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Ryan Higgins Turned Down Zimbabwe Approach

Zimbabwe Cricket Forum 32 posts 270 views

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Opening post

ZC wanting yet another supposedly ready made player just shows they are pretending to do s**t here.

Where is the HPC and Coach, where are the indoor centres, bowling machines etc?

A quick fix so they can enjoy figuring out how to loot from the stadium funds without making it too obvious. Cricket is just an embarrassing side show for them.

Why can't ICC just send them money and we not have to play cricket, its a real inconvenience? They should petition ICC, there will be a crook there that might bite.
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It’s almost as if ZC can’t win here?

You know I agree with your general points above , but surely it’s not a bad thing going out to the diaspora and trying to strengthen our pool that way as well. I don’t see how this is a bad thing.
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It's a good thing. But it's a cop out for not developing local talent.

The more diaspora guys that come back the better, but let's get a quality coach also working in a professional environment with our top 10 batters 3 or 4 days a week. Or give them stuff to work on with their own throwers.

Let's get 6 merlins in here and 6 indoor centres. Level the playing field for local guys.
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Higgins doesn't really have any roots here. He and his family moved out years ago. They won't double his salary I don't think. The attraction for him they're thinking is international cricket. We don't play much of it, it's expensive and embarrassing.

They don't really have the right carrot to dangle for him.

Once you're married and settled it's not easy.

The real attraction for most of our players is to do well in T20 and hopefully get well paid T20 gigs. To copy Raza essentially. And it's because they need it to make a living and save some money, buy a house, plan for retirement, get a side business etc etc
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Someone asked about Ballance because I said don't discount a comeback. Why would that be impossible?

A lot would depend on his financial circumstances, I don't know them. His family farms. A s**t year or two and he'd need to make some money. El Nino is here.

Don't discount BT. Who's turning down 10k a month and a world cup? We need a better team environment and admin. You tick that box and he'll give it a go.

Muyeye is out of favor in Kent and currently not doing do well. ECB are desperate for a black player with a fairy story but Tawanda isn't banging the runs. You'll find he doesn't mind Zanu too much.

Cartwright I know nothing about. Roots, family and money are what would potentially make him consider.

Byrom has family there, but has roots here, and currently not doing that well. WC is a big carrot.

In a perfect storm you'd have a lot of good players vying for not a lot of spots.
ZCF OriginalLegend

Googly wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2024 9:07 am

Muyeye is out of favor in Kent and currently not doing do well. ECB are desperate for a black player with a fairy story but Tawanda isn't banging the runs. You'll find he doesn't mind Zanu too much.


Yes 😂 I’m convinced it will happen one day. ZC would be foolish to not at least try. He’d suit their own agenda of having a gun black batter seeing as Wes and Marumani haven’t exactly come up with the goods. Out of favour at Kent is a major red flag 😂 Rob Key with his connections should be pulling strings to get Tawanda as much game time as possible if the ECB are dead set on him.

Higgins; I can see why they’ve gone for him. He wouldn’t be first choice on my shopping list however. I’d personally be looking for an out and out batter like Eddie B or Tawanda, that’s where we really need shoring up. Sure our bowling isn’t setting the world alight but it’s in far healthier condition than our batting. It’s the batting or lack of that sees us lose time and time again.

Williams and Raza do contribute some overs but really they are batters, Ervine is a batter and nothing else, once the big three have retired then the gaping hole in our side is in the batting. Higgins strikes me as another middle order all rounder of which we have many. He’d be a useful addition to the squad but hardly single handedly winning games for us.
ZCF OriginalLegend
BT is the most possible.

Ballance, I’m not sure. Seem to remember part of the deal when he signed for us was he couldn’t sign for another county for two years but after that was fair game. If anyone would take him then I’d say he’d take that gig over us. I don’t really know how it would work for him though since playing for us, like whether that would make him an overseas guy now or not. Guess that would come into it.

Eddie B is making runs but not on the ECB’s radar any time soon, I wouldn’t think. He’ll be on sweet dollar at Glamorgan so the draw for him would be international cricket.

I also know nothing about this Cartwright fella 😂
Legend
Byrom just hit 86 in latest County match. Had been a little out of form.
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Honestly there’s more chance of me playing for Zimbabwe than Ballance or BT going forward.
ZCF OriginalLegend

secretzimbo wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2024 9:58 am

Honestly there’s more chance of me playing for Zimbabwe than Ballance or BT going forward.


😂 If you can hold a bat you’re in the team bro
ZCF OriginalLegend
Old Ben Curran in the mix if he can get his game in order. Not being contracted with Northants anymore makes ZC’s negotiating easier if they wanted him.

Forum favourite Naqvi playing Saltburn CC today in the NYSD league. 😂 needs a couple of big scores to get his name back in the frame.
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Naqvi being out of the country for the whole winter f**ks his residency qualification. So thats that gone.

If Curran was serious then he'd do the hard yards and do an NPL season here like everyone else. He won't be in the picture until he does. He just seems to fly in for a couple of months and then fly out again. They won't take him seriously until he's around full-time.
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Pat_Bee wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2024 10:04 am


secretzimbo wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2024 9:58 am

Honestly there’s more chance of me playing for Zimbabwe than Ballance or BT going forward.


😂 If you can hold a bat you’re in the team bro


Spoiler: I can't.
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secretzimbo wrote: ↑Sat May 25, 2024 10:17 am

Naqvi being out of the country for the whole winter f**ks his residency qualification. So thats that gone.

If Curran was serious then he'd do the hard yards and do an NPL season here like everyone else. He won't be in the picture until he does. He just seems to fly in for a couple of months and then fly out again. They won't take him seriously until he's around full-time.


Ya Curran is hoping for an hallelujah double hundred without the hard yards. Plus we've seen enough if him to know he's a journeyman. Ain't gonna happen for him.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Perhaps we could get the original Ryan Higgins back? He did once dismiss Brian Lara!

https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers ... gins-55518

If I have learned anything over my years of following Zimbabwean cricketers around the globe, it is never to ordain someone returning from England a saviour. Jarvis came back half the bowler he was when he left, Nick Welch has struggled mightily, Ballance didn't last long, there is no guarantee the second Ryan Higgins would set the world alight.
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
Cartwright has done wonders in the Australian scene- very hard done by to not play more internationals. I wonder if he'd be in a similar situation to Higgins if he plays for Zim. Only a certain number of internationals allowed in the Big Bash and its a tight selection process. Same for Sheffield Shield- I can't think of the last time an international played Shield.
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eugene wrote: ↑Sun May 26, 2024 4:45 am

Perhaps we could get the original Ryan Higgins back? He did once dismiss Brian Lara!

https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers ... gins-55518

If I have learned anything over my years of following Zimbabwean cricketers around the globe, it is never to ordain someone returning from England a saviour. Jarvis came back half the bowler he was when he left, Nick Welch has struggled mightily, Ballance didn't last long, there is no guarantee the second Ryan Higgins would set the world alight.


What is England doing to ruin these players do you think?
ZCF OriginalLegend
Huge lack of game time, might be lucky to get a bit of a run in the one day cup while the good guys are in the hundred.

The conditions; if you can bowl that dukes ball at a certain speed and swing it then you’re a threat. No need to work on getting an extra yard of pace or getting some variations in your kit bag.

On the flip side with most of the Champo at the start and back ends of the season, the ball is king. So if you’re making runs you’re pretty boss.

Ballance 😂 😂 well who knows what went wrong there? I think he ruined himself rather than England tbh. He had a reasonable international career and a very solid county career. He came back here after all that Rafiq business and his heart wasn’t truly in it ever I’d suspect.
ZCF Original
Byrom, Higgins, maybe some others I don't know. They should be courted to play for Zimbabwe.

I do not see a conflict from being pursued to play for Zimbabwe national squad and continuing playing in overseas domestic leagues.

Apart from few overlappings, there would be plenty of chances: England has just a 6 (-1) months seasons, where (-1) is the month for the Hundred.

There are a lot of months to play fixtures for Zimbabwe national squad.

Not only there is space in time, there is also opportunity.

None of Byrom or Higgins have other chances to play international cricket in any other Country.

Sadly for them, they do not also have chances to play in prestigious (and lucrative) T20 leagues worldwide.

So why not a few stints in Zimbabwe national team?
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For the 100th time on this forum and the 2nd time literally on this thread.....

If they play for Zimbabwe then they can no longer play in England as a domestic player.

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