Series Discussion: Logan Cup & Pro50 | 2026 Oct 23 - 2027 Feb 27

Quoted from Andy31 in post #47420

Going by all the Welch stuff, i would say the only people treating white players different is ZC.

If most of what is said is true, then to have no official report or statement is protecting a White player. They didnt do that to Wes or Mavuta

Historically, ZC has not treated white players particularly well, but I'm not convinced there is sufficient evidence that Nick has been treated unfairly because of his lack of melanin. ZC's communication has always been atrocious, and this situation is no exception. However, I also believe Nick could have handled things differently.

I've been thinking about the sequence of events that brought us here. My suspicion is that he may have gradually developed the feeling that he wasn't wanted. I have no evidence that this is how he actually felt, but I think there's a plausible argument to be made.

Hear me out. ⬇️

From Success to Frustration

Nick moved from the Eagles to the Mountaineers and enjoyed a phenomenal 2024/25 season, scoring 823 Logan Cup runs at 58.79 to finish as the competition's leading run-scorer. He was also entrusted with the Mountaineers captaincy and enjoyed success in that role.

Then something rather strange happened. Nick was replaced as captain midway through the season, with Tendai Chatara taking over as captain in the Logan Cup and Wellington Masakadza eventually captaining the side in the Pro50 final. Mountaineers went on to win both competitions.

That, in my opinion, was a dodgy decision. Why replace a captain when the team is winning? Was there an internal disagreement? Did Nick violate team policy? Was it a tactical decision? We don't know, and perhaps we never will.

What we do know is that Nick contributed significantly to Mountaineers' success, both as a batsman and during his time as captain. Yet he wasn't the man lifting either trophy at the end of the season. I imagine that must have been disappointing.

National Selection

In December 2024, Nick was omitted from Zimbabwe's Test squad to face Afghanistan despite having scored heavily in the Logan Cup. I believe he scored 3 centuries in his first 3 matches.

He eventually made his Test debut against Ireland in February 2025, scoring 90, and followed that with a half century against Bangladesh.

Then came the historic Test against England in May. Nick had already demonstrated that he could score runs at Test level. He also scored 87 in the second innings of the warm up match against a county select XI. Despite this, he was left out of the playing XI at Trent Bridge.

Was his omission justified? Possibly. Wes had also performed well in the warm up and offered something with the ball. There were legitimate team balance considerations.

But imagine being Nick. You've dominated domestic cricket, scored 90 on Test debut, contributed another half century and performed well in the warm up, only to watch Zimbabwe's first Test on English soil in more than two decades from the sidelines. Surely that would sting.

To the selectors' credit, Nick subsequently received a decent run in the Test side, playing against South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan. His 55 against South Africa and unbeaten 47 against New Zealand were particularly encouraging, given the quality of the opposition.

His overall Test average of 26.29 is nothing extraordinary. He struggled with consistency and converting starts into substantial scores. It also didn't help that he was always under pressure. Every innings felt like he was fighting for his career. However, he was still relatively inexperienced and had already demonstrated that he could score runs against quality international attacks.

Given Zimbabwe's perennial batting struggles, I thought there was plenty to be encouraged about. He wasn't the finished article, but there were signs that he could develop into a valuable Test batsman. If not at number 3, perhaps further down at 5.

When Things Started Going Wrong

Unfortunately, Nick's domestic form deteriorated considerably during the 2025/26 season. Matty also struggled.

There were allegations of questionable umpiring decisions, particularly LBWs against Nick. I haven't verified these claims and won't accuse any umpire of deliberately targeting him. If time permits, I may revisit the available match footage to see whether there's any substance to the allegations.

But, take a moment to look at this from Nick's perspective.

He had lost the Mountaineers captaincy, endured some disappointing selection decisions and was struggling to score runs. If he also believed that umpires were repeatedly giving marginal decisions against him, it could have reinforced his perception that the system was against him. Whether that perception was justified is another matter entirely.

Feeling unwanted does not necessarily mean that somebody is deliberately trying to get rid of you.

In fact, the evidence doesn't establish that ZC had it in for Nick. He received several Test opportunities after the England omission, and his subsequent loss of form gave the selectors legitimate reasons to consider alternatives.

Nevertheless, I wonder whether these experiences gradually took their toll on him. Eventually, his frustration appeared to boil over.

The reported vandalism following an LBW decision was unacceptable. If the allegations of a physical confrontation with officials are true, that behaviour is equally unacceptable. Professional sportspeople cannot respond to disappointment or perceived injustice by damaging property or assaulting officials. Frustration is understandable. Losing your temper occasionally is human. But there are lines that should never be crossed.

If Nick genuinely believed that people within ZC wanted him to fail, the best response would have been to score runs and make himself impossible to ignore. He had already demonstrated that he possessed the ability to do exactly that. Instead, his frustrations appear to have contributed to disciplinary problems at precisely the time when his batting needed the most attention.

What About Mathew?

Matty's apparent departure is equally disappointing. He showed enough promise to suggest that he could eventually challenge for a place in the national side.

He was also capable of keeping wicket, which could have made him particularly valuable in a domestic system that has struggled to produce reliable wicketkeeper batsmen.

I don't know whether his apparent decision to walk away was influenced by Nick's experiences or frustrations of his own. It would be unfair to invent an explanation on his behalf. Whatever the reasons, losing a promising young player before we've discovered how good he might become would be deeply disappointing.

So, Why Walk Away?

Like I said at the beginning, Nick may have gradually become disillusioned with Zimbabwe cricket.

Perhaps the captaincy change was the beginning. Perhaps the selection disappointments reinforced that feeling. Perhaps his loss of form, coupled with the umpiring controversies, made an already difficult situation unbearable. Or perhaps none of these things played a significant role, and there are other reasons for his apparent decision. I don't know. Nor can I establish that he was treated unfairly because of his race, personality or relationships within ZC. These possibilities cannot be ruled out simply because there is no public evidence, but neither should they be presented as established facts.

What we do know is that Nick's career took a rather unfortunate turn. He went from being the country's leading Logan Cup run scorer and a successful provincial captain to struggling for form, facing disciplinary problems and apparently walking away from the game.

Although I can understand how repeated disappointments might leave somebody feeling unwanted, I also believe Nick had an opportunity to turn things around. He had already shown that he could compete at Test level. He was still young enough to improve his consistency and address his conversion problems. One poor domestic season didn't have to define the rest of his career.

Cricket is a difficult profession. Form comes and goes. Selection decisions don't always make sense. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride, return to the nets and let the bat do the talking. Of course, that's easier said than done when you're the person living through those disappointments.

Ultimately, it's Nick's decision to make, just as it's Matty's. I won't judge either brother for deciding they've had enough. We don't know what happened behind closed doors, what conversations took place or what personal considerations influenced their decisions.

If they've genuinely decided to walk away, I wish them both well.

For Zimbabwe cricket, however, this would be a massive loss. We don't have an abundance of batsmen who have demonstrated Nick's potential against quality international opposition. Nor can we afford to keep losing promising young players like Mathew.

I certainly hope we haven't seen the last of either brother. Perhaps a change of franchise and a fresh start could help. It would be a bloody shame if Nick's Zimbabwe career ended before we ever discovered how good he could become.

Quoted from dandy in post #47425

Geez admin 😂

Only googly posts something that length hey 😂

Didn’t welch punch some guy in a gym parking lot a few years back? It’s no new thing this beef.

He was unlucky in England. Old Raz was involved like normal. Was in the PSL and basically flew in and out of England within the space of a few days to play the test, skipped the warm up. Even flew back to the PSL on day four of the test. Casual 60, out and on the plane 😂😂 at the time it was spun by ZC as Raz in for Wellington as a spin option and one of the seamers in for welch 🤔 they couldn’t even say Raz was in for welch and Wellington was dropped for a fourth seamer.

That says it all and it’s ludicrous 😂😂 ZC’s official position was yeah we dropped a spinner for an extra batter and dropped a batter for an extra seamer 😂😂😂😂🚮🚮🚮 literally anybody else would be yeah we haven’t gone with a spinner we went with the four seamers 🤷🏻‍♂️

None of the mountaineers games he was involved in were on pitchvision 😂😂

His international career seemed to be feast or famine from what I remember. His average in that lengthy post is 26.29, I don’t ever remember him scoring anything near that though. He seemed to either get a 50 or there abouts or out for less than 10 😂. Some guys like Ervine averaging 35 or whatever probably do actually consistently score around 35 every knock. Welch didn’t seem that kind of guy to me.

One of the tests last winter he nicked off and the umpire didn’t give it. Tino Mawoyo was incredulous on commentary. Like a questionable decision has gone our way for the first time ever and old Tino is raging because welch got away with one rather than pleased Zim as a team got away with one 😂😂

I think with Evans it was legit. Seem to remember he was injured and didn’t play anything for about 18 months. Not for Sogo, not for rhinos, nothing. For him to come straight back into the national side after an 18 month lay off would have been favouritism. His skills weren’t in doubt but he’d fallen down the pecking order by not being there and definitely needed to prove he was match fit.

Curran and welch are county rejects from the two worst counties in England 😂😂 it’s the white PR again 😂 certain fanbases think they’ve played county and are white so must be super awesome.

Relieved to see Naqvi's name in the Eagles side.

Nice to see Bawa in there as well. Keen to see how he goes. He's been hyped quite a bit on this forum.

The Rocks have a solid squad. Will be keeping a close eye on Hlabangana, M. Campbell and Taruvinga.

Quoted from Pat_Bee in post #47428

Curran and welch are county rejects from the two worst counties in England 😂😂 it’s the white PR again 😂 certain fanbases think they’ve played county and are white so must be super awesome.

The thing about hyping white players for simply being white is real. You won't get any arguments from me there. It's no different from what your pal Zolsky does.

It's also hard to argue against your point about Nick being a "feast or famine" type of player. However, his career was still in its infancy. With more games he could have improved. Who knows?

Quoted from dandy in post #47425

Say what you may, but Nick never came across as a particularly good batter anyhow. Innocent Kaia is loads better, even in a lean run his technique seems sound, unlike Nick

I see things differently. 3 Test 50s and an unbeaten 47 against NZ suggest he wasn't out of his depth in international cricket.

I'm not qualified to talk about technique because I never played the sport at international level. I can't really comment on that part of your argument. However, your point about Kaia being better is valid. The numbers agree. Personally, on current form, I will pick Kaia over Welch all day.

If it wasn't clear in my Googly-esque post, I'm not here to defend Nick Welch by the way. The vandalism and the alleged physical confrontation with officials was unacceptable behaviour.

I am not even making the argument that he should still be in the national side. He was horribly out of form last season. Instead of doing the work in the nets, he chose to take out his frustration on a door that couldn't defend itself.

I still hope Nick comes back. If you take out the senior guys, I would say he is among the 10 best batsmen in the country. For that reason, his departure is a massive loss for Zim cricket.

Quoted from Pat_Bee in post #47426

Quoted from dandy in post #47425

Geez admin 😂

Only googly posts something that length hey 😂

😂😂😂 we need SZ back. He always had a way of neutralising you Pat_Bee.

Eagles vs Rocks Pro50 stream.

Eagles batted first, reaching 246/9 in their 50 overs.
Rodney Mufudza 88(100)

It seems there is no stream for the Mountaineers vs Tuskers game. You can follow the game on Cricinfo.

Mountaineers 234/7 at the innings break
Maruma and Ronak Patel with half centuries. Spencer Magodo with a quick fire 44.