Glenn Goosen - a biography

FULL NAME: Glenn Charles Goosen
BORN: At Harare, 29 April 1982
MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy (2001/02). Present club side: Alexandra Sports Club
KNOWN AS: Glenn Goosen. Nickname: Goose
BATTING STYLE: Left Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Wicket-keeper (occasional off spin)
OCCUPATION: CFX Academy student

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

BIOGRAPHY (April 2002)

Glenn Goosen is wicket-keeper/batsman for the CFX Academy in 2002. At present he has impressed more with the bat than with the gloves, batting with an aggressive if at times chancy style, and scoring a century in his third first-class match, against Matabeleland.

He comes from a strong cricketing family, as his father Quentin was a notable Districts player and is now a first-class umpire with one-day international experience. Glenn's oldest brother Dale was also a fine player who was once considered a great prospect, but he chose farming as a career, forcing his cricket to take a back seat.

Naturally Glenn played cricket, with a tennis ball, from the earliest age he can remember at home in Kadoma. He attended Bryden primary school in Chegutu, where he had a prolific career with the bat, although he cannot remember details. At colts level he bowled off-spin, but when he progressed to the senior team he became a wicket-keeper. He represented Midlands at the national primary schools cricket week in his final year, also attending trials and winning selection for the national Under-13 team, but without much success.

He progressed to Lomagundi College, first playing for the school first team in Form Three, scoring a fifty for them at that age. He remembers scoring `a lot of hundreds', with a best as far as he can remember of 168 against Eaglesvale. He also scored 124 against St John's College and 146 not out for the Districts team against Mashonaland at Under-16 trials. He was selected for the national schools team at each age-group level, and scored a century for the Under-19 team in a warm-up match against the Academy side.

Glenn played Districts cricket for Selous, scoring centuries against Trelawney and Goromonzi, and then joined Alexandra Sports Club in about 1998. He commuted from Kadoma regularly to play for them, but in 2000 moved to live and work in Harare. He won selection for the Academy in 2002.

Tatenda Taibu was expected to be the Academy wicket-keeper in that year, but his national duties meant that Glenn took over the gloves, which he has done regularly at most levels since primary school. He is still learning the trade, making a number of errors in the Logan Cup matches amid some fine pieces of handiwork. In the field he sees himself as a vice-captain rather than captain, another role that he has played often at different levels.

Left-handed with the bat, he can play his strokes all round the wicket, but is particularly severe on the deliveries. He is also a good driver on the off side. He likes batting between four and six in the order, although he can open. Glenn pays tribute to Dave Houghton and Bill Flower as the coaches who have helped him the most during his career.

Cricket heroes: "Andy Flower has been my main idol for quite a while now."

Personal ambitions: "I'd like to play Test cricket, hopefully soon. I just want to do the best I can with my ability and hopefully score a double-century."

Proudest achievement so far: "That 146 not out against Mashonaland, probably the best performance I've had all my life."

Best friends in cricket: "I've got a lot of friends - nobody stands out."

Other qualifications: None.

Other sports: At school, tennis, hockey (Zimbabwe schools as goalkeeper), rugby, athletics (provincial representation in discus and hurdles), cross-country.

Outside interests: Listening to music, hanging out in the countryside.