FULL NAME: Andrew Richard Whittall
BORN: 28 March 1973, Umtali (now Mutare)
MAJOR TEAMS: Zimbabwe (1996/97- ); Matabeleland (1996/97- );
Cambridge University (1993-1996). Present club team: Macdonald
Club (Bulawayo).
KNOWN AS: Andrew/Andy Whittall. Nickname 'Structure'
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Off Breaks
OCCUPATION: Professional cricketer
FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: Cambridge University v Derbyshire, at
Cambridge, 14 April 1993
TEST DEBUT: First Test v Sri Lanka, at Colombo, 1996/97
ODI DEBUT: 3 September 1996, v Sri Lanka, Colombo
BIOGRAPHY (updated October 1999)
Andy Whittall has the unusual, but not unique, distinction of
representing his country overseas before playing first-class
cricket at home. (Peter Rawson, Eddo Brandes and Dan Rowett
among others also share this distinction.) But Andy is very much
a Zimbabwean, and after a profitable time at Cambridge University
returned home to stay.
He was born in the eastern border town of Umtali, now Mutare, but
spent most of his boyhood outside school on Humani Ranch, which
is about 120 kilometres from Chiredzi in the Lowveld. He and his
cousin Guy, almost a year older, lived together on the ranch
which was started by his grandfather and later taken over by his
two sons, the respective fathers of Guy and Andy. Andy's
grandfather had captained Rugby School at rugby, but decided to
hunt in Africa at the age of 18 instead of staying in England and
probably playing international rugby. He had just enough money
to complete the trip; he then worked on a farm in Borrowdale,
Salisbury (now Harare), until he had enough money to buy a ranch
in the Lowveld in partnership with another man. Humani is near
to the original ranch.
Although Andy's father did not have much personal interest in
cricket, he encouraged him, and the boys played together a great
deal on the ranch. Andy was fortunate in attending schools which
fostered his talent for and interest in the game.
Living so far from an urban centre, Andy was naturally a boarder
at school. His junior school was Ruzawi, a well-known cricketing
school, and the headmaster at that time, Bryan Curtis, was a
strong influence on Andy's early progress. He found both good
coaching and excellent support there, as he did at his high
school, Falcon College, near Essexvale (now Esigodeni). He was
always an off-spinner, from his early junior school days, but he
still feels he did not really get into the game until he was
selected for the Fawns, the Zimbabwe Under-15 team, for whom he
also opened the batting. During his final two years at Falcon he
represented the school's first team and also the Zimbabwe Schools
team. The major highlight was the visit of the national schools
side to Australia, where he played with such other well-known
current players as Heath Streak, Craig Wishart and Stuart
Carlisle.
Despite opening the batting for a while, Andy has yet to score a
century in any form of cricket, an omission that he has the
ability to correct before long. His highest score, as far as he
can remember, was his unbeaten 91 against Oxford University in
1994. Probably his greatest achievement in school cricket was
his eight wickets for 11 runs, together with a fifty, in a key
match for Falcon against their rivals Plumtree School. He also
played hockey and rugby at school.
While still at school, Andy played club cricket for Old
Miltonians in Bulawayo, the club to which he first returned after
leaving Cambridge. He had nine months to wait between the end of
his school career and his departure for England to read an
engineering degree at Cambridge University. It was then a
further six months before the English cricket season began; he
immediately found a place in the University team, with John
Crawley as his first captain and Graham Saville the coach. He
played as one of two off-spinners in a bowling line-up that
relied primarily on spin; his batting was hardly considered and
he spent the season batting at 10 or even 11. This was a
mistake, as shown in the University match: in the Cambridge
second innings he hit 40 out of a last-wicket stand of 70, which
saved his team from an innings defeat, although they still lost
the match. His bowling average of 51, and indeed his bowling
figures through most of his career, do not do him justice, but he
has spent most of his career so far playing for struggling teams.
He found it a big step upwards from schoolboy cricket to playing
against professionals, and soon realised the importance of
personal discipline if he was going to make the grade.
In 1994, Andy was appointed captain of a very weak team, and his
own bowling form suffered as he struggled to make his side
competitive. However, he did have the satisfaction of saving his
team from another defeat in the University match against Oxford.
He scored 40 in the first innings, but Cambridge were forced to
follow on. An innings defeat looked inevitable, but Andy stood
firm and also played some fine aggressive strokes in his unbeaten
91. When time ran out, he and his team were still batting but
would undoubtedly have lost without the fighting spirit of their
captain.
1995, Andy's second year as captain, was his most successful at
Cambridge. His team also did well, and Andy himself said that
they constantly surprised by playing above the level expected --
although this did not extend to winning a first-class match. He
took 29 wickets in a good personal bowling season, and again his
best batting came in adverse circumstances, staving off defeat
against Nottinghamshire. However, the University match was lost
after Cambridge collapsed in their second innings.
In his fourth and final year, Andy decided not to stand for a
third year as captain, but continued playing. His figures were
disappointing, but he was still highly regarded by English
critics. That great character Derek Randall was now the
university coach, and Andy particularly benefited from his
exceptionally good mental approach to the game, which rubbed off
on everyone else, and his ability to help keep the players'
spirits up despite the uphill battles that university cricketers
have to face throughout every season against county opposition.
While at Cambridge, Andy played rugby for his college, Trinity,
hockey for the university Under-21 team and also represented the
university at the pole vault.
With his university career coming to a successful conclusion, he
had to make decisions about his future. He did apply for jobs in
London, but his heart was not really in it; he wanted to return
to Zimbabwe and continue his cricket career there. Had he stayed
in England, he would either have had to take up a full-time
engineering job or join a county staff as a professional.
However, he could not use his qualifications in Zimbabwe and stay
on the ranch; neither Harare nor Bulawayo was his home. After
speaking to his cousin Guy, he decided to return to Zimbabwe even
without an assured future.
He arrived back just in time for some trial matches in
preparation for the tour of Sri Lanka, and with a first-class
record in England behind him he was included. He had had
experience and exposure, and his success in the trial games won
him his place on tour. Although he earned praise for his
perseverance on helpful wickets, he again failed to take the
wickets he deserved and is not yet in the class of the Sri Lankan
spinners or Paul Strang. With the presence in the team of other
prominent all-rounders, he batted low in the order, but his
batting ability should be encouraged. He has shown in the past
that his batting thrives on pressure situations. He played in
the First Test in Pakistan, where his figures were badly spoilt
by Wasim Akram.
Back in Zimbabwe, he did not play in the international matches
against England, being kept out of the team by Paul Strang, who
claimed the one spinner's berth. He was a member of the squad
which toured South Africa for the triangular series, but spent
most of his time as twelfth man in conditions that generally
favoured the pace bowler. He got his chance again in the Sharjah
tournament, where conditions were more favourable to spinners,
but with limited success. However, he remained close to the
national side throughout the season, and was happy to see how the
team picked up during that season and the enthusiasm of the
players and public. He took most pleasure in the Sharjah victory
over Sri Lanka; a win over Pakistan and a place in the final
would have capped a fine season.
Hard work and continued personal coaching from John Traicos
enabled his bowling to improve still further, and by the start of
the New Zealand tour in 1997/98 it was acknowledged that Zimbabwe
now had three spin bowlers of genuine Test class -- Strang and
the recently returned Adam Huckle, both leg-spinners, and Andy
himself. Huckle kept Andy out of the Test team against New
Zealand, although the possibility of playing three spinners in
the Bulawayo Test was strongly considered. In retrospect, it was
admitted that this might in fact have been the best move in both
Tests, rather than play a third seamer who did little in either
match. Andy did replace the more erratic Huckle in the one-day
internationals, though, and did a fine job in containing the
opposing batsmen.
He was a natural choice for the Three Nations tournament in
Kenya, but he took a while to adjust to the different conditions
and to batsmen well used to playing off-spin. Alistair Campbell
in three matches opened the bowling with him. But he learnt well
and triumphed in the final match of the tournament, an 82-run
victory over Kenya, when he took three wickets for just 23 runs
in 10 overs, opening the attack and bowling out the first three
batsmen. For this he deservedly received the Man of the Match
award.
He looked forward to the tour of Sri Lanka, where on spinners'
pitches he knew he was likely to play in the Test team. He was
well pleased with his bowling, although taking only four wickets
in the two Tests against batsmen well used to playing quality
spin. He also felt he bowled well in New Zealand, even though he
failed to take a wicket in the two Tests there. Returning to
Zimbabwe, he played one more wicket-less Test against Pakistan in
Bulawayo, where he has found the pitches generally to be flat and
give him little encouragement. His failure to take wickets
despite bowling well encouraged many in their belief that he is
mainly a defensive one-day bowler without the extra quality to
bring him success in Test cricket.
Certainly he was doing much better in the one-day internationals,
where more recently he has been put on to bowl, with success, at
key periods, in the first 15 overs or at the death. Recently one
list of ODI player ratings had him as eighth in the world. Even
here, though, wicket-taking was at times difficult, as he took
just one wicket in the three matches he played in the triangular
tournament in India. He was considered to do a valuable job in
containing the batsmen, however, often more important than
wicket-taking in one-day cricket.
In 1998/99 he accepted a full-time contract with the Zimbabwe
Cricket Union; he played in all three one-day matches against
India, but took only one wicket. Adam Huckle, a more attacking
spinner, was chosen for the Test match. In Sharjah he continued
his containing role, although Sachin Tendulkar got hold of him at
times. In the first match against Sri Lanka he took one of his
favourite wickets, and a valuable one at that; sensing that the
captain Arjuna Ranatunga was going to come down the pitch to him,
he beat him in the air and had him stumped.
When the team moved on to Pakistan, Andy was to play a vital role
with the ball in Zimbabwe's victory in the second one-day
international, the team's first victory over Pakistan in three
tours to that country. In bowling his ten overs for only 23
runs, he tied down the Pakistan batting and dismissed two major
batsmen in Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana. He had little
bowling to do, though, in Zimbabwe's famous Test victory on a
seamer's pitch in Peshawar, although he had the honour of being
chosen as the only specialist spinner.
He turned in some good performances in the triangular tournament
in Bangladesh, also involving Kenya, and was Zimbabwe's most
successful bowler in the final, when he took three wickets for
29. He was a natural choice for the World Cup in England, but he
did not immediately strike form and played in only four of the
eight matches, uncharacter-istically conceding more than five
runs an over. He played a valuable part in the great victory
over South Africa, though, taking two vital wickets and also
three catches. His superb fielding is often ignored, but he has
taken some brilliant catches over the years.
Once he became virtually a regular member of Zimbabwe's one-day
team, Andy felt more at ease with his game in international
cricket. He feels that he has vastly improved as a bowler since
his early days with Zimbabwe, with experience being a major
factor. He has learned to think as batsmen think, and how
individual opponents think and play. In Test cricket he has
learned either to attack or defend, and has become content with
his role on a seamer's pitch to close up the game to rest the
seamers when necessary. He now bowls at a slightly quicker pace
in both Tests and one-day internationals, partly for technical
reasons. He has an open bowling action, so when he slows down
his pace he does not pivot as he should or get enough purchase on
the ball. In Test matches he generally aims to hit off stump,
while in one-day cricket he aims more for middle stump, although
this naturally depends on the situation of the game. As a
one-day fielder he has now been accepted as a vital member of the
inner circle. One of his targets now is to improve his batting,
and it is indeed a puzzle why he has not scored more runs, as he
has a sound technique and is the regular night-watchman in Test
cricket.
Andy is regarded by some as a possible future national captain,
as despite his quiet demeanour he has good man-management skills
and a good tactical brain. He was appointed captain of
Matabeleland for the 1998/99 season and immediately started by
regaining the Logan Cup for his province, although he did have
some help from the weather.
When he first returned to Zimbabwe, Andy was offered a part-time
professional contract with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, keeping
him in employment for six months of the year. During 1997, he
spent his time out of employment in England, playing for Wembley
in the Middlesex league. When he became a regular one-day player
this was expanded to a full-time contract for the 1998.99 season.
Andy is a lover of the outdoors, as befits one brought up on a
ranch: he enjoys travelling, going skiing, fishing, and has
recently taken up golf for fun. His cricket continues to
develop: as a fellow off-spinner, he found the advice of John
Traicos particularly helpful. John has helped him to put more
body into his bowling action, and also taught him a great deal
about tactics and the mental approach to the game. Traicos,
though, tended to be lack the vital variations that might have
made him a great bowler, and national coach Dave Houghton has
spent time encouraging Andy to be more flexible and attacking in
his approach. He has also learnt a great deal by simply playing
with the national side, especially from Houghton and Andy Flower.