James Cameron was born in Harare and played age-group cricket for the country of his birth, appearing alongside the likes of Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya and Sean Williams in the Zimbabwe Under-19 side in 2004, before departing for Australia to attend the University of Western Australia. While there, studying for a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he played Grade cricket and represented University CC Perth, and even got a look in for the Western Australia Select XI.

He headed to the United Kingdom, rather than back home to Zimbabwe where cricketing stocks were dwindling, after completing his studies and, being a British passport holder, soon showed up on the county radar. He was recommended to Worcestershire by Dave Houghton, and in January 2010 he signed a contract with them - a rapid development that even he admitted being surprised by. In just his his seventh first-class game for them, Cameron showed both the application and technique to suggest he could have a decent future at county level, scrapping his way to 95 against a marauding Chris Tremlett and a Surrey attack also containing Stuart Meaker and Jade Dernbach. A month later, he helped secure Worcestershire's promotion to Division One by scoring his maiden first-class century, as an opener, in a remarkable final-day run-chase.

The question of whether Cameron would consider a return to Zimbabwe, with the country's return to the Test arena, was asked several times but he maintained his allegiance to Worcestershire. In the summer of 2012, however, he announced his retirement from cricket in order to pursue a career in financial services.
Liam Brickhill