Dave Houghton is one of Zimbabwe's best two batsmen in their short Test history, alongside Andy Flower. Houghton hit 121 in Zimbabwe's inaugural Test, against India at Harare in 1992-93, and cracked 266 - his country's highest Test score so far - against Sri Lanka at Bulawayo in 1994-95. Zimbabwe's first Test captain, Houghton has an exceptional cricket brain that helped him become national coach after a spell in charge at Worcestershire. As a batsman he had the ability to play either long, defensive innings or shorter, attacking ones, and he was a brilliant player of spin, but equally adept against pace. He started life as a wicketkeeper, but became a top-class slip fielder too, possibly helped by his time as Zimbabwe's hockey goalkeeper.
Geoffrey Dean