Gus Mackay - a short biography
FULL NAME: Angus James Mackay BORN: 13 June 1967, at Harare MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland A, Zimbabwe Board XI
John Ward
02-Feb-2000
FULL NAME: Angus James Mackay
BORN: 13 June 1967, at Harare
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland A, Zimbabwe Board XI. Current club team:
Old Georgians
KNOWN AS: Gus Mackay
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Fast Medium
OCCUPATION: Manager at finance house
FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: ZCU President's XI v Indians, at Sunrise Sports
Club, 2-4 October 1998
TEST DEBUT: Awaited
ODI DEBUT: Awaited
BIOGRAPHY (February 2000)
There was mild surprise in both local English and Zimbabwean
cricket circles in 1998 when it was learned that the prominent
Midlands cricketer Gus Mackay, after eight years in that area,
was returning home to Zimbabwe and hoped to win a place in that
country's team for the World Cup. Unfortunately Gus perhaps left
the return a little too late in his career, as the Zimbabwean
selectors were looking more at younger players, but he has
re-established himself as a leading player in Zimbabwean cricket
outside the international arena and has still not given up hope
of a call-up for one-day cricket, at least.
Gus is a player ideally suited to one-day cricket, and a valuable
performer in the longer game as well. He is a powerful hitter,
especially straight, and especially severe on overpitched
deliveries, as well as a dangerous new-ball bowler of good line
and length with a habit of achieving an early break-through. Had
he not spent eight years of his prime overseas, he could well
have enjoyed a profitable international career for Zimbabwe.
Like many other leading Zimbabwe cricketers, Gus enjoyed the
advantage of a strong family background in cricket. His father
Alan played Districts cricket for Bindura and Glendale for years,
and began a love of the game in his three sons, of whom Gus is
the youngest. When young he played frequently with his brothers
and began to develop his skills at home.
He first attended Marlborough Junior School in Harare, commuting
in from the farm each day, and played in the team there at all
levels, but he does not remember any outstanding performances.
At this early stage he was already primarily a bowler and it was
only later that he developed his batting skills.
He progressed to Marlborough High School for three years as a
boarder, where he received a lot of quality coaching from George
Goodwin, father of Test player Murray, and this was when his game
really began to develop. He played in the first team for each
age-group there. In the main, though, Gus has been largely a
self-taught cricketer who set his own goals and worked extremely
hard to achieve them. "I wanted to do it myself and just worked
hard at my game," he says.
After three years Gus moved to Plumtree High School, southwest of
Bulawayo in Matabeleland, where Mike Whiley as headmaster, Mike
Cummings and Neil Todd were coaches. He was in the school first
team during all his three years at Plumtree, captaining the team
in his final year. In his very first match he took five wickets
for nine runs against Chaplin School, Gweru, and never looked
back. He hit a couple of fifties during his time there, in the
middle order, as he was now working harder on his batting - one
against Milton in Bulawayo, he remembers. He also played for
Matabeleland Schools and went on the Zimbabwe Colts tour to
England in 1984, before representing Zimbabwe Schools in his
final two school years. He was also a keen rugby player for the
Plumtree first eleven.
Gus played no adult club cricket while at Plumtree, but on his
return to Harare played a season for Harare Sports Club before
moving to Old Georgians to get more opportunities. At Sports
Club he played alongside such players as Andy Pycroft, John
Traicos, Kevin Curran and Grant Paterson, with whom he enjoyed
playing and who helped him a lot, but he felt his chances were
restricted there and moved. He played for Mashonaland in the
Logan Cup before it became a first-class competition, and became
a well-known Districts player when he was not in England. He
represented Zimbabwe Country Districts in one-day matches against
touring teams from England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand during the
eighties.
After leaving school he returned to work on the family farm, and
in 1986 went over to England to spend a year playing for Essex
second eleven, but without great success. On his return he
suffered an ankle injury which prevented him from returning until
1989, when he played for Barnt Green in the Midlands. When he
returned there the following year, it was to be another eight
years before he returned to Zimbabwe for good. He always thought
of Zimbabwe as home and kept his Zimbabwean passport so he was
free to return when he felt like doing so.
He continued to play for Barnt Green for two years before moving
to West Bromwich Dartmouth in the Birmingham League, and then
returned to Barnt Green as captain. He also played matches for
MCC, having been invited to join as a playing member by the
former Oxford University Blue Giles Toogood, and this included a
tour to Bangladesh. In his time there he also represented the
England amateur team, the ECB eleven, for one season and the
Midlands Club Cricket Conference. His best performances included
an innings of 105 for Barnt Green against West Bromwich Dartmouth
and an analysis of seven for 40 in another match.
He made plenty of friends over there, including many on the
playing staffs of the Warwickshire and Worcestershire county
teams. The league cricket he played in is semi-professional and
he feels it is of a very high standard.
To earn a living he joined the financial world, working for the
Royal Bank of Scotland and then as a finance broker. When he
returned to Zimbabwe he continued this line of business and is
currently manager of the finance house UDC's agricultural
division in Harare.
In June 1998 he decided to return to Zimbabwe with his English
wife Clare, as he had always intended sooner or later. He
immediately set his sights on gaining a place in the national
side, but probably his age of 31 was an obstacle in the minds of
the selectors, despite a most successful season. He rejoined Old
Georgians, and was to be elected captain in his second season
there. He had already spoken to Alistair Campbell, then national
captain, about his return, and had particular encouragement from
Andy and Grant Flower to give it a try.
Gus has always enjoyed playing for Old Georgians, although the
club has had some trying times recently, and Gus himself has done
much to keep them going, being instrumental among other things in
obtaining sponsorship for the club from Ray-ban Sunglasses for
the 1999/2000 season. He proved himself a dynamic leader on the
field, although not universally popular, as some regard him as
too intense and intolerant of failure, whether his own or those
of others.
He was soon given a chance to show his worth, making his
first-class debut for a ZCU President's XI against the touring
Indian team, but without success. He did better in his first
Logan Cup match for Mashonaland A; playing against Matabeleland
he hammered 35 off 21 balls, including four sixes, and took six
wickets in the match, although his team lost in the end. For a
President's XI against England A he hit 44 off 38 balls (four
fours, two sixes) and took two wickets, but was not selected for
the Zimbabwe A team or for the World Cup team.
He did win selection for the Zimbabwe Board XI, firstly for the
one-day side against Gauteng, and then in the three-day match
against Namibia. In 1999/2000 he took over as captain from
Trevor Penney, frequently took valuable wickets opening the
bowling and also opened the batting in one-day matches, often
with telling if brief effect. He scored a fifty against
KwaZulu-Natal in their three-day match.
Comparing his experiences in Zimbabwe with those in England, he
prefers batting in Zimbabwe as the ball comes on to the bat
better, but bowling is more difficult as the pitches are flatter
and it becomes more of a priority to bowl to a good line and
length. He feels his game has continued to develop well since
his return to Zimbabwe, that he has bowled well, especially for
the Zimbabwe Board XI, and that his batting has progressed
considerably. He is keeping himself fitter in the knowledge that
he is growing older, but he is nevertheless still improving.
His main ambition remains the same, to represent Zimbabwe at
cricket. He feels that he has little chance of playing Test
cricket now, but is confident he would earn his keep in one-day
internationals. He is keeping his hopes alive and even 'five or
six' one-day matches would represent the achievement of this
goal.
Regarding his batting, he says, "I just try to hit the ball
straight and hit it hard." Perhaps only Old Georgians team-mate
Craig Evans can rival Gus in the power he puts into his hitting.
His highest score any class of cricket is 113, scored for Old
Georgians against Old Miltonians in Bulawayo back in 1986/87.
His best bowling figures are seven for about 40 in the Birmingham
League.
Gus is now living in Harare with his wife Clare, who has a baby
on the way, and plays golf for recreation. Were he ten years
younger it is hard to imagine the selectors overlooking him,
especially for the national one-day side, but it may well be that
he will never now play full international cricket. Still, a run
of outstanding form or a spate of injuries to other players could
change that, and there is still plenty of cricket left in Gus
Mackay.