Biography: Andy Blignaut

FULL NAME: Arnoldus Mauritius Blignaut
BORN: 1 August 1978, at Harare
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland (1997/98- ). Present club team: Alexandra Sports Club
KNOWN AS: Andy Blignaut (pronounced "Blih-nout". Nicknames: Blidge, Bloodclot (from Brian Lara at Warwickshire, who thought he had one on the brain!)
BATTING STYLE: Left Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Fast Medium
OCCUPATION: Professional cricketer

FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 28 August 1997, Mashonaland A v Mashonaland, at Harare South Country Club
TEST DEBUT: 19-22 April 2001, Zimbabwe v Bangladesh, at Queens Sports Club
ODI DEBUT: 2 September 1999, Zimbabwe v West Indies, at Singapore

BIOGRAPHY (updated February 2003)

"In my opinion he's the most exciting prospect to come out of Zimbabwe cricket: he's such a talented guy, with bat, with ball and in the field, and can turn a game in either discipline. If we can get him fit and playing properly, he's going to be a real asset for Zimbabwe cricket in the years to come."

This is the assessment of former national captain Alistair Campbell about Andy Blignaut, and it is shared by many others in Zimbabwe cricket. Andy Blignaut has an outstanding natural talent with bat or ball and could be a major force in international cricket during the next few years.

Andy sees himself as playing a role similar to that of Lance Klusener for the South African team, when Klusener was at the height of his powers: an aggressive batsman in the lower middle-order and perhaps a first-change shock seam bowler. With the more limited talent in Zimbabwe, though, Andy was soon taking the new ball for his country.

Like Klusener, Andy (as he is known rather than by his given name of Arnoldus) grew up on a farm. The Blignaut family has had a beef cattle farm near Chivhu since 1920 and Andy's birthplace of Harare only happened because his parents drove into the capital to take advantage of the better facilities there when he was born. Their surname had its origins with the French Huguenots who mixed with the Afrikaners in South Africa over the years.

Andy was a natural ball player since his earliest days, and as far back as he can remember he used to spend hours playing with a ball, whether cricket, soccer or rugby. He was born during the war years in Zimbabwe and so was assigned a slightly older black boy from the farm who looked after him when his parents were otherwise occupied. They became fast friends and grew up doing everything together, including playing ball games - only the friend's cricket career did not develop! The cricket ball was not actually as much in evidence as the larger variety.

Living on a farm as he did, Andy had to attend boarding school and Ruzawi, near Marondera, with its strong cricketing traditions, was an excellent choice. He was introduced formally to cricket when in Grade 3, and his obvious ability meant that he spent most of his time playing with an older age group. He was primarily a batsman until the age of 16, making a reputation for himself from the start as a slogger with a good eye for the ball who could hammer the inaccurate schoolboy bowling all over the field. At first his big hits were mostly on the leg side, but he later learnt to play straighter, as the original Klusener does.

He scored his first fifty in Grade 4 and his first century in Grade 7 in the national primary schools cricket week, playing for Eastern Districts against Matabeleland. It was scored in very quick time and he already had a reputation for hitting sixes. He duly won a place in the national primary schools side that year; he also made the primary schools rugby team as a hooker.

He did bowl as well, always at pace. In Grade 3 he remembers running up and throwing as hard as he could, until he was taught to keep his arm straight. In Grade 4 he had developed enough to take a hat-trick in a school match. Although he is over six foot tall now, he was small and light until he achieved a sudden growth spurt at the age of 17, which made his early hitting feats and fast bowling more remarkable.

He spent his first three years at high school at Falcon College, near Esigodeni in Matabeleland, the nursery of so many of Zimbabwe's Test cricketers. He found more intensive coaching there and continued to play as an all-rounder, batting at number three, his regular position until he played first-team cricket at the age of 16, and opening the bowling. He has no great memory for his performances, but can recall some feats.

At the age of 14 he hit five sixes in an over, slogged on the leg side, against St John's College, before trying to hit the final ball straight and being caught on the boundary. The previous year he had taken his best-ever bowling return of seven for seven against the same opposition. He was also 14 when he recorded the highest score of his career to date, 146 against Plumtree School.

Andy also gained selection for the national Under-15 team, as well as playing national rugby and hockey. Earlier he had made his first cricket tour, for a Mashonaland Districts Under-13 team that toured England and Wales. He remembers scoring 82 not out in one match and taking seven wickets, including a hat-trick, in a match against a team from Hastings.

In Form 4 he moved to Eaglesvale School in Harare, which was nearer home, and soon after that started growing rapidly. He was wisely advised to abandon his pace bowling temporarily for fear that his body might not be able to handle the strain at this stage, and so took to bowling leg-spin for a year. He had considerable success in his new style, and when his body filled out some people advised him to stick with leg-breaks. His heart was in pace bowling, however, and he soon returned to his old style. Bowling for him has always come naturally and he received little coaching in his early years, although he has picked up tips from others.

He was by now playing for the school first team in cricket, hockey (his favourite sport in those years), tennis and squash, only missing out on rugby because he was too small -- that came later as well. He admits he did not find much time for schoolwork in those years; he had very little academic interests, although he did pass his O-levels.

He continued to win selection for national age-group cricket teams, touring South Africa with the Under-18 team and being in the squad, although ultimately not travelling, for the Under-19 tour of England in 1997. He left school at the end of 1996 and spent most of the following year coaching at Ruzawi, having kept in touch with his old school. He also played club cricket for the first time, joining Harare Sports Club for whom he played until leaving to join Alexandra Sports Club for the current season.

His promise as a club player was clear enough to win him quick promotion. He made his first-class debut at the start of the 1997/98 season for Mashonaland A in their Logan Cup match against the full Mashonaland side and took three expensive wickets, those of Test players Grant Flower, Andy Flower (after scoring 201) and Glenn Bruk-Jackson. He then went straight into the Mashonaland team to play the New Zealand tourists; he did not get too much bowling to do but did take two wickets.

Andy's bowling was progressing faster at this stage than his batting, which was still struggling to adjust. He also played several matches for the Zimbabwe Board XI in the UCBSA Bowl competition under the captaincy of Trevor Penney, but his only performances of note were innings of 31 and 47 not out against Free State B.

He spent the year of 1998 working on the family farm, apart from the winter when he played for Solihull in the English West Midlands and trained with the Warwickshire county team, Trevor Penney being his contact. He enjoyed a successful season there, mostly with the bat, scoring several centuries and a total of about 900 runs, but doing less bowling; he rates the league as being about second-league standard in Harare.

He performed twelfth-man duties at times for the county side, and particularly remembers being called on to field at Lord's against Middlesex and taking a good catch as substitute. Another important experience was being called on to bowl in the nets at Edgbaston before the Test match between England and South Africa, when he realized for the first time that he had the ability to get Test batsmen out.

During the 1998/99 season he won a place in the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, which took care of his immediate future. On the field of play he played first-class cricket for Zimbabwe A and Mashonaland without distinguishing himself and had a little more success for the Board XI, which won the UCBSA Division 2 competition that year, scoring useful runs and taking five for 70 against Gauteng B. He also had a spell of coaching with Dennis Lillee at the MRF Pace Foundation in Madras; Lillee assured him that he had the right action for a bowler of genuine pace, but he himself feels that to accomplish this he needs more coaching and much hard work in the gym. In the national club league he took 14 wickets for Harare Sports Club, although getting little opportunity with the bat, and it was perhaps this factor more than any other which led to his selection for national duties at the start of the 1999/2000 season.

He began this season by touring with the national side to Singapore and Kenya for two one-day tournaments, mainly for the experience, but he also played in three of the five matches. He had what he called a `baptism of fire' against the West Indies in Singapore. He was kept back until the match was almost over, being Zimbabwe's seventh bowler used, but felt he was bowling well until Ricardo Powell came in and got after him, hitting him for two sixes. He had a better chance against India, coming on as first change and taking two wickets, including that of Rahul Dravid.

He found Singapore very humid and had difficulty in adjusting to the environment there. The West Indian match was the first he had played in front of a large crowd, and he felt spurred on by the noise and excitement.

In Kenya he had less opportunity, with the conditions there tending to favour batsmen on flat pitches, and spin bowlers rather than pace. He played in only the first match, against Kenya, and bowled only a single over. In his three one-day innings he scored only one run, had clearly not adjusted yet, and so was omitted from the following two matches.

This was only a temporary setback, though, and he returned to enjoy great success in domestic cricket, especially with the bat. He scored three centuries in quick succession, 130 against North-West in the Bowl competition, and for his new club Alexandra against Manicaland and Winstonians. He was then selected for all three one-day internationals against the touring Australians.

He took only two wickets in the matches, but no bowler enjoyed much success in a Zimbabwean attack weakened by injury and loss of form to key players. His bowling was no more than adequate, and at times he needed to learn how to bowl better to his field. He found his confidence with the bat, hitting two useful twenties of contrasting character. In the first match he showed a willingness to attack the renowned Australian bowlers, hitting three sixes at Bulawayo in his 27, and in the second match he batted very responsibly as Zimbabwe struggled and sank on a pitch overly helpful to seam bowlers. He found playing against the Australians a big learning experience, and saw from them how professional and mentally tough he would have to become to win success in international cricket.

Injuries delayed his development for a while in international cricket. He did not actually play any first-class cricket in Zimbabwe during the 1999/2000 season, although he went to West Indies without playing any international matches, and then to Sri Lanka with Zimbabwe A, but he was able to do little bowling and failed to take a wicket in three first-class matches there.

He was not fully fit again until halfway through the following season. He played in all five of Mashonaland A's matches in the Logan Cup, but managed only 135 runs and 12 wickets, not a great return for one of his talents. However the selectors in this case showed their belief that form is temporary but class permanent, and the Bangladesh tourists provided the ideal opportunity for him to make his Test debut.

He was an instant success against weak opposition, taking eight wickets in his first match. Since then he has been an automatic selection for Zimbabwe's Test side, as well as the one-day side, when available. One of his most memorable moments was in one of the one-day internationals against Bangladesh, at Queens Sports Club, when he took a brilliant catch near the boundary with a flying leap to dismiss Khaled Mashud.

He took longer to find his nerve with the bat than with the ball in both forms of international cricket, but when the results came they were worth waiting for. His first fifty came in the Second Test against West Indies at Harare Sports Club later that season. Zimbabwe faced a big first-innings deficit of 216, but fought back with 563 to draw the match and possibly win it had rain not ruined the final day. Andy played a major part with 92, adding 154 for the seventh wicket with Heath Streak, and looking set for a maiden century before he appeared to lose his nerve, took a wild swipe across the line and was bowled.

That was actually his last match for over a year. The following season he had some niggling injuries, but the main reason was, according to others, that he temporarily became too self-important. He antagonized his team-mates and administrators with his demands and played little cricket during 2001/02, and none above club level. Instead he got involved in polocrosse and some business ventures, but received the most attention for some male modelling he did. However, he insists that this was just a bit of fun and not serious.

Fortunately his hunger for the game returned, and with a bit more wisdom he returned to cricket at the start of the 2002/03 season, to be welcomed back. He opened the club season by taking eight wickets for just 23 runs for his club side, Alexandra, against Old Georgians Sports Club, and in the Logan Cup scored his maiden first-class century against Midlands, an innings that typically included nine sixes.

Back in the Test team, he took ten wickets in the two-match series against Pakistan and scored a fifty. He also scored a fifty in the opening one-day international, but injured his leg and missed the rest of the series. In the Faithwear inter-provincial one-day series he did well with bat and ball for Mashonaland and scored 58 not out to win the match against Matabeleland by two wickets, when all seemed lost. Unfortunately during that innings he broke a finger fending off a high full toss from Heath Streak, and was out of cricket for a month, delaying his entry into the World Cup.

Andy pays tribute to his father for all the encouragement he has received from him over the years, and to Trevor Penney, who helped him with his batting and on the mental side of the game; he also found Penney an inspiration for his fielding, a department of the game in which he takes great pride, particularly at cover and point.

Barry Lake at Eaglesvale School and Dave Houghton for batting are two others who played an important part in his development. Dennis Lillee and Robin Jackman have both helped him with his bowling, in particular modifying his action so as to avoid twisting his back as he bowled and putting too much strain on it. Ironically, though, it was a muscle spasm in his back that possibly delayed his Test debut, as he was named in the squad to go to Bloemfontein for the one-off Test against South Africa, but had to withdraw. Other injuries have at times also handicapped his career, but to date he has suffered nothing very serious or prolonged.

Andy sees his future in the game, all things being equal, as playing a Lance Klusener role for Zimbabwe, attacking with the bat in the lower middle order and coming on as firstor second-change bowler. It is early days yet, but Zimbabwe will be delighted if he can do so.