THE life of a professional cricketer does come with its trappings, from lucrative contracts, prime time TV exposure, travelling around the world and staying at luxurious hotels.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
But ask former Zimbabwe all-rounder Andy Blignaut what gave him the greatest satisfaction during his successful international career and his answer is none of the above.
For Blignaut, nothing gives him more satisfaction than the chance to give back to the game he loves by helping in nurturing upcoming youngsters in the junior ranks.
The 37-year-old former star, was two years ago appointed director of the Peterhouse School Cricket Centre of Excellence, a role he quickly settled into, like a duck in water.
“When I retired from cricket, I felt I needed to give back to the game so when the opportunity to work with young players at Peterhouse came along I didn’t think twice about accepting the offer,” Blignaut told Standardsport after a round of golf at Bindura Golf Club last weekend.
“It’s something that I have always wanted to do even when I was still playing,” said Blignaut, who also plans to give back to the Mashonaland Central community. Blignaut was recently approached to revive the cricket section at Bindura Country Club, which is currently undergoing massive renovations with the help of surrounding mining companies such as the nearby Freda Rebecca Gold Mine.
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“I think it’s absolutely brilliant what the mining giants have done here in Bindura. There’s no country club in Zimbabwe that looks like Bindura at the moment. If you go to the main club house right up to the golf section, everything is looking good,” he said.
“In fact, they’re working on their cricket section and the mine is going to build some nets and other practice facilities. The schools around Bindura come and play here so I will also be coming here to do some bit of coaching.”
Blignaut said his involvement in junior cricket made him appreciate better the amount of untapped talent the country has, but warned that it could all go to waste if the game was not administered properly.
“Because of my involvement with coaching at Peterhouse, I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of school boy cricket and I must say we have a lot of talent in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“I was also fortunate to be involved in the national Under-19 trials where I was helping out with selection and I must say in terms of the talent out there, the future is bright, but it will all depend on how the game is administered and managed. Hopefully we have the right people who have the game at heart but definitely in terms of talent we have what it takes.”
Born Anoldus Mauritius Blignaut in August 1978, “Andy”, as he is affectionately known, played 19 Tests, 54 ODIs and a lone T20 International for Zimbabwe between 1999 and 2010.
Although predominantly a new ball bowler, Blignaut also had a penchant for hitting the ball long and hard lower down the order.
His career strike-rate of 106.28 in ODIs was a testament to his batting ability.
Blignaut, however, first caught everyone’s attention when he claimed five wickets in the first innings on his Test debut against Bangladesh in 2001.
He finished the game with eight Bangladeshi scalps to his credit, the best return for a Zimbabwean on Test debut to date.
Besides playing cricket, Blignaut also tried his luck in modelling for a considerable amount of time, missing the whole 2001-02 season due to modelling commitments.
After flirting with modelling, Blignaut made a terrific comeback in the first Test of the series against Pakistan at home in 2002. He picked a five-wicket haul in the first innings and finished with a tally of eight wickets for the match.
Blignaut will also be forever remembered for his magnificent hat-trick against Bangladesh in the first Test at home in 2003-04.
However, his promising career was almost brought to an abrupt end when he was among the 15 players who rebelled against the Zimbabwe Cricket Board in 2004.
After being axed from the national side along with the others, Blignaut set out to explore other avenues, which included stints with Australian state side Tasmania and English county Durham.
After a four-year international hiatus, Blignaut’s cricket career was finally revived back home in 2010, as he signed a contract with Matabeleland Tuskers.
He was also part of Zimbabwe’s 2010 World T20 campaign in the West Indies, as well as the home tri-series with India and Sri Lanka that followed, playing his last ODI in the seven wicket victory over India at Harare Sports Club on June 3.
Although no longer actively involved at senior cricket level, Blignaut still follows the national team’s progress with keen interest and believes despite the recent poor results, the team will come right under Dav Whatmore.
“The results may not be forthcoming on a regular basis, but they have won some good games against the top sides like India and New Zealand,” Blignaut says.
“Again, the talent is there; perhaps mentally they are not as strong as they should be, but I’m sure they will only get better in that area because I believe we have a very good coach in Dav Whatmore. He knows the mental toughness that’s required to succeed and if the players listen to him, they will come right,” he said.
