Andrew Stone - a short biography

ANDREW STONE

FULL NAME: Andrew John Stone
BORN: At Harare, 6 January 1983
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (1999/2000)
KNOWN AS: Andrew Stone. Nicknames: Dombo (Shona for `Stone), Pebbles, Stony.
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Fast Medium
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy student
FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 24-26 March 2000, CFX Academy v Manicaland, at Mutare
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaited

BIOGRAPHY (October 2000)

Andrew Stone is the youngest member of the CFX Academy, just turning 17 years of age when he joined straight after taking his O-level examinations at school, and he made his first-class debut just two months later. He is also one of the most promising, having a fine record behind him at different age-group levels.

Andrew is actually a relative, second cousin by marriage, of the South African captain Shaun Pollock. His earliest memories of the game are of playing with other South African cousins on the beach down there while on holiday. His family has always shown an interest in his cricket but did not play a great part in introducing him to the game.

Andrew attended the small Hellenic junior school in Harare, where he was guided throughout by the sports coach Donald Mlambo. Despite coming from a lesser known school, he drew enough attention to himself by his performances to be appointed captain of the national Under-13 side in his final year. He also captained a junior school development team that played in Johannesburg. He was always an all-rounder who enjoyed both batting and bowling; he says that over the years he has always been performing well in one department while struggling in the other, `but just recently they have both come together'. "I'm confident now I can class myself as an all-rounder," he says.

Andrew has always been a pace bowler, and batted in the first three almost throughout his school career, although he has recently moved down to the middle order. He now prefers number five or six, although a little higher in limited-over matches. At junior school his top score was 98 against Barwick and took nine for 13 against Sharon.

He spent a term at St George's College before moving to St John's, where Peter Whalley was his coach. He captained both the national Under-14 and Under-16 teams. In Form Three he played his first season in the school first team, where he averaged over 40 and took 38 wickets in the season at 20 runs each. The previous year he scored 149 against Peterhouse and took six wickets for 20 runs against Lomagundi College. Batting at number four he came in with the score at 4 for two wickets on a damp pitch, immediately lost his partner, but played a match-winning innings out of a total of 220. He had at the age of 13 scored his first century for Stragglers against Country Districts; 110 runs were needed in the last twenty overs, and Andrew, on about 30 at that stage, and finished with 110 not out and won the match.

At Under-16 level he went to the P G Bison Week in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and averaged 50, the second-highest run-scorer of the week despite having one fewer innings than most of his rivals due to a washout. He has kept records carefully of all his matches and reckons he has averaged 44 in all age-group representative games. His best bowling at national level was four for 35 against Free State in a warm-up match; he says he has generally been more of a container, `coming in during the middle overs and going for 20 runs in my ten,' trying to stop runs rather than keep wicket.

Unfortunately a rugby injury ruled him out of cricket during his Form Four year. He tore a cartilage and ligaments in his ankle in his final rugby game, and this also caused him to miss the trials for the Under-19 World Cup. "But it gave me the idea of applying for the Academy," he says. "So where there's been bad, there's been good." He had also missed the Under-14 tour due to appendicitis, so he has not always been fortunate.

Andrew left St John's after his fourth-form year, being accepted at the Academy where his cricketing education has continued apace. He spent the 2000 Zimbabwean winter playing for Epsom in the Surrey championship; he describes it as a very enjoyable season that helped to develop his game as he learned to play in different conditions in England. His best batting performance was 104 against Romany and took five for 10 against Old Ruthlithians. He returned to take his place in the national Under-19 team.

In between he had a brief holiday in Perth, Australia, where he met up with former Zimbabwe captain and off-spinner John Traicos and had a few coaching sessions with him, and also picked up some tips from Barry Richards. Andrew plans to spend 2001 studying for a diploma in marketing and management in Australia and playing for Traicos's club, Claremont, before returning to Zimbabwe to complete his contract with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, who gave him leave of absence for a year.

Other coaches who Andrew feels have given him a great deal of help are Bob Woolmer, who spent a few days at the Academy early in 2000, and Dave Houghton, who started coaching regularly there after the England tour that year.

He is currently in his second club season with Old Georgians, and at the time of writing had played two club matches for them without batting or bowling, his team having won easy victories in both matches. This illustrates the frustration some young players feel in 50-over club cricket in Zimbabwe, where they often get little opportunity in matches dominated by senior players. Andrew, generally batting at number eight and doing little bowling for his club, can name only a couple of forties as his top club performances. He actually first played club cricket for Alexandra Sports Club in his Under-15 year, but the following year his O-levels prevented him from playing club cricket.

Andrew made his first-class debut in the Logan Cup early in 2000, but being one of the junior Academy members he was given only one match in the programme of four, scoring only a few runs and without taking a wicket.

As a batsman Andrew's most productive strokes are the cover drive and the cut and pull off short deliveries, and his stock delivery as a bowler is the inswinger, although he has the ability to move the ball both ways. His normal fielding positions are backward point, to the pace bowlers, and midwicket to the spinners.

So far Andrew has not suffered from any serious cricket injuries, but his progress has been handicapped at times by injuries picked up playing rugby at school, a sport he wisely quit after his ankle injury cost him a year's cricket. He feels he would like to remain involved in cricket when his career is over, whether involved in the marketing side of the game or in coaching, journalism or commentary.

Cricket heroes: Sachin Tendulkar (for his ability to dominate), Steve Waugh (because of his grit and determination), Ricky Ponting (for his flair). Among bowlers, people like Brett Lee, the new generation of quick bowlers. In the past, John Traicos. "I take bits and pieces from most players but there is no one player I've tried to model my game on."

Toughest opponents: "Dennis Lillee's son was pretty sharp, the quickest I think I've faced, faster than anybody here. He was bowling at between 90 and 93 miles per hour."

Leading ambition: "To play for the national side and to play Test cricket and the World Cup."

Proudest achievement: "Being selected for the Under-19 side; performing above expectations in the P G Bison Week; being accepted by the Academy."

Best friends in cricket: "I think everyone at the Academy I could class as a good friend of mine: Greg Lamb, John Vaughan-Davies, Richard Sims, Alex Taylor - the list goes on!"

Other sports currently played: "A bit of golf, social tennis, squash. At school, rugby, tennis and athletics, as a javelin thrower."

Interests outside cricket: "I love the bush. Fishing, playing golf and being with my friends."