SA Domestic Competition

  The South African season has started and locals feel free to post scores and comments in this thread.
     I initiated it though because of an interesting development. Cricket SA yesterday announced that Zimbabwe will play in all the SA domestic competitions this season.  The Supersport Series (4 day cricket) had already had two fixtures completed for the provincial sides here , but now additional fixtures incorporating Zimbabwe have been drafted. 
    All Zimbabwe's fixtures will be played in Zimbabwe (their union probably can't afford the flights!) and the Highveld Lions are due to play there later this week.  This decision has been such a surprise that the Lions haven't named a squad yet!
     Do you think this'll help the cause of Zimbabwean cricket? What will the SA francises get out of it? Will they send B teams and rest their top players? I think this is some kind of kneejerk reaction and hasn't been thought through well enough. Yes , the Zimbabweans should benefit financially and in cricketing terms (the matches are all televised) , but will the money be used to uplift the game there?
    Corruption is rife in that country and that revenue could well end up in the wrong hands. I hope it helps our northern neighbors , but the sceptic in me says that money will disappear.

I'll go with that mate - the youngsters will get to play regular 4 day cricket for the entire summer against decent opposition and that can only make them better players.
      The money might well be another matter entirely and I'll be interested to know just how much the Zim players actually receive for these matches.

  That's likely JP , the franchises will want the points.  The sides they'll send won't be full strength though as the international players won't be available.

 What a can of worms !!   The franchises are up in arms as CSA just bulldozed Zimbabwe into the domestic competitions and completely ignored the concerns of the provinces   The Lions game was cancelled simply because they refused to travel - it's a great embarrassment for the CSA Board , they look like the incompetents that they are.
      The main grievance of the provinces is that Zimbabwe have a series of ODI's later this year against Pakistan. They've made it clear that all their international players will not be available against the SA franchises.  So they'll be matches against a full strength Zim and the rest against something akin to an under 16 side !
       Another grievance is the bizarre scoring system. Just how they've come up with points being awarded to the franchises whilst the Zimbabweans will treat the games as friendlies and will not score is ludicrous.
        With the franchises revolting I think we'll see this project scrapped and rightly so too. If you didn't think the CSA as a bunch of amateurs before , you surely must now - clowns !

Taking wickets is always good for the team but I heard he was still erratic with extras! Still, if a guy can give me those wickets, I don't care about extras!

Extras are never a good thing but I will take a lot of wickets over extras. A bowler who doesn't concede a extra but also doesn't take wickets isn't very helpful most of the times. But if a bowler who takes wickets along with conceding extras will always do his team more help than harm.

Pleasant surprise on Inside Edge last night , Harmy was the studio guest alongside New Zealand's ex-quick , Danny Morrision.  An interesting programme for a change , with the men discussing workloads of current cricketers (especially bowlers) with Morrison's era.
     Surprisingly , it's 10 years since Morrison last turned his arm over and he was the first to admit that , whilst they're well rewarded , the schedule is brutal today.  Injuries and the recovery from them was chewed over too , with Harmy saying the pressure on players to get back in the middle is neverending.  He debuted for England in 2002 and played without injury until after 2005 Ashes - he missed a single test in that period , but with nothing seriously wrong.  Since then he's never been completely fit and has struggled. What appealed to me was his self-deprecation , he chuckled at that ball in Brisbane and was quite philisophical about the number of wides and the resulting media hysteria.
       He's very keen to get to Sri Lanka and feels he's not far away now. The match in Potch later this week is vital if he's to go. He had nice things to say about Gibson , but little when questioned about Donald. He only played in 2 tests with AD at the helm , after that he was crocked.
        Finally he was questioned about Freddie and true to form , he backed his mate. Disappointment was the buzz word in his response , with the old adage that what happens in the dressingroom should stay there.  He ended by echoing quite a few Freddie supporters by saying just where were the positive comments about Fred , it all seemed so negative. 
        The lad looked happy and downplayed all the homesick jibes that come his way. He's a family man , misses them , but loves playing cricket and is mad keen to get to Sri Lanka and then New Zealand.

  Footnote :  I've just read the Telegraph and Charles Randell reports that Harmy's got a stomach bug. All I can say is that he obviously was lacking a story as the lad looked perfectly alright last night !


Edited by Sledger - 14 November 2007 at 6:11am

Dammit. I miss one episode and it turns out to be a good one. Ah well, i prefer BVP anyways. Nice to see Harmison hitting his straps. Plunkett on the other hand has been less impressive.....

Seems he's doing well. Got a couple this morning and the captain's not over-working him, which they often seem to do to the overseas pro's in the county circuit.

Also I see Rudolph's been getting a full run with his leg spin of late and he's getting some results too. Would be nice to have a leg spinning allrounder in the side

Yep. And good to see the SA bowling coach doing something about his run-up. Bringing him closer to the stumps really has made a huge difference. Batsmen are having to play a higher percentage of deliveries now.

Did Donald coach Steyn is his youth days. I'm seeing some Donald in him!

Ok, thanks for the confirmation! Steyn's action is what made me ask.

  So Zimbabwe play their 1st match again the Compost side today at Potch. I've seen the starting XI for the garden supplements and Stephen Cook is the best of an extrememly average bunch. He's nowhere close to the class of his Dad , Jimmy , but not bad all the same.
     Still , I expect they'll win comfortably and no-one will bother to go and watch.

Well, If they're struggling against that side then thank goodness they're no longer playing test cricket.

I wonder how many of Zims talented youngsters will leave the country and wind-up playing franchise cricket in SA 

Prosper Utseya registers a maiden first-class century on day three as Zimbabwe's batting germinates nicely, ending on 493.

Compost respond well, closing the day on 137 for 2, still 68 runs behind.