Elton Chigumbura
By Lovemore Dube 8/12/2022
Elton Chigumbura retired in November 2020 from professional cricket having raked up 200 caps in One Day Internationals.
It was the end of a 16 year-old flirtation with the game at the highest level for the 14 March 1986 Kwekwe born star.
Chigumbura who showed potential from an early age went through Harare’s famed cricket nursery Chipembere Primary School in Mbare before finding himself at Churchill High School.
It is at Churchill that he began to blossom as a notable all-rounder before he could make his debut for Mashonaland in the Logan Cup at the green age of 15.
He debuted at the age of 18 for his country following the withdrawal of senior players from the Test side in 2004. A majority of the players to withdraw labour were White and constituted the bulk of the side and off they went with their experience.
He would go on to play 14 Test matches for his country and total of over 200 caps in One Day Internationals.
His most memorable feat was a century, his maiden in OD1 against Pakistan in Lahore. That was in his 174th match of that format.
With statistics of 4000 runs and 100 wickets in ODIs, Chigumbura is one of Zimbabwe’s greatest all-rounders.
He also played for Africa XI at some stage to underline his stature as one of the game’s biggest stars.
Chigumbura was an early blossomer who was able to make it into two Under-19 World Cups for Zimbabwe. He is remembered for his four wicket haul in a win over Australia in one of the World Cups hosted by Bangladesh.
He had a stint too with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club where he was the only overseas player. This opened up avenues later in 2010 to return later that year to play for Eppleton Cricket Club.
He shone for Mashonaland Eagles in the 2017-2018 Pro50 Championship in which he top scored with 243 runs in seven outings.
He made his international debut sooner than expected before captaining the side.
It was a poor tour for him in an out of sorts Zimbabwe and an injury in early 2005 in which he suffered a stress fracture which saw him stay out of action for the better part of the year.
One of his career best performances is the man of the match stint of 57 runs and 3/37 against Sri Lanka.
The nation will never forget his sixth wicket stand with Stuart Matsikinyeri which yielded 165 runs in 2005 against Bangladesh as Zimbabwe chased 246 while eventually winning with five balls to spare.
Chigumbura was part of the Zimbabwe team for the 2007 West Indies World Cup in which he soured to new heights in ODI bowling figures of 3/25 and scored 38 runs from 34 balls as Zimbabwe beat the hosts on 30 November.
Chigumbura took the Zimbabwe’s captaincy from Prosper Utseya in May 2010.
In the 2011 World Cup under him Zimbabwe beat Canada and Kenya only and failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Brendon Taylor succeeded him that year and Chigumbura would retain the post in August 2014 for the limited overs.
He battled with a knee injury in his career.
As a batsman he was an aggressive hitter who was usually in the middle order.
He came in handy as a seam bowler which as a tool against the opposition was regarded as the fastest in the team.
At his best his ball speed was 140km/h.
An athletic outfielder, he once emerged with four catches in one game against West Indies.
