Andy Blignaut: towards the top again

Andy Blignaut is one of Zimbabwe's most talented young players. He has ambitions to become his country's Lance Klusener, a powerful hitter in the lower order and a more than useful fast-medium bowler. But his career has been severely handicapped by a chronic back injury. As he works his way back to full fitness, he talks about it to John Ward.

Andy made his debut in one-day cricket last season, with little success to start with. He just seemed to be on the verge of finding his feet with a couple of brief but powerfully hit innings against Australia when his back let him down and put him out of international cricket for several months. He toured West Indies, although not full fit, and then Sri Lanka with Zimbabwe A, before the back struck again.

"I've been struggling with a stress fracture; one of the vertebrae of my back was cracked," says the man known as Andy, although his given name is Arnoldus. "That's put me out for six or seven months."

Andy was out of cricket between December 1999 and February 2000, missing home tours by South Africa and Sri Lanka, and the triangular tournament in South Africa also involving England. He was selected for the West Indian tour, mainly for the one-day series. On the eve of the first match, though, he suffered a blow on the knee that put him out of action for a few days, and it was not until the final match against Pakistan that he was back in action - but with little success.

"My bowling was coming on quite well in the West Indies because I've changed my action slightly, in order to try and conserve my back," he says. "I've tried to become a bit more of a front-on bowler instead of a side-on bowler. West Indian pitches are pretty much like the Sri Lankan pitches, slow and not very bouncy, contrary to what they were in the eighties, of course."

He was then selected for the Zimbabwe A tour of Sri Lanka rather than the national side's tour to England. Perhaps the thinking was that, as Andy is considered mainly as a one-day player at present and the one-day series in England began two months into the tour, his career would be better served by touring Sri Lanka and he could always be added to the English party afterwards. Unfortunately, due to Andy's back injury, that could never be considered.

Sri Lanka was also a new country to Andy, although he had been to India when attending the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai. "We felt we had quite a good chance against them," he recalls, "but we're not used to the spinning conditions down there, and our batsmen struggled with the spinners. But although we didn't do that well with the results, I feel that a lot of experience was gained. It was quite a young side."

Andy did not find it easy bowling on the slow, dead pitches. "We had to look at our way of bowling," he says. "Our seam bowlers didn't manage to put it in the right area consistently enough, but once again we're not used to those conditions. We came back from that tour knowing roughly where to bowl in future, when we encounter those tracks again." Andy failed to take a wicket in three first-class matches, although with his back playing up he did not get much work to do.

He was more successful with the bat, finishing second in the first-class averages. "Luckily I managed to stand up to the spin quite well and I was able to stay in for a long innings several times," he says. "But it was difficult because the ball doesn't come on to the bat all that much and the pace of the wickets makes it harder to get it off the bat; you have to try and force it. It took a bit of getting used to."

"That's where my body was really beginning to get sore," Andy confesses. "I had a scan in Zimbabwe, and it diagnosed a stress fracture, so that put me out until Christmas." He spent the off-season working to strengthen his back muscles, and then in December he went on a Zimbabwe Board XI tour to see how his back was holding up. "I strained a muscle, which put me out for another three weeks. About two weeks ago I started bowling at about 80 or 90 per cent again, without pain, so things are looking quite good at the moment."

Andy played for Alexandra Sports Club as a batsman when the new season began. "I had to do something; I couldn't just sit out of the game and do nothing," he says. "I feel my batting is coming on quite a bit, and it's another aspect of my game that I'm looking to improve all the time.

"I've been on a sort of progressive bowling load," he says of his recovery. "It started a month ago, just bowling in short spells off a little run-up. The last week I've been bowling at pretty much three-quarter pace, and without any sort of pain or discomfort. As long as I keep watching it carefully it'll be all right.

"We had a crunch game against Winstonians at the weekend and that's when I was able to test my back out a bit. I got three for 32 off ten overs, and I was quite happy about that. So things are looking quite good for me at the moment, as long as I continue and my back holds out."

In the immediate future is the visit to Harare South of North West B to play the Zimbabwe Board XI in the Bowl competition. Andy was omitted from the three-day match, the selectors perhaps not wanting to push him too hard too soon, but included in the one-day side. "If my back holds out, obviously I'll be looking towards the national side," he says. "My ambition is to get back into the team and do well." Between now and the visit of Bangladesh in April is the Logan Cup, and he will be looking for some good, pain-free performances to attract the attention of the selectors.

"In my mental game I've improved a lot," Andy believes. "I think experience is the answer to most things in the game, and just a bit of mental strength is what is needed, really. So I think I'm on the right way, and I'm looking forward to getting back into the game."

It is interesting that Andy is talking about mental strength, as it is in just this area that Dave Houghton and one or two judges feel that Andy is weak. They agree that he has `all the talent in the world', but have expressed reservations as to whether he has the mental strength and determination needed to succeed in international cricket and to overcome his injury problems. I left Andy with the challenge to prove them wrong. The next few months could give an indication where Andy Blignaut's potentially exciting career will lead.