Cricket: Zimbabwe World Cup squad: Less controversy, more substance Hamilton Masakadza
Hamilton Masakadza

Hamilton Masakadza

Conant Masocha, Chronicle Online

IN former playing days, Alastair Campbell had a penchant for frustratingly hitting out to cow corner or long on’s throat; and if one ever needed proof that sheer reckless and wild impetuosity does not always translate to permanent exile in cricket, and solid, staid batting to permanent presence, one needs look no further than his and Hamilton Masakadza’s careers.

Heir to the magnanimous Dave Houghton, Zimbabwean pretender to the throne of Englishman David Gower – former captain Alastair Campbell’s career in cricket was in many ways tenuously desperate.

In a decade of Test cricket for Zimbabwe he averaged 27. In four years as captain he didn’t record a single century, only managing a Test best of 99. And yet, for 11 years from 1992 to 2003 he was a permanent presence in the team.

Not so for Masakadza.

Mr Campbell, the recently appointed managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket waxed lyrical about the squad selected to go to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and sheepishly reminded the nation than in over a decade of international cricket, vice-captain Hamilton Masakadza would only be making the squad for the first time.

The irony couldn’t have been lost on him. For it was him, in 2011 as chairman of selectors, who controversially dropped the imperious batsmen for what was termed “loss of form” and picked Charles Coventry instead.

Charles Coventry was selected for the 2011 World Cup ahead of Masakadza

Charles Coventry was selected for the 2011 World Cup ahead of Masakadza

The two figureheads’ records are almost similar. As a teenager, young Alistair Campbell broke into the senior national team as a fresh faced 19 year old (he would remain fresh faced through the course of his career and played largely so till the end) in 1992, making his debut Test in a sparkling 63 against Pakistan, prompting Wisden cricket to wax flowery over him as a sort of David Gower, that mellifluous English batsman of the early 80s.

But Campbell’s promising career nosedived very quickly from meteoric to metronomic as time and again he failed to fulfill his potential as a promising batsman as he continually floundered at four to expose the Zimbabwe middle order which was shored up by Andy Flower. In well over his first 40 Test matches he was yet to record a century despite batting no lower than six, and averaged a measly 27.

Finally he broke that duck in 2000, making 103 against India and went on to make one more against West Indies.

And yet in his 11 years as a one day and Test cricketer, he played in four World Cups. Hamilton Masakadza in comparison, in 13 years of international cricket will be playing in his first, and possibly last, World Cup.  Now almost 32 and at an age in which batsmen reach their peak, he will be 35 when the next World Cup arrives.

In 13 years of international cricket Masakadza will be playing in his first, and possibly last, World Cup

In 13 years of international cricket Masakadza will be playing in his first, and possibly last, World Cup

In July 2001, the young Masakadza then a 17-year-old school boy made a century on Test debut, against the West Indies. He was quickly shipped to the One Day squad against the advice of Dave Houghton, played in the notoriously slow but tricky pitches of the subcontinent in Sri Lanka, failed on that tour and for the next four years was on study sabbatical in South Africa.

But when he came back, he was immense: once derided for not being a One Day type of player he defied all predictions and today has become the most feared T20 batsmen on the domestic scene.

Once derided for not being a One Day player, Masakadza has defied all and today has become the most feared T20 batsmen on the domestic scene

Once derided for not being a One Day player, Masakadza has defied all and today has become the most feared T20 batsmen on the domestic scene

He was absent in 2003, and in 2007 was controversially dropped for being out of form. With scores of 0, 42 (in a match where the entire team was bowled out for 99), 0 and 28 in the four Test innings of the summer preceding the announcement of the squad  against New Zealand at home, he was in admittedly middling form but certainly performed no less than any of five batsmen who went to the World Cup in that squad among them Friday Kasteni, Keith Dabengwa and Stuart Matsikenyeri, who infamously went for a big hit in the final match off a ball against Ireland when all they needed was a single to win.

It was a puzzling call to drop him, and worse was to come four years later in 2011. The latter was a spectacularly foolish decision, only eclipsed in its hopelessness by Coventry’s failures in that World Cup, on flat pitches in which the historically uncertain Brendan Taylor prospered away from home. More about that later.

Masakadza has been picked finally and should do justice to the overdue call. So too should Tawanda Mpariwa, the fastest bowler to reach 50 ODI wickets since Eddo Brandes and yet for six years left in the wilderness after Heath Streak’s call for out and out fast bowlers to be utilised in 2008. Campbell was also reported saying Mpariwa needed “to bat like Paul Collingwood” to be selected again. Collingwood has since retired, and Mpariwa is yet to bat like the stolid Englishman.

Day of reckoning: Masakadza has been picked finally and should do justice to the overdue call

Day of reckoning: Masakadza has been picked finally and should do justice to the overdue call

It remains to be seen if he will cope in the hard and fast pitches of Australia where his medium pacers might yet turn out to be cannon fodder for run hungry batsmen used to modern day T20, but his selection can hardly be faulted after an impressive season in domestic cricket.

Not all is proving just however. Former captain Prosper Utseya’s recall and batsmen Craig Ervine’s selection is a mystery. The Conveyor of selectors, Givemore Makoni, was reported to have said that after being banned from bowling off spin, Prosper Utseya remains their “mystery bowler”. One presumes he was joking, or trying a hand at sarcasm.

Former captain Prosper Utseya’s recall is a mystery as his bowling has been questioned

Former captain Prosper Utseya’s recall is a mystery as his bowling has been questioned

Save for picking Utseya as an outright batsmen where pundits will compare him on merit, the real mystery remains how his now medium pacers and off cutters he is supposedly now bowling supersede those of other medium pacers like Shingi Masakadza or Neil Madziva  in the country who have practiced their craft for years.

Former captain Brendan Taylor has been in skunk form and it doesn’t look promising.  Over 23 tests in the course of his career, in which he averages 35 runs, 10 of them have been played away from home, and he averages an alarming 21 runs per innings.  Familiarity breeds comfort.

In fact, generally take out the fortress Harare Sports Club in his stats in international cricket and his average dives southwards. He might yet come good if  there is no lateral movement in the pitches he will be playing on; introduce any seam movement  however, and you may bet your bottom  dollar he will come in, and go out, early.

Former captain Brendan Taylor has been in skunk form and it doesn’t look promising

Former captain Brendan Taylor has been in skunk form and it doesn’t look promising

This year’s squad still looks low in stock but this has been the case for at least the past decade. Chamu Chibhabha might yet prove his worth at the top despite a two year absence, and if Sean Williams tightens a loose technique and angling bat against the quicker bowlers he might turn that languid style on the crease into meaningful substance.

Certainly opening batsman Sikandar Raza Butt has played with a fearlessness than has never been seen in Zimbabwe before, perhaps only fleetingly with Neil Johnson 1999. It might be the Pakistani genes, the daredevils and unpredictables of international cricket, but it certainly adds impetus to the Zimbabwe cause and will shore up a sensible top order. Only a strong number six seems missing and despite the emergence of Regis Chakabva, once again one ruminates at the sheer frustration of all that hastened the departure Tatenda Taibu into ministry.

Opening batsman Sikandar Raza has played with a fearlessness than has never been seen in Zimbabwe before

Opening batsman Sikandar Raza has played with a fearlessness than has never been seen in Zimbabwe before

Captain Elton Chigumbura will typically come in at 7 and for the umpteenth time he captains while he fights for his place in the team. Is the captain a batter who bowls, or a bowler who bats, or one who can’t do both adequately enough to put questions of his temperament to rest? All will be answered next month, but his captaincy and field placing have been much better than the unimaginative Taylor.

Elton Chigumbura captains while he fights for his place in the team

Elton Chigumbura captains while he fights for his place in the team

Goodness knows why with Williams and Kamungozi selected, Utseya, who bats at eight, was also necessary; a subject that has extensively been discussed by those who avidly follow cricket in the community’s forums. Since the squad was announced however, Utseya has played an ongoing tour for Zimbabwe A against Canada, taking five wickets at a still-miserly rate of 22 runs every 10 overs, presumably bowling his now medium off cutters. Perhaps he has earned his stripes.

The bowling has become Zimbabwe’s mainstay and Tinashe Panyangara will be a constant source of threat to many with his tight bowling and good bounce. So too will Chatara, thoroughly immense in the last two seasons.

Whatever the case new coach Dav Whatmore has something to work with, and thankfully, less selection controversies to contend with.

You Might Also Like

Comments