Campbell McMillan: a biography

FULL NAME: Campbell McMillan
BORN: At Harare, 16 April 1982
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (2000/01)
KNOWN AS: Campbell McMillan. Nickname: Chrome (origin unknown!)
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Fast Medium
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy student

FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 16-18 February 2001, CFX Academy v Mashonaland, at Harare Sports Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaited

BIOGRAPHY (February 2001)

Campbell McMillan, one of the most impressive school cricketers of 2000, is now a student at the CFX Academy in Harare. He has no notable family background in cricket, although his father did play club cricket briefly and encouraged him ever since, as he says, he was able to pick up a bat and a ball. Campbell remembers at a very young age playing with his father in their yard, with his father throwing him plastic balls for him to hit.

His father was a farmer and the family has lived on several farms at different times. Unfortunately his parents divorced as Campbell was growing up, and he came to live with his mother in Harare from his upper primary school years. He was used to being away from his parents, as from the age of five he attended Springvale House, near Marondera, as a boarder. He started playing cricket there in Grade Three, but `I actually hated it!'

Despite his dislike, he must have shown a natural aptitude for the game, as he was selected for both the school colts and senior team. He gradually came to enjoy the game more, thanks mainly to the influence of his cricket master Mr Jogee, who also helped him begin as a pace bowler. He was an all-rounder almost from the start, and remembers scoring his first and so far only century when at colts level, 103 against Hillcrest. In the following match, against Ruzawi, he took eight wickets for three runs, bowling `as quickly as possible' in those days.

In Grade 7 he was a reserve for the Eastern Districts team in the national primary schools cricket week, but so quickly did his game develop in his first year at high school, Peterhouse, that he was selected for the national Under-14 team. This was followed by selectors for the Under-16 and Under-19 teams, twice. He did not play much for the first two teams, being more of a travelling reserve, but he went to the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka and took six wickets in the nine matches, bowling well without being outstanding. He was recovering at the time from a muscle strain in the back that had ruled him out of the South African tour, which included the South African Under-19 cricket week, and prevented him from playing for three months. He also went on a Zimbabwe Development tour to Kenya, which `wasn't a great tour for me'.

His best batting performance at high school was in his final match of 2000, when his team needed to score 315 to beat Falcon College. Campbell scored 87 off only 46 balls to put his team on the road to victory. He took three hauls of five wickets or more in his first-team career, one on his memorable debut in Form Four against St John's. His best was seven for 48 in the 1999 Prince Edward School Festival, against Hilton College from South Africa. His experiences included a school tour to the United Kingdom.

Without undue prompting from anybody else, Campbell decided to apply for the CFX Academy for 2001. "I said to myself I've got to give it a bash," he said. "It's a great opportunity for young cricketers if they're going to go anywhere in the game. It's a very high-standard operation, and I thought it's going to be worth it if I'm going to make cricket my career."

Campbell is currently playing for Alexandra Sports Club in Harare and "really enjoying it. That's where I think the base of my cricket is coming from. They really are doing a good job there." Attending high school near Marondera did not enable him to play for a club during his school days, but he played three years' winter cricket for Hwedza, after brief careers with a Watershed XI and Ruzawi River. He scored 67 as his highest score for Hwedza, against Goromonzi, and took a five-wicket haul against Harare South.

As a batsman he feels his main strength is the pull off the short ball, while he is also a good driver. At present he bats about number eight, but hopes to work his way up to number six or seven. His stock bowling delivery is the away-swinger, but varies it with the occasional inswinger, and can also cut the ball into the batsman. He usually fields near the boundary, from where he has a good throw, but can field in the slips. He captained teams in his primary school years but has had little captaincy experience since then.

Campbell pays tribute to the coaching of Dave Houghton, both at Under-19 level and at the Academy.

Cricket heroes: "Allan Donald. He's picture-perfect."

Toughest opponents: "The South African opening bowler at the World Cup" (probably Dewald Senekal). "But I've never had anyone I can't face. As a batsman, Andy Flower - it's a nightmare bowling to him! Trevor Gripper's also a nightmare; he'll sit there all day and plod away."

Immediate ambitions: "My main goal is to get to the 2003 World Cup, but I tend to take each day as it comes, and hopefully I'll be able to get into the national side as soon as possible."

Proudest achievement so far: "Going to the Under-19 World Cup. My cricket was really bad before I got chosen for that side, and when I heard I was going to the World Cup I couldn't believe it."

Best friends in cricket: Matthew Townshend and Ryan Butterworth.

Other qualifications: "Not really, but I got my O-levels. I could get into any technical drawing, architectural design career."

Other sports: First-team school rugby as fly half, first-team squash, tennis and golf; swimming, athletics (Zimbabwe colours). At present "a lot of squash, and I really enjoy golf."

Outside interests: "I absolutely love fishing - also skiing."