Trevor Gripper: a maiden first-class century

Trevor Gripper quite remarkably played in seven Test matches, mostly as an opening batsman, before he recorded a century in first-class cricket. Now at last he has reached that landmark, with his 112 for Mashonaland A against the CFX Academy in the recent Logan Cup match. He talks to CricInfo after that feat.

It hasn't been a great season for me. I started off pretty well in the club scene: I got a couple of eighties and a lot of forties and thirties, but then I struggled. That's how cricket goes sometimes: you go through a lean spell and you can't get a run. But hopefully this innings has changed it all.

I've been working hard with Bobby Simpson who has been here for a week. I've had about three net sessions with him and I've been chatting to him about having a more positive outlook on batting, making more positive movements in terms of getting forward and getting back. He's had a lot of input in the last week and it's helped me out a hell of a lot.

The main problem seems to have been my foot movements and judging the length of deliveries, which is very important in batting. We've been batting on a lot of variable pitches, due to all the rain, and groundsmen haven't really had time to prepare decent pitches, so there have been a lot of bowlers' paradises in the last couple of months while the international guys have been away in Australia.

I think everyone has really struggled on the Sports Club pitch, and since that's our home ground I've had quite a few games there this season. Even the Mashonaland side was bowled out there yesterday for under 200. This Alex pitch seems to be quite a good pitch, so hopefully things will get better later on when we get less rain.

This has been the innings when I finally think everything may be starting to come right again. Speaking to Bobby Simpson, I think the important things have been my mindset, a few technical problems and a more positive outlook.

When I went in to bat yesterday afternoon, it was the usual case of an opening batsman in such a situation, concentrating on surviving until the close of play. But Alester Maregwede and I said to each other, "Let's aim at being 50 without loss," and we were 80 for one at the close. That was a bit of a bonus, but that positive outlook was a good thing. With the heavy outfield, we concentrated on singles and running the first run hard all the time to look for two - positive cricket.

I scored faster than I usually do in this innings, but I don't think I've really widened my range of strokes, although I'm looking to cut a lot more. I've always played the pull to medium-pacers. I think it is more a matter of confidence.

First up with the new ball was young Campbell McMillan, who is quite a decent pace, and also Leon Soma. Soma swings the ball away, while McMillan is more of a seamer. It wasn't easy, as the pitch here is always going to do a bit with the new ball, but it was just a case of surviving the opening spell and rotating the strike. They set an attacking field so there were a lot of runs to be taken. It was more of a spinner's pitch with the older ball. Barney Rogers is quite a good part-time off-spinner and he did the job pretty admirably.

Hopefully this is the turning point of the season for me, as I've been out of the B side for a while. We had done well as a team unit but there have been a lot of changes made in the side over the season.