Conan Brewer - a biography

FULL NAME: Conan Howard Brewer
BORN: At Harare, 30 September 1982
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (2001/02). Present club side: Old Hararians
KNOWN AS: Conan Brewer. Nicknames: Kojak, Barbs (short for Barbarian, as in Conan the Barbarian
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Medium Pace or Off Breaks
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy student

FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: CFX Academy v Manicaland, 15-17 February 2002, at Mutare Sports Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaited

BIOGRAPHY (March 2002)

Conan Brewer is an unusual player with ambition in that he has no burning desire to play Test cricket and has a clear preference for the one-day game. He admits the longer version of the game bores him, but he thrills to the excitement of the one-day game, and looks forward to the possibility of representing his country in that arena.

Possibly part of the reason for this is that he has no family background in the game on which to build, although his family enjoyed sport, mostly tennis and hockey. Apart from his younger brother, nobody else in his family has played cricket.

Lilfordia Primary School, however, was and still is an ideal place to develop an interest in cricket, and this was where Conan first watched older boys play and decided he wanted to do the same. His first introduction had come at the age of about six, when he watched cricket on television; now, at Lilfordia, he actively sought coaching and improved until he reached the school first team. He opened the batting and remembers being a very consistent scorer of thirties and forties but, with a highest of 47 not out, never went on to greater things. He names Iain Campbell, once headmaster at the school and father of Test player Alistair, as his greatest early influence - "he just knows so much and is so good at coaching."

He did not bowl much at junior school, and with the likes of David Mutendera and Nyasha Chari in the team he had little chance. He had no representative cricket at junior school, but feels he would have made it had he not been three months overage for his school year.

He progressed to Prince Edward High School, where he was immediately selected for the Under-15A team, and then for the school first team in Form Two. He started for them batting at number eight, but after a few matches was promoted to open. He did not bowl much until reaching Form Four level, saying, "I didn't take many wickets but I was very economical"; he took two five-wicket hauls.

He did score 147 not out against Falcon College for the Under-16 team in one match, when his team-mates scored only 17 runs between them, a source of great pride for him. He scored 156 against Watershed, but did not rate their team highly, and in his final year of 2001 scored 140 not out against St John's College, a stronger side. He also scored 64 not out to help force a draw against Hilton College from South Africa, a very highly rated team.

He was appointed captain of the school first team, much to his surprise, when in Form Three, and won nine games out of ten at the helm. He relinquished the captaincy in his final two years, though, feeling it put too much pressure on him as he was also keeping wicket then as well as opening the batting. However, he says he still did most of the on-field organization of the team.

His first representative cricket came at Under-19 level, and he went to two Under-19 World Cups, in Sri Lanka in 1999 and New Zealand in 2001. He was also selected for the Zimbabwe Development team to tour Kenya in 2000. Apart from 95 in one match, he had no major performances.

"I just love the game," he said regarding his decision to apply for the CFX Academy for 2002. "Every time I think about it, it just makes me feel good; it's so enjoyable."

He has played for Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare since the age of 15 and often opens the innings for them. His highest score is 94 against Bulawayo Sports Club in 2000/01, and has scored several other fifties. However, he gets little chance to bat when the club's full complement of international players is available. He bowls seamers for the team when the national players are missing.

He has also played for Mvurwi in the Mashonaland Districts winter cricket league, but "it was just a bunch of farmers having fun," he said. He scored two eighties, a sixty and a fifty for them in about ten matches.

As a batsman he is aggressive by instinct and has a dislike of leaving balls, so he is not in the traditional mould as opener. "I get very bored if I don't play shots," he said. He began in the middle order for the Academy, but failed in his first match when promoted to open, appearing to forsake his natural instincts. Given the choice, he would definitely prefer to bat at three or four. He normally fields in the slips or covers.

He also names Worcestershire wicket-keeper Steven Rhodes, who coached the Under-19 team in New Zealand, as another major influence, and looks forward to being coached by Dave Houghton during his time at the Academy.

"My career has had its ups and downs," he says. "And I think I've come back well from my downs. I made Under-19s in 1999 but I had a very bad World Cup, and scored only about 100 runs in four games. In the year 2000 I scored about 200 runs in the whole season, and after it I didn't think there was any future in cricket. I came back this last year and I was averaging about 74 in schoolboy cricket and had the highest average in the Under-19s. I think it's very important for people to get back up when they're down. For myself, I'm very proud about that, and at the moment I'm feeling very strong."

Cricket heroes: "Jacques Kallis, definitely. He's a great all-round player. Allan Donald, Courtney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose - I like the way they bowl. Andy Flower, obviously."

Toughest opponents: "As a young bowler, I'd say Keegan Nagan who is in South Africa playing for Natal. He's a very fast bowler and gave us a few problems."

Personal ambitions: "I want to play one-day cricket - not so much Tests; I'd rather play one-dayers and wear a red shirt with my name on the back."

Proudest achievement so far: "Definitely making the Under-19s and going to two World Cups. Also going to the Academy."

Best friends in cricket: Neeten Chouhan, Charles Coventry, Jordane Nicolle, Andre Hoffman, Ryan Butterworth.

Other qualifications: A-levels. "I passed my international computers driver's licence."

Other sports: First-team rugby (scrum-half) for Prince Edward and Mashonaland Under-16; hockey; BMX since the age of about six - "I was the national champion for six years. Then I had to choose between BMX and cricket, and cricket came out on top."

Outside interests: "I love gym; I read a lot; television definitely."

Views on cricket: "I reckon we need a shorter version of the Logan Cup. That's just me; I don't like playing four-day cricket. I also think there's too much focus on trying to get coloured players into teams. The team should only be picked on the ability of players, not colour or race. That will become a big problem in Zimbabwe cricket."