A gritty opening batsman of the old school who once made 28 in 263 minutes against England A, Trevor Gripper was, by his own admission, a late developer. He impressed the selectors with a fifty for ZCU President's XI against the touring Australians in 1999-2000, and was surprisingly given a Test debut against them the following week, when he hit 60 in the second innings. Gripper is a strong on-side player who is aware that he needs to improve his shotmaking on the off side. After a spell out of the side, he returned for the tour of Bangladesh late in 2001, and ground out a maiden Test century at Chittagong. But bleak trips to Sri Lanka and India followed that and he was dropped again. However, consistent scores for his domestic side Mashonaland, including 234 against Manicaland, earned him a recall and a place on the 2003-04 Australia tour. But his international career hit the buffers when he joined the rebel strike in support of Heath Streak, and although all the players returned to work, Gripper was not among those reselected. While he did play league cricket in England, that he was overlooked was probably more to do with the fact that his father, Ray, a former Rhodesian captain, was identified by the board as a leading opponent and a thorn in their side.
Geoffrey Dean