Top Three Test-ODI Cricket All-Rounders of Zimbawe
by MairaS on December 6, 2010
in One day Cricket, Test Cricket, Zimbabwe
Top Three Test Cricket All-Rounders of Zimbawe
So far, Zimbabwe has been unsuccessful in producing fine test all-rounders; as a result they have suffered numerous defeats because of which they have to face criticism each and every time. However there are three players of Zimbabwe who are highly praised for their test cricket skills. One of them is Grant flower, who is considered as the number 1 test all-rounder Zimbabwe ever had. He is famous for his patient temperament to play long innings, hard-hitting, marvelous fielding and economical bowling. In 67 test matches he had scored 3457 runs and taken 25 wickets. Grant Flower is followed by Andy Blignaut for his unpredictable pace bowling and destructive strokeplay. Andy Blignaut had scored 886 runs and taken 53 wickets in just 19 test matches. Third popular test all-rounder of Zimbabwe is Heath Streak with 1990 runs and 216 wickets in just 65 test matches. Heath Streak is a strong hearted fast-bowler with high stamina and strength level as a result he was the first Zimbabwe player to take 100 test wickets. Along with bowling skills Heath Streak is also a sensible batsman. However Zimbabwe should work hard inorder to produce more fine all-rounders .
Top Three ODI Cricket All-Rounders of Zimbawe
Although Zimbabwe cricket team is always a subject to poor performance because of their untalented squad .However there are three ODI all-rounders in Zimbabwe squad who are destined to be praised for their ability to dominate, high level of determination and skills. Best among those three is Grant flower, a player popular for his powerful-hitting, excellent fielding and up to the mark left-arm orthodox bowling. He has scored 6571 runs and taken 104 wickets in 221 ODI matches. Flower is followed up by Elton Chigumbura, who has scored 3434 runs and taken 81 wickets in just 119 matches. Chigumbura is a player highly praised for his high aggressiveness level to pressurize opponents, superior batting techniques and unpredictable bowling, thus possessing all the components required to become a successful all-rounder. Last but not the Least is Prosper Utseya a player with exceptional stroke-play, commendable right arm off-break bowling and high level of stamina, will to succeed and pressurizing gameplay. However a team cannot always succeed on the support of few players, so Zimbabwe has to work really hard in order to produce a fine squad consisting of talented all-rounders.
Top Ten Fielders of Zimbabwe in Test-ODI-T20 Cricket
Top Ten Fielders of Zimbabwe in Test Cricket
Zimbabwe, in the first place, plays hardly any test matches. In the last four years, they have played only one series against Bangladesh which they had won, and that provided them with a good start. They plan on becoming more regular at test matches in a few years from now.
When it comes to fielding, they are again good at it, but once on the field, they tend to make silly errors. They cannot handle pressure on the field and end up dropping quite a few catches during testing times. Zimbabwe’s ground fielding is good, but on the boundary line they are not that great.
With tougher teams, they tend to underestimate themselves which is quite visible on the field. Here is the list of top ten fielders of Zimbabwe in test cricket:
1. ADR Campbell
2. GW Flower
3. SV Carlisle
4. GJ Whittall
5. DL Houghton
6. HH Streak
7. DD Ebrahim
8. PA Strang
9. CB Wishart
10. TR Gripper
Top Ten Fielders of Zimbabwe in ODI Cricket
Zimbabwe has had some good matches in One Day Internationals. Defeating India was one of its biggest feats in their last One Day International. Their fielding contributed in a big way and they managed to hold on to most of the catches that came their way.
Zimbabwe players are very committed when it comes to One Day Internationals. They jump around on the field but when it comes to playing with bigger oppositions, they lack the lustre again.
They are low on confidence which is seen on the field by the way they drop catches, which indirectly leads to misfielding, and this has happened on more than one occasion. When they are dominated by the other side, they tend to give up very easily.Here is the list of top ten fielders of Zimbabwe in ODI :
1. GW Flower
2. ADR Campbell
3. HH Streak
4. H Masakadza
5. SV Carlisle
6. E Chigumbura
7. S Matsikenyeri
8. GJ Whittall
9. P Utseya
10. PA Strang
Top Ten Fielders of Zimbabwe in T20 Cricket
In the shorter version of the game, Zimbabwe hasn’t got much opportunity to display its skills, but of whatever little has been seen of them, they have proved to be outstanding.
They have tried to save the game many a times by saving all the possible singles, which matters a lot in the long run in this version because of the small time limit of the game.
Against their series with India, they gave it their best in the fielding department and were exceptional in it and the reason for their slowdown was their batting, where they were not able to give it their best shot.
Each new individual, who has got a chance to play in this, threw himself around and tried saving the important runs, which, if complimented with good batting, would have got them on the batting side. Here is the list of top ten fielders of Zimbabwe in T20:
1. S Matsikenyeri
2. E Chigumbura
3. H Masakadza
4. P Utseya
5. CJ Chibhabha
6. GB Brent
7. T Maruma
8. AG Cremer
9. KM Dabengwa
10. CB Mpofu
Zimbabwe Cricket Team – Profile
Profile for Zimbabwe team
Zimbabwe Cricket team is a team that has seldom shone in the world cricket with their performances. The team having less talent; can only challenge some teams in the World Cup. Their World Cup record is not much good. They have never gone far from first round. The only prospects of the team are their keeper Charles Coventry (who has the record of highest number of runs scored by an individual in one-day cricket), their captain Prosper Utseya, who can bat as well as bowl and some other players. Even though the team has such good perspectives in batting, they have very weak bowling attack that is not able to defend even big scores. Even though, Zimbabwe batting has shined in recent times, their bowling has failed to equal while defending the big scores.
The responsible factor for such a bad condition of Zimbabwe cricket team is the ongoing politics in the country that forced the good players to rebel from the cricket team. But, one cannot say anything about cricket. As the saying goes, “Cricket is by chance”. It is surely possible that Zimbabwe Cricket can bounce back from their current form in 2011 World Cup and can throw challenges to big teams just as did by India in 1983 and Sri Lanka in 1996.