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Sports Reporter
BLESSING Muzarabani’s decision to quit international cricket this week to play in England for the next three years has raised eyebrows at a time when every focus, right now, appears to be on what is happening on the international scene in the game.
The 21-year-old fast bowler is reported to have signed for Northamptonshire, in a three-year deal, after choosing to suspend his international career, which was still in its infancy, in which he has played one Test, 18 One Day Internationals and six Twenty20 internationals for Zimbabwe, taking 27 wickets across formats.
That Muzarabani chose to move away from international cricket, at a time when some of the young players in the game have been using that level of the game to showcase their talents – with England 20-year-old all-rounder Sam Curran catching the eye with a man-of-the-match show against India in the first Test in Birmingham – has raised some eyebrows.
It has emerged that there were spirited efforts by some of the domestic game’s leaders to advise Muzarabani that his future would be best served in the trenches of international cricket, at the moment, but those efforts did not produce the expected results.
“The challenge with this arrangement is that Blessing is likely to be only active during the cricket season in England, which is the summer time there which is about to come to an end now, and that might not help his development the way that international cricket could have done,” sources said.
“Without international cricket, he can’t have the stats that are needed to attract the suitors from, let’s say the Indian Premier League, or other high-profile tournaments around the world and that means that his season, for the year, will be a short four-or-so-month period.
“For a 21-year-old who has so much potential, and who should be playing regularly around the world, this doesn’t seem to be the best arrangement in terms of him improving his game in the long run and these are some of the things that were put to him to consider.
“The big debate today in English cricket is why Sam Curran, who is only 20, was dropped from the third Test against India to make way for Ben Stokes and that tells you that all the focus is on international cricket and Sam’s comments, after his man-of-the-match performance against India in the first Test, showed that those who really want to become stars in the game, strive to play international cricket.
“Cricket is largely about what you do in the colours of your country and all the greatest players in the game – from the legendary West Indies, the Australians, the Indians, the South Africans, you name them – are remembered for what they did in international cricket not what they did for their clubs.”
Muzarabani made an impression on his new club when he toured England as part of an initiative by Zimbabwe Cricket to help develop some of the country’s best emerging cricketers.
“Solomon Mire is playing club cricket in Australia, where he stays, but he knows that it’s international cricket that matters and that is why you have seen him making an effort to represent his country,” said the sources.
“That should have been the arrangement that should have been made for Blessing because he stood to gain more, in the next three years, playing international cricket.
“The best ranked Test bowler in the world is only 23 years, Kagiso Rabada of South Africa, and he has made a great impression in international cricket and not playing for clubs or playing on the county scene in England.
“Brendan Taylor, who is one of the best cricketers to come out of this country, returned to international cricket despite all his success in county cricket because he knows that is the real deal.
“The same can also be said about Kyle Jarvis.
“There is no question that Blessing is a potential star but, at this stage of his game, he needed the international game more.”
Online Reporter