Peter Rinke - a biography

FULL NAME: Harry Peter Rinke
BORN: At Marondera, 5 November 1981
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (2001/02). Present club side: Old Hararians
KNOWN AS: `Piet' Rinke. Nicknames: Piet, Rinks.
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Fast Medium
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy student

FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 15-17 February 2002, CFX Academy v Manicaland, at Mutare Sports Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaited

BIOGRAPHY (April 2002)

Peter Rinke, known as `Piet', is a powerfully-built all-rounder currently with the CFX Academy. He owes his nickname, he says, to his grandfather, who was also Harry Peter and had two cousins with exactly the same names. To avoid too much confusion, his grandfather called himself Piet, with the Afrikaans spelling, and the current Piet adopted the same names years later.

Piet unusually has not only no family background in cricket, but in no other sporting disciplines at all to any significant effect, his family being more intellectually inclined. "I'm definitely the first in any branch of the family to do anything sporting-wise," he says. However, as has grown older he has converted the tennis court on the family farm near Marondera into a cricket net.

Not surprisingly in view of this, Piet was a late starter to the game and only began to take a real interest in cricket at high school, where his friends played and slowly drew him into it. He really started to enjoy it, he says, at about Form Three level at Eaglesvale High School, when he came under the wing of Stephen Mangongo, coach at the school but more widely known for his work in the townships. "He started taking me seriously and I just took it from there," Piet says.

He did play cricket while at Digglefold Primary School near Marondera, but not seriously in any way, so he was vaguely familiar with the basics of the game. He did well enough to play for the first team for three years, so his natural talent was obvious, although he had no memorable performances to look back on, just recalling vaguely the odd twenty or thirty with the bat.

In Form One at Eaglesvale he actually went on tour to South Africa with his age-group team but he was, in his won words, the fifteenth player in the party, `a place-keeper', and he played very little, which disappointed him, although he very much enjoyed the rest of the tour. One of the best players of his age-group, Dirk Bezuidenhout, `gave him a hard time' for the next year or two, although Piet now realizes that his intentions were good, for he recognized Piet's talent and was trying to persuade him to work hard and make the most of it.

He played no representative cricket at all during his school years, although in his final year at Eaglesvale he did extremely well and was bitterly disappointed to miss selection for the national Under-19 team. He finished the season with a batting average approaching 60, and taking more than 20 wickets at an average of about 12. In 13 innings he recalls that he failed to reach fifty only three times, although he never went on to reach a century - a performance of remarkable consistency. He took five wickets in an innings on three occasions, without equalling his best performance of six in an innings two years earlier against St George's College.

He left school at the end of 2000, and the following year went to play club cricket for Duncan Park in Hemsley, North Yorkshire. "Lovely town, lovely people. What I learnt there was just fabulous," he said. "My knowledge of cricket was increased by at least 500%. I worked with great players like Don Wilson - especially Don Wilson; he is fabulous - Collis King, Graham Roope, Barry Wood, wicket-keeper Rodney Cass. There was a junior county tournament there as well, and just helping with that and learning from all these great players was just amazing. The knowledge they have in their heads is incomparable."

For the club, he reached 98 twice and 99 once, and says, "I've reached the nineties about six times but never reached 100 yet." He took six for 19 as his best figures.

He has played club cricket for Old Hararians in Harare for the past three seasons, and after two games in the second team was promoted to the firsts. In his first season he took five wickets for seven runs in the national league semi-final against Harare Sports Club. He is grateful for the help and advice he has enjoyed from the senior players such as Trevor Penney, Gary Brent, Paul and Bryan Strang. The club struggled, though, when the national players were away and the Zimbabwe Board XI were playing, and Piet says, "A lot of our success comes down to myself, Nyasha (Chari), Ryan Butterworth and Conan Brewer. At the ages of 18, 19 or 20 we're the senior players of the side."

Gary Brent, Piet feels, has been the greatest influence on his career so far. "The amount of work he puts in is incredible," he says. "He's my idol when it comes to cricket and I definitely look up to him. He always tries his best and always pushes you to your best, to perform at your highest level. Trevor Penney has had a lot to do with me as well, though he hasn't played so much this season. When you play with him, the whole spirit of the game just lifts up - he's a fabulous player."

Piet is disappointed with his batting at club level, though, where his highest score in competitive matches is 34, although he made 74 in one friendly. It hasn't helped being shuffled around in the batting order, batting anywhere from three to eight, and when the side is at full strength at number ten. Two years ago his bowling was handicapped by a back strain, but he feels he has now completely recovered from this.

With the bat Piet is strongest off his legs, especially in one-day cricket. Ideally he would like to bat at number three or four. As a bowler he feels he is able to bowl `a magnificent line and length', and his consistency is his main virtue. On lively pitches in particular he is difficult to score from and generally returns economical figures. His favourite fielding position is midwicket, from where he feels he can read the game most readily.

Cricket heroes: Gary Brent and Trevor Penney. "I'd have to say Collis King, Don Wilson - just because I've met them and spoken to them. Don Wilson didn't do much at international level, but there's his knowledge of the game and what he did for Yorkshire cricket. I respect that a lot and really look up to him."

Toughest opponents: Bowler - "I really struggle with Jordane Nicolle; he's got a very fast arm action." Batsman - "Davy Houghton. I played one game against him a year ago and he made me feel like a little twelve-year-old. He really fiddled me around and played me to all areas of the park."

Personal ambitions: "It's my dream just to captain a side in one game. I'd even go and captain in a minor game; it's really my ambition to captain in one game in my life. My next stage is I have to get a century - you can't call yourself a top-order batsman if you haven't scored a ton yet. A century is a century in all kinds of cricket; obviously I'd love to get one at the highest level. I'm definitely aiming to get one before the end of this season (2001/02). I'm not playing too badly and Dave Houghton has worked a lot with me in the nets. I want to get a five-fer as well in first-class cricket, but it's all about time: you can't burst on to the first-class scene and expect to be the best player in the world. I definitely want to play for my country but I don't want it too soon - I just want it when I'm ready for it."

Proudest achievement so far: "Obviously a match-winning performance has to be a highlight of your career. I'd like to say that five for seven at Harare Sports Club that won us the game, and also in the UK that six for 18 off 20-off overs."

Best friends in cricket: Andre Hoffman, Ryan Butterworth, Conan Brewer.

Other qualifications: Qualified tennis coach. "Other than that, I've just been working in my sister's company, Compressor Tech, doing absolutely everything, from general dogsbody to managerial jobs!"

Other sports: Hockey (two years for Mashonaland), tennis (Mashonaland East junior tennis), rugby in junior years.

Outside interests: "I love my motorbike; I really enjoy my music; I enjoy socializing, talking to people and being with people."

Views on cricket: "Cricket in this country has to go forward, but unfortunately politics are coming into the game here. There are some people just riding the wave like everybody else, and I believe that's killing the game of cricket here. I just hope that can be sorted out before long. I believe our standard of cricket here is not bad at all; it's of a high standard. Our first-class standard is very high when the national players and A team players are here. We can definitely compete against the best, but we just have to get these problems sorted out."