jan 2012, 12:35 pm

Cheers Biltong! Yeah i suppose Streak and Andy Flower were probably the only two guys to be contention for World XI places. I think the problem was that a lot of players I considered usually had one good test (which occasionally led to a Zim victory), but then fell back afterwards.

Now I'm reminded of the time I had to bowl to Barney Rogers and Gavin Ewing in a club match in England. Was up against Ewing first, and my 1st two balls went for 6 and 4!! But finished with 3 for 28 in the end Smile

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Post by Fists of Fury Wed 18 Jan 2012, 1:59 pm

Nice one, Bulioli.

Heath Streak, a great servant of Warks.

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Post by Mad for Chelsea Wed 18 Jan 2012, 2:12 pm

Murray Goodwin should be in there, surely? Quality batsman.

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Post by BuLioli Wed 18 Jan 2012, 2:19 pm

Good call Mad. I put Campbell in there only because I was trying to do it off the top of my head. And what i forgot is that he took 8 years to score his 1st century! Having looked at Cricinfo, Goodwin's average is 15 runs higher - so there's the first selectorial gaffe from me!

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Post by gboycottnut Wed 18 Jan 2012, 5:37 pm

biltongbek wrote:Well you basically have most of the players when Zim was at their best, but even then they weren't really that competitive. In my view only Heath Streak was ever a serious threat in their bowling attack.

What about the famous chicken farmer Eddo Brandes who once took Graham Gooch's England team apart in a World Cup match. Also during the early 1980's, Zimbabwe had an excellent all-rounder batting at number 6 by the name of Duncan Fletcher. They also had in that Zimbabwe team 2 useful seamers in Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran.

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Post by Mike Selig Wed 18 Jan 2012, 5:44 pm

Neil Johnson was a better bat than either of your openers also IMO.

So be fair I thought Paul Strang was a quality bowler who was desperately unlucky.

Henry Olonga bowled the odd fantastic spell as well.

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Post by guildfordbat Wed 18 Jan 2012, 6:24 pm

BuLioli - A warm welcome. A fine debut post.

I'm not sure if he remained eligible for Zimbabwe but if he did, I'd put Trevor Penney's name in the mix. You certainly would be hard pushed to get a better twelfth man!

Look forward to seeing you on the cricket threads. Cheers, Guildford.


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Post by Galted Wed 18 Jan 2012, 6:54 pm

Johnson did have the occasional big innings but he was more of a bowl a bit bat a bit SA reject - could be devastating but not very reliable.

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Post by BuLioli Wed 18 Jan 2012, 7:02 pm

Hey all. Let's start on the replies...

Mike and gboycottnut - I've kept it to a test team, hence why i didn't go for the names you suggested. I did think about having Neil Johnson in there, but at the time, I thought he wasn't as good as he was in the shorter version of the game.

Guildfordbat - Thanks for the welcome! Yes as a fielding specialist if he was available then Mr Penney would make a fine addition! Having just done some research, he only just squeaks in as he qualified to play for England in 1992.

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Post by gboycottnut Wed 18 Jan 2012, 8:21 pm

BuLioli wrote:Hey all. Let's start on the replies...

Mike and gboycottnut - I've kept it to a test team, hence why i didn't go for the names you suggested. I did think about having Neil Johnson in there, but at the time, I thought he wasn't as good as he was in the shorter version of the game.

Guildfordbat - Thanks for the welcome! Yes as a fielding specialist if he was available then Mr Penney would make a fine addition! Having just done some research, he only just squeaks in as he qualified to play for England in 1992.


But didn't guys like Rawson, Curran, and D. Fletcher still play 5 day tests for Zimbabwe V teams such as Young New Zealand etc in the mid 1980's when Zimbabwe had still to be granted official test status. Therefore in my book, these guys are still eligible for inclusion in an all-time great Zimbabwe team.

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Post by JDizzle Wed 18 Jan 2012, 9:00 pm

gboycottnut wrote:
biltongbek wrote:Well you basically have most of the players when Zim was at their best, but even then they weren't really that competitive. In my view only Heath Streak was ever a serious threat in their bowling attack.

What about the famous chicken farmer Eddo Brandes who once took Graham Gooch's England team apart in a World Cup match. Also during the early 1980's, Zimbabwe had an excellent all-rounder batting at number 6 by the name of Duncan Fletcher. They also had in that Zimbabwe team 2 useful seamers in Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran.

Brandes should make it in just for his quip back to Glenn McGrath! laughing One of the all time great sledges that one!

And out of the current crop, I have no doubt Brendan Taylor will be in the reckoning for a place in the all time Zimbabwe XI in a few years. Probably already in their best ever ODI side, if he keeps up his current form he will cruise in to the side in a few years.

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Post by gboycottnut Wed 18 Jan 2012, 10:40 pm

What about David Brain, the tall ginger-haired left-arm seamer who played for Zimbabwe in the early 1990's to mid 1990's and was Zimbabwe's equivalent of Shaun Pollock.

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Post by Mike Selig Thu 19 Jan 2012, 12:07 am

TBH I can't remember Johnson's test record, but I seem to remember he didn't play much. Had he played a fair amount I reckon he'd have easily had a better record than Flower (G.) and Whittall. But I guess I can't select my side on "what might have been".

Agree entirely with JD about Brendan Taylor.

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Post by Biltong Thu 19 Jan 2012, 6:02 am

Mike, I think the biggest problem with Johnson is he would have liked to play for SA, he was here for a long time and even ended up on SABC tv as a commentator/match reporter.

He was however never really very consistent.
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Post by Mike Selig Thu 19 Jan 2012, 12:21 pm

Nah. But when he got it right he was a very fine player. Certainly would have been a better bet than Liebenberg and Bacher IMO...

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Post by Biltong Thu 19 Jan 2012, 12:52 pm

Yeah, those two were rather disappointing.
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Post by GG Thu 19 Jan 2012, 3:07 pm

G.Flower
B.Taylor
Goodwin
A.Flower
Campbell
Houghton
Johnson
Streak
Strang
Brandes
Price

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Post by Guest Thu 19 Jan 2012, 3:10 pm

1.Guy Whittal
2.Brendon Taylor (C)
3.Murray Goodwin
4.Hamilton Masakaza
5.Tatenda Taibu (wk)
6.Andy Flower
7.Andy Blignaut
8.Ray Price
9.Henry Olonga
10.Heath Streak (c)
11.Graeme Cremer

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Post by Mike Selig Thu 19 Jan 2012, 4:13 pm

Flower was a better keeper than Taibu TBH.

And Dave Houghton averaged as well as most when playing in the 90s.

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Post by msp83 Sun 22 Jan 2012, 7:12 am

A fine post to start with.
Can't disagree with most of the names.
But Murray Goodwin has to be in there for sure. So I'd have Grant Flower aand Alistair Campbell opening with Goodwin at 3 and Guy Whittall batting at 6 in place of Taibu. The rest stays the same.
So,
Alastair Campbell
Grant Flower
Murray Goodwin
Dave Houghton(C)
Andy Flower(WK)
Guy Wittall
Andy Blignaut
Heath Streak
Paul Strang
Ray Price
Henry Olonga.
Brendan Taylor should be the 12th man, and from among the present lot, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenta Taibu, the 2 opening seamers; Jarvis and Vitori are all fine tallents who have ability and age in their favor to make it in the future.
Young Tino Mawoyo too seems like he has lots of determination and the right attitude with the bat, to stay out there and score when there is a chance rather than throwing his wicket easily.

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Post by gboycottnut Sun 22 Jan 2012, 10:52 am

msp83 wrote:A fine post to start with.
Can't disagree with most of the names.
But Murray Goodwin has to be in there for sure. So I'd have Grant Flower aand Alistair Campbell opening with Goodwin at 3 and Guy Whittall batting at 6 in place of Taibu. The rest stays the same.
So,
Alastair Campbell
Grant Flower
Murray Goodwin
Dave Houghton(C)
Andy Flower(WK)
Guy Wittall
Andy Blignaut
Heath Streak
Paul Strang
Ray Price
Henry Olonga.
Brendan Taylor should be the 12th man, and from among the present lot, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenta Taibu, the 2 opening seamers; Jarvis and Vitori are all fine tallents who have ability and age in their favor to make it in the future.
Young Tino Mawoyo too seems like he has lots of determination and the right attitude with the bat, to stay out there and score when there is a chance rather than throwing his wicket easily.

Agree with most of the above lineup. Except, I would have the 2 best Zimbabwe cricketers of the early 1980's in Duncan Fletcher and Kevin Curran in at numbers 6 and 7, with Eddo Brandes the chicken farmer in a number 11 if Zimbabwe have to play Australia where the match turns ugly into a sledging encounter.

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Post by msp83 Sun 22 Jan 2012, 12:13 pm

gboycottnut wrote:
msp83 wrote:A fine post to start with.
Can't disagree with most of the names.
But Murray Goodwin has to be in there for sure. So I'd have Grant Flower aand Alistair Campbell opening with Goodwin at 3 and Guy Whittall batting at 6 in place of Taibu. The rest stays the same.
So,
Alastair Campbell
Grant Flower
Murray Goodwin
Dave Houghton(C)
Andy Flower(WK)
Guy Wittall
Andy Blignaut
Heath Streak
Paul Strang
Ray Price
Henry Olonga.
Brendan Taylor should be the 12th man, and from among the present lot, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenta Taibu, the 2 opening seamers; Jarvis and Vitori are all fine tallents who have ability and age in their favor to make it in the future.
Young Tino Mawoyo too seems like he has lots of determination and the right attitude with the bat, to stay out there and score when there is a chance rather than throwing his wicket easily.

Agree with most of the above lineup. Except, I would have the 2 best Zimbabwe cricketers of the early 1980's in Duncan Fletcher and Kevin Curran in at numbers 6 and 7, with Eddo Brandes the chicken farmer in a number 11 if Zimbabwe have to play Australia where the match turns ugly into a sledging encounter.
In all likelyhood, Fletch and Curran would have made successful test cricketers if they were given the opportunity. Howsoever good they were, they didn't play test cricket afterall, and therefor can't be in there for me. Playing a few 5-day games against some Young side can't cut it for me.

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