Dion Ebrahim      

Dion Ebrahim held a regular place as a batsman in the Zimbabwe side for more than four years, opening in Tests and batting in the middle order in one-day cricket. Possessed of a good temperament and a sound technique, he nevertheless largely failed to live up to his potential with the bat, although he was known for being very quick between the wickets and as a brilliant fielder. Ebrahim made his Test debut against Bangladesh in April 2001, and after a shaky start to his career he made three scores of 71 in the space of four Tests and followed that effort up with 94 - the closest he got to a Test hundred - against India at Delhi in March 2002. He also scored a fifty in each of the two Tests in Zimbabwe's bleak 2003 England tour. His maiden ODI hundred, 121 against Bangladesh at Dhaka in November 2001, came before his first fifty in the format and despite his swiftness between the wickets Ebrahim struggled to score quickly in one-day internationals, as his career strike-rate of just 56.81 indicates.

In the turmoil which followed the sacking of Heath Streak he found himself in the role of the side's elder statesman and vice-captain. But he was a high-profile casualty of the bitter dispute between players and the board at the end of 2005, and when, bizarrely, he was not offered a central contract he upped sticks and signed a contract to play club cricket in England. He played for Stony Stratford Town in the Northants Cricket League, finishing the 2007 season as the club's leading scorer before moving to New Zealand, having seemingly been lost to Zimbabwe cricket for good. That all changed two years later, however, as he returned to Zimbabwe to play for the Matabeleland Tuskers and made himself available for national selection. Modest returns from his first season back in Zimbabwean domestic cricket meant such a call-up was by no means assured.
Liam Brickhill January 2010