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ANDREW WHITTALL -- BIOGRAPHY
Full Name: Andrew Richard Whittall
Born: 28 March 1973, Umtali (now Mutare)
Major teams: Zimbabwe (1996/97- ); Matabeleland (1996/97-);
Cambridge University (1993- 1996).
Present club team: Old Miltonians (Bulawayo)
Known as: Andrew/Andy Whittall
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Off Breaks
Occupation: Currently unemployed
Test debut: First Test v Sri Lanka, at Colombo, 1996/97
ODI Debut: 3 September 1996, v Sri Lanka, Colombo
Biography (December 1996)
Andy Whittall has the unusual, but not unique, distinction of
representing his country overseas before playing first-class
cricket at home. (Peter Rawson, Eddo Brandes and Dan Rowett
among others also share this distinction.) But Andy is very
much a Zimbabwean, and after a profitable time at Cambridge
University has now come home to stay.
He was born in the eastern
border town of Umtali, now Mutare, but spent most of his boyhood
outside school on Humani Ranch, which is about 120 kilometres
from Chiredzi in the Lowveld. He and his cousin Guy, almost a
year older, lived together on the ranch which was started by his
grandfather and later taken over by his two sons, the respective
fathers of Guy and Andy. Andy's grandfather had captained Rugby
School at rugby, but decided to hunt in Africa at the age of 18
instead of staying in England and probably playing international
rugby. He had just enough money to complete the trip; he then
worked on a farm in Borrowdale, Salisbury (now Harare) until he
had enough money to buy a ranch in the Lowveld in partnership
with another man. Humani is near to the original ranch.
Although Andy's father did not have much interest in cricket
himself, he encouraged him and the boys played together a great
deal on the ranch. Andy was fortunate in attending schools
which fostered his talent for and interest in the game. Living
so far from an urban centre, Andy was naturally a boarder at
school. His junior school was Ruzawi, a well-known cricketing
school, and the headmaster at that time, Bryan Curtis, was a
strong influence on Andy's early progress. He found both good
coaching and excellent support there, as he did at his high
school, Falcon College, near Essexvale (now Esigodeni). He was
always an off-spinner, from his early junior school days, but he
still feels he did not really get into the game until he was
selected for the Fawns, the Zimbabwe Under-15 team, for whom he
also opened the batting. During his final two years at Falcon
he represented the school's first team and also the Zimbabwe
Schools team. The major highlight was the visit of the national
schools side to Australia, where he played with such other
well-known current players as Heath Streak, Craig Wishart and
Stuart Carlisle.
Despite opening the batting for a while, Andy
has yet to score a century in any form of cricket, an omission
that he will surely correct before long. His highest score, he
thinks, was his unbeaten 91 against Oxford University in 1994.
Probably his greatest achievement in school cricket was his
eight wickets for 11 runs, together with a fifty, in a key match
for Falcon against their rivals Plumtree School. He also played
hockey and rugby at school. While still at school, Andy played
club cricket for Old Miltonians in Bulawayo, the club to which
he has now returned. He had nine months to wait between the end
of his school career and his departure for England to read an
engineering degree at Cambridge University. It was then a
further six months before the English cricket season began; he
immediately found a place in the University team, with John
Crawley as his first captain and Graham Saville the coach. He
played as one of two off-spinners in abowling line-up that
relied primarily on spin; his batting was hardly considered and
he spent the season batting at 10 or even 11. This was a
mistake, as shown in the University match: in the Cambridge
second innings he hit 40 out of a last-wicket stand of 70, which
saved his team from an innings defeat, although they still lost
the match. His bowling average of 51, and indeed his bowling
figures through most of his career, do not do him justice, but
he has spent all his career so far playing for struggling teams.
He found it a big step upwards from schoolboy cricket to
playing against professionals, and soon realised the importance
of personal discipline if he was going to make the grade. In
1994, Andy was appointed captain of a very weak team, and his
own bowling form suffered as he struggled to make his side
competitive. However, he did have the satisfaction of saving
his team from another defeat in the University match against
Oxford. He scored 40 in the first innings, but Cambridge were
forced to follow on. An innings defeat looked inevitable, but
Andy stood firm and also played some fine aggressive strokes in
his unbeaten 91. When time ran out, he and his team were still
batting but would undoubtedly have lost without the fighting
spirit of their captain. 1995, Andy's second year as captain,
was his most successful at Cambridge. His team also did well,
and Andy himself said that they constantly surprised by playing
above the level expected -- although this did not extend to
winning a first-class match. He took 29 wickets in a good
personal bowling season, and again his best batting came in
adverse circumstances, staving off defeat against
Nottinghamshire. However, the University match was lost after
Cambridge collapsed in their second innings. In his fourth and
final year, Andy decided not to stand for a third year as
captain, but continued playing. His figures were disappointing,
but he was still highly regarded by English critics. That great
character Derek Randall was now the university coach, and Andy
particularly benefited from his exceptionally good mental
approach to the game, which rubbed off on everyone else, and his
ability to help keep the players' spirits up despite the uphill
battles that university cricketers have to face throughout every
season against county opposition. While at Cambridge, Andy
played rugby for his college, Trinity, hockey for the university
Under-21 team and also represented the university at the pole
vault.
With his university career coming to a successful
conclusion, he had to make decisions about his future. He did
apply for jobs in London, but his heart was not really in it; he
wanted to return to Zimbabwe and continue his cricket career
there. Had he stayed in England, he would either have had to
take up a full-time engineering job or join a county staff as a
professional. However, he could not use his qualifications in
Zimbabwe and stay on the ranch; neither Harare nor Bulawayo was
his home. After speaking to his cousin Guy, he decided to
return to Zimbabwe even without an assured future. He arrived
back just in time for some trial matches in preparation for the
tour of Sri Lanka, and with a first-class record behind him he
was included. He had had experience and exposure, and his
success in the trial games won him his place on tour. Although
he earned praise for his perseverance on helpful wickets, he
again failed to take the wickets he deserved and is not yet in
the class of the Sri Lankan spinners or Paul Strang. With the
presence in the team of other prominent all-rounders, he batted
low in the order, but his batting ability should be encouraged.
He has shown in the past that his batting thrives on pressure
situations. He played in the First Test in Pakistan, where his
figures were badly spoilt by Wasim Akram. Andy still has no
regular job, but has the option of employment at the start of
February 1997, with Chase Minerals, near Kwekwe. If taken up, it
will make it more difficult for him to play quality cricket, but
if his career develops he may well be offered a professional
contract. Andy is a lover of the outdoors, as befits one brought
up on a ranch: he enjoys travelling, going skiing, fishing, and
has recently taken up golf for fun. His cricket continues to
develop: as a fellow off-spinner, he finds the advice of John
Traicos particularly helpful. John has helped him to put more
body into his bowling action, and also taught him a great deal
about tactics and the mental approach to the game. He has also
learnt a great deal by simply playing with the national side,
especially from Dave Houghton and Andy Flower.
Andy enters the tour by England as
Zimbabwe's second spinner, and therefore his
place in the team is uncertain. However, he has played against
most of the touring team and has a good knowledge of their
strengths and weaknesses to offer. He will be looking to
develop his all-round ability to the point where Zimbabwe can
afford to employ two spinners again. Andy Flower says, "Andy has
come into the side from Cambridge University without playing
much local cricket, which surprised some people. He struggled a
little in Sri Lanka, not because he bowled badly, but because
the Sri Lankans play the spinners really well and if they are
offered any sight of a bad ball they do dispatch it. I think he
could do a good job for Zimbabwe; he's young and he has a good
cricketing brain. I think he needs to be more disciplined in
bowling tightly as he tends to let the batsman off the hook
every now and then."
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