Trevor Gripper - a short biography
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland (1998/99- ), Zimbabwe (1999/2000- )
John Ward
27-Oct-1999
FULL NAME: Trevor Raymond Gripper
BORN: 28 December 1975, at Harare
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland (1998/99- ), Zimbabwe (1999/2000- ).
Present club side: Harare Sports Club
KNOWN AS: Trevor Gripper
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Batsman
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Off Spin
OCCUPATION: Professional cricketer
FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 28 March 1997, Matabeleland Invitation XI v
Worcestershire, at Bulawayo Athletic Club
TEST DEBUT: 14 October 1999, v Australia, at Harare Sports Club
ODI DEBUT: No appearances yet
BIOGRAPHY (October 1999)
Trevor Gripper may be thought of in some quarters as a chip off
the old block, son of Ray Gripper, opening batsman for Rhodesia
from 1957 to 1972. Trevor himself shrugs off the analogy, as his
father's career finished before he was born and he therefore has
no first-hand memory of him as a batsman.
Ray did play a part in Trevor's early cricketing experience, of
course, and Trevor remembers when he was young playing in the
garden with him and learning to catch with a tennis ball as Ray
hit it to him with a racquet. Trevor also pays tribute to his
help especially on the mental side of the game. The family have
always been keen on ball sports, and Trevor used to play tennis
with his two older sisters, although he did not appreciate being
beaten by them! His mother played hockey for the country, and
Trevor preferred hockey himself to rugby as a winter sport at
school.
Trevor attended St John's Preparatory School in Harare, where he
had his first memories of organised cricket -- which he
nevertheless describes as 'hit-and-giggle games, so long as
you're having fun . . .' He cannot remember any major innings,
although he did well enough to earn selection for the Harare
Primary Schools Cricket Week. He remembers billeting out players
from other centres for the Week, and Henry Olonga was one who
stayed with the Gripper family at that time. At the age of ten
he transferred from St John's to Hartmann House in order to gain
admission to St George's College, his father's old school, and
then progressed to the College for his high-school education.
His first century did not come until about the age of 16 or 17,
given the fact that he is primarily a defensive batsman and
matches at a lower level tend to be severely restricted by either
time or overs. This was for the second eleven at St George's
College, scored he thinks against Eaglesvale. He feels he was a
late developer. He pays particular tribute to Mike Nash, his
coach at Under-14 level, who helped him a great deal in 'getting
my mind right', at a stage where he was just beginning to open
the batting. At Under-15 level he was also fortunate enough to
be coached by Bill Flower, father of Andy and Grant, and he
remembers particularly the painful but invaluable catching
sessions he had with him! In that year he was selected for
Mashonaland in the national cricket week for that age-group,
although he did not make the national side, the Fawns.
He did not open the batting regularly until he reached first-team
level. He soon realised he had found his niche, and has
preferred to open ever since. In his final year at St George's
College he was selected for the Mashonaland Schools team, and
followed this up with selection for the national Under-19 side to
play in the South African Nuffield Week in 1993. The team as a
whole did not do particularly well, though.
After this tour Trevor left St George's a year younger than
usual, and spent a year with Kingswood College at Grahamstown in
the eastern Cape of South Africa. He read an article about the
College when he was in South Africa with the Under-19 team, with
reference to the 'bridging year' between high school and
university, and he felt he would enjoy the experience as giving
him another year of cricket at school level and also a chance to
see what university was like. At the end of that year he won
selection as vice-captain of the Eastern Province Nuffield side.
From Kingswood he applied for and was offered a place at the
Eastern Province Cricket Academy, which had been started by
Kepler Wessels. While there he decided to study for a Bachelor
of Commerce degree at the University of Port Elizabeth, and hopes
to use it when his cricket career is over.
His cricket at the Academy, he says, had its ups and downs. He
had a lot of runs behind him as an opening batsman, but this was
now the time when he worked the hardest on perfecting his
technique. He had hitherto played most of the time off the front
foot at the Academy, but now worked hard to develop his back-foot
technique. He also had the advantage now of playing in a strong
league in Port Elizabeth. He pays tribute to the coaching of
Colin Bland at the Academy; he had a few sessions with him and
rates him as perhaps the best batting coach he ever had.
At school level Trevor did no bowling at all; in fact, he had a
reputation as a 'chucker'. He did not bowl seamers particularly
well and had a tendency to throw the ball to try to improve it.
When he was in the Academy, though, he began to bowl
off-spinners, with guidance from one of the coaches there.
He made his first-class debut in early 1997 at the Bulawayo
Athletic Club, for a Matabeleland Invitation XI against the
touring English county team Worcestershire. He had flown back to
Zimbabwe for a ten-day vacation and contacted Zimbabwe Cricket
Union officials to let them know his credentials as a graduate of
the Eastern Province Academy and his wish to play some cricket
during his holiday. They were impressed enough to draft him into
the team. He scored 45 and 0 in the match. With a now sound
technique he batted positively in the first innings, enjoying the
pull, and felt very good about his effort, although regretting
his failure to turn it into a fifty or more. He particularly
remembers the bowling of left-arm spinner Richard Illingworth,
who he feels was the best bowler he had faced at that stage.
Trevor's full-time university career lasted from 1996 to 1998,
following which he returned to Harare. He returned to Harare
Sports Club, for which he first played in his last year at St
George's College and had continued to play every year when he was
home during the Christmas holidays. He had played several
matches for the Zimbabwe Board XI over the previous seasons which
had not been granted first-class status; in one of these matches,
against Griqualand West, he scored 151 not out, his highest score
to date in any form of cricket.
He was selected for the second unofficial Test between Zimbabwe A
and England A at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and earned some
notoriety in the second innings when, in a valiant but vain
effort to save the game, he batted for 263 minutes and 222 balls
to score 28. A month later on the same ground he scored a fine
62, this time off only 108 balls, for a Matabeleland Invitation
XI against the touring Australian Cricket Academy team, more than
half the total of 121. But he had little other success and
finished with a first-class average for the season of under 20.
At the last minute he found himself able to play in England
during the 1999 season. Dirk Viljoen had a contract with
Cranleigh in Surrey, but was then selected for the Zimbabwe World
Cup team; looking for somebody to take over his contact, he found
Trevor eager and willing. Trevor enjoyed himself with eleven
centuries during the course of the season, three in the league,
and he was able to play a great deal of mid-week cricket as well
against such teams as MCC and Stoics.
He was awarded a professional contract with the Zimbabwe Cricket
Union at the start of the 1999/2000 season, and soon celebrated
with 114 in a national league club match against Alexandra Sports
Club; this was his first century in Zimbabwean league cricket,
but it was the start of his first full season. He was selected
for the ZCU President's XI to play the touring Australians at
Queens Sports Club, where he scored a dogged fifty in the first
innings which so impressed the selectors that they immediately
added him to the squad for the Test match in Harare. Two days
later he was told he was playing.
It was a selection that took everyone by surprise, and it meant
that Zimbabwe were playing an extra batsman at the expense of a
bowler. It may have seemed a defensive strategy, but it turned
out to be an inspired decision. With a settled opening pair of
Grant Flower and Gavin Rennie, he batted number seven in the
first innings, scoring only 4 before being given out lbw, perhaps
dubiously.
In the second innings he received his big chance. The Zimbabwe
camp had noticed that Glenn McGrath bowled particularly well to
left-handers, while Shane Warne did not. It was decided that,
since Trevor was a regular opener, he should go in first with
Flower to face McGrath with the new ball, with the left-handed
Rennie held back to the middle order when it was expected that
Warne would be more prominent. Trevor began very slowly, playing
himself in with tremendous pains, but was still there at the
close of play, and in fact was only dismissed, lbw to Miller
('plumb' this time, he admits) for 60.
It was not only an outstanding performance for a debutant, but it
was also a learning experience. He learned a great deal from
batting with Flower and also Murray Goodwin, with whom he shared
a second-wicket partnership of 98. At one stage he tried several
times to cut Warne dangerously close to off stump, but Flower had
a word with him, advising him that it was not a percentage shot
in the circumstances. Goodwin also gave him a great deal of
advice. Slow going it may have been, but he batted well through
his slow periods and at one stage played a superb off-drive on
the up which went for four. His fine performance amid much
dismal Zimbabwean batting seemed to have ensured him a place in
the team for some while to come.
Trevor also has ambitions to win a place in the national one-day
side, although he recognises that at present he is far better
suited to the longer version of the game. His technique is
basically sound, and he is simply working on the right times to
play forward or play back; he will be looking in future to
develop his strokes on the off side, where he is at present
limited. He can cut, but gets most of his runs through on-drives
and working the ball through midwicket.
In the field he was particularly impressed by Steve Waugh, who
despite two dropped catches survived to score a big century and
teach the Zimbabweans a stern lesson. Waugh, along with Kepler
Wessels, was a player Trevor admired as a youngster, and he
actually names Waugh as his mentor, particularly admiring the
mental side of his game as well as his technique. He spoke to
Waugh after the test match and the Australian captain had some
encouraging words to say about his technique.
His father Ray scored 279 not out for Rhodesia against Orange
Free State in 1967/68, which remained a Currie Cup record for
many years, but this hardly concerns Trevor, as it took place
several years before he was born and his father has scarcely
mentioned it to him. He himself has no thoughts of any
possibility of matching this score; as he says, "I'm not here to
break records; I'm here to help the team win games."
Trevor enjoys playing golf in his spare time, but he enjoys all
sports. In his university days he played second-team hockey and
also squash, while at school he was a useful athlete,
particularly in long-distance running. In his spare time, which
is limited these days, he enjoys listening to music and going out
and meeting new people. He found London and seeing how different
people live there a particularly enjoyable experience.