Bennet and Campbell point to a brighter future for Zim cricket

ZIMBABWE’S young cricket players, Jonathan Campbell and Brian Bennett, have shown their mettle in the senior team’s challenging tour of Bangladesh, according to commentators.

Despite poor performances from experienced players, Campbell and Bennett have stepped up to the plate with impressive innings, prompting talk of a bright future for the Chevrons.

Campbell excelled in the second T20I against Bangladesh, scoring 45 runs on debut, while he and Bennett provided a crucial 73-run partnership for the sixth wicket, pulling Zimbabwe back from a precarious 42/5.

Campbell (25) impressed with a brilliant 45 runs, while Bennett (20) was unbeaten on 44.
Their heroics have generated excitement in the cricketing world.

“We didn’t have the best of starts again, but I’m sure we are going to look good in the next few games. I think the way Brian and I played in the middle overs was certainly encouraging,” said Campbell after the match.

Their performances provided confidence that would-be replacements have been discovered for Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine, according to Zimbabwean cricket writer Adam Theofilatos.

“It’s good to see these younger players coming in because somebody is going to replace Ervine, Williams and Raza one day and I think maybe these two could be the ones,” he said, while hosting an X space, Zim Cricket Lounge.

Author and cricket analyst, Baynham Goredema, called for consistency from the young players.
“I’m happy for Campbell. I watched the innings together with Bennett and they seemed to be enjoying themselves in the middle.

They are very confident and easy going and I like to see that. It was great for him to score 45 runs. I was hoping that he would get his 50, I really wanted him to get his 50 because it was a nice innings,” he said.

“But, I never really had my hopes that high. We’ve had so many of these players that we say are the future, but it always kind of levels out to the same old could have done better, could have been the next big thing.

So, I’m not overly excited, I would say Campbell more than Bennett for me because Bennett seems to be probably a real grafter, not so much a natural talent. But that’s a good thing and all the same, the results were there, they played and scored runs when it mattered, and that will always count.

“All these thoughts I have don’t matter if someone is putting up runs, no matter how they are coming and they are able to do that consistently, I will be happy,” said Goredema.

Campbell’s 45 runs off 24 balls was the highest score by a Zimbabwean batter on T20I debut, surpassing Tarisai Musakanda’s 43 runs, while Bennett’s unbeaten 29-ball 44 runs was also his highest individual score in the format.

In his second international match for the Chevrons, Campbell had a cameo for his 21 runs which came off just 10 deliveries. In two matches, Campbell has scored 66 runs at an average of 33.

He has 30 First Class appearances under his name and has managed to amass 1 678 runs with a high score of 194 runs at an average of 32,90. He scored four centuries and eight half-tons.

He has no centuries in List A cricket, but has eight 50s under his name in 39 matches at an average of 34,29. Campbell has also played 28 T20s, scoring 359 runs at an average of 15,6 with a high score of 46 runs.

In his first nine matches for Zimbabwe, Bennett managed 157 runs, with a high score of 44 not out and an average of 22,42.

The duo appears to be what the Chevrons batting order has been looking for and look set to be the country’s next big cricketers, continuing the legacies that will be left by Raza, Ervine and Williams. —@brandon_malvin