Tatenda Taibu - a short biography

FULL NAME: Tatenda Taibu

BORN: 14 May 1983, at Harare

MAJOR TEAMS: CFX Academy. Present club side: Winstonians

KNOWN AS: Tatenda Taibu. Nickname: Tibbly

BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat

BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Off Breaks. Wicket-keeper

OCCUPATION: High school student

FIRST-CLASS DEBUT: Still awaited

TEST DEBUT: Still awaited

ODI DEBUT: Still awaited

BIOGRAPHY (February 2000)

It caused a major surprise when the young 16-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman Tatenda Taibu was named among the Zimbabwe players to join the national side in the West Indies for the one-day triangular tournament which also included Pakistan in March and April 2000. However, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union were planning for the future, and the intention was not that Tatenda should actually play in any major matches but that he should be there for the experience.

Most of Zimbabwe's young black players have grown up with no family background in cricket, and Tatenda was no exception. Most of the early ones to break through have been fast bowlers, as this is perhaps the 'easiest' skill to learn for those physically capable of doing so who have not enjoyed the benefits of growing up in a cricket culture. When Tatenda broke through into the national Under-19 team, though, it was seen that here was a highly talented young player who was both a batsman and also a wicket-keeper, the latter a particularly rare commodity in Zimbabwean cricket at present.

Tatenda, like most other black players of today, was the first in his family to take up cricket, and for this he owes the enthusiasm of a friend who started playing with him and encouraged him to attend practices at the Harare high-density suburb school of Chipembere. This was in 1993, when he was in Grade 5, and he was fortunate in that Chipembere was one of only three schools in that huge suburb of Highfield to have cricket coaching at that time. Tatenda says his very first introduction to the game was at physical education classes during the morning, and then there were voluntary coaching sessions for two hours in the afternoons. These afternoon sessions were taken by Zimbabwe Cricket Union coaches Stephen Mangongo, Bruce Makovah and Walter Chawaguta.

Tatenda actually began as an off-spinner, but in Grade 7 he began to develop his batting skills. In that year he went on a development tour, organised by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union and managed by Stephen Mangongo, to South Africa. He did not get the opportunity to play in many matches at junior school, because 'I wasn't that good,' he says, although when he did get a chance he scored 31 not out in his first match, against the strong St John's team. His best bowling performances were 5/28 against Sharon School and 5/24 against Chitungwiza. Then on tour, for which he was selected as an off-spinner, he played a major innings of 74 not out. He does not remember the opposition, but he soon gained promotion up the order at the expense of an opening batsman who was failing to score runs.

He won a cricket scholarship to Churchill Boys High School, chosen with five others out of a short list by the three ZCU coaches. In Form One he continued to play with success as an all-rounder, but in Form Two the team wicket-keeper did not turn up for the match and at short notice a volunteer was needed to take his place behind the stumps. Tatenda duly volunteered, although he had never really done the job before, and although he did not take any catches or stumpings, he collected a bad throw and turned it into a run-out. Coach Bill Flower, father of Test players Andy and Grant, who was present at the match, spoke highly of his potential.

Soon after this Tatenda attended a coaching clinic run by former national wicket-keeper Des Evans, and learned the basic skills of the job to add to his natural ability. Andy Flower also gave him special attention in practices at Winstonians Sports Club, the club that is built around past and present Churchill pupils. Small in stature and light on his feet, he is built in the old-fashioned style of wicket-keepers.

Tatenda continued to bat high in the order, opening the batting until late in his Form Three year, when he dropped down to number three, a position he now prefers. He was selected as wicket-keeper/batsman for the national Under-16 team at the age of 14, and also toured Namibia for the Zone Six tournament. Then at the age of 16 he was included in the Under-19 team to tour South Africa and then to participate in the World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2000. He had no success with the bat in South Africa but kept most impressively. He scored 59 in the World Cup against Namibia, when his team was chasing 231 to win, and he gave them a brisk start batting at number three.

Starting the New Year, in the Lower Sixth form at Churchill, Tatenda was approached by the convenor of the national selectors, Andy Pycroft, and told that he would be going to the West Indies for the latter part of the tour there, for experience and exposure, and he might be able to play in one or two minor games. He should have made his first-class debut for Mashonaland in the first Logan Cup match of the 1999/2000 season but, perhaps in the excitement of being selected, he had a mix-up about where the match was being played, and did not arrive until after the match had started, when he found his place had been taken by the twelfth man.

Tatenda's highest score is 156, scored at Under-14 level for Churchill against Eaglesvale School. He says he has scored four centuries in his career so far, and 12 fifties. His proudest memory is of his 108 against St George's College, scored at better than a run a ball, to win the match against the odds. As a wicket-keeper he took three catches and two stumpings against St John's at Under-16 level, his best return in an innings so far. He has not given up his bowling entirely; Andy Flower is the regular Winstonians keeper, although he is so often on national duty that Tatenda still has much work to do, but he can also bowl when Andy is playing.

Tatenda first played for Winstonians at Form Three level, and his highest score for them so far, 87 against Harare Sports Club, was scored in his first season. In Form Four he produced several fifties for them. His main strengths as a batsman are the cover drive and pull, and with his short stature, still not much over five foot tall, he gets ample opportunity to play the cross-bat strokes. He is happy to face any kind of bowler but perhaps has a preference for facing spin. So far in his limited career, and with Winstonians still in the second division of the national club league, he has had little opportunity to face full international bowlers, but he did bat against the Kenyan Martin Suji in Namibia and found him a difficult proposition.

Tatenda has made cricket the focus of his life; he used to play soccer and rugby as well, but has now given them up. He has two younger brothers who are also promising players. He has a great friend in his contemporary Stuart Matsikenyere, a batsman whom many thought unlucky not to go with him to the World Cup, and they frequently practise together and encourage each other. He has set his sights on making the national side and taking up a professional contract, but also wants to qualify as an accountant.

His other interests include listening to music and playing chess. A-levels may restrict his cricket for the next two years but, all things being equal, he may be around on the international scene for another twenty years. To younger players he says, "Hard work is the way to do it, to achieve success."