Craig Ervine

Craig Ervine

Personal information
Full name	Craig Richard Ervine
Born	(1985-08-19) 19 August 1985 (age 39) Harare, Zimbabwe
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right arm off-break
Role	Middle-order batter
Relations	Sean Ervine (brother)
International information
National side	Zimbabwe (2010–present)
Test debut (cap 75)	4 August 2011 v Bangladesh
Last Test	12 February 2023 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 109)	28 May 2010 v India
Last ODI	06 January 2024 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no.	77
T20I debut (cap 24)	3 May 2010 v Sri Lanka
Last T20I	22 November 2023 v Namibia
T20I shirt no.	77
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003/04	Midlands (squad no. 24)
2009/10–2010/11	Southern Rocks
2011/12–2017/18	Matabeleland Tuskers
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 20 117 65 89 Runs scored 1,436 3,294 1,349 6515 Batting average 35.05 32.94 22.48 43.14 100s/50s 4/6 4/19 0/8 16/32 Top score 160 130* 68* 215 Catches/stumpings 17/0 55/0 31/– 85/0
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 7 January 2024

Craig Richard Ervine (born 19 August 1985) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer who captains Zimbabwe in limited overs matches.^[1] Ervine is a left-handed batter. He was born in Harare and has played Test and limited overs cricket for the Zimbabwe national cricket team and first-class cricket for a variety of Zimbabwean sides in the Logan Cup. He holds an Irish passport.^[2] In January 2022, in the opening fixture of the series against Sri Lanka, Ervine played in his 100th One Day International (ODI) match.^[3]

Domestic career

He soon got a place at Zimbabwe Cricket Academy and soon broke into the domestic set-up playing for Midlands, Zimbabwe U-19s and Zimbabwe A sides.^[4]

He made his List A debut during the 2003 Faithwear Clothing Inter-Provincial One-Day Competition playing for Midlands against Matabeleland on 3 December 2003.^[5] He made his first-class debut during the 2003–04 Logan Cup playing for Midlands against the Mashonaland on 19 March 2004.^[6] He was selected for Zimbabwe squad for the 2004 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.^[7]

He also headed to England to work on his techniques and had brief spells at English clubs including Bexhill and Lordswood.^[8] He also played for Wallace Park Club in 2009 and 2010.^[9] Ervine has played majority of his domestic cricket for Midlands in Zimbabwe.^[10]

In February 2010, Ervine signed for the Zimbabwean domestic circuit with Southern Rocks. On debut against the Mid West Rhinos, Ervine made a top score of 100, his first first-class century. He has played for the Matabeleland Tuskers since the 2011/12 season.^[10]

In December 2018, during the opening round of the 2018–19 Logan Cup, Ervine scored his tenth century in first-class cricket.^[11] He was the leading run-scorer in the 2018–19 Stanbic Bank 20 Series tournament, with 328 runs in six matches.^[12] In December 2020, he was selected to play for the Tuskers in the 2020–21 Logan Cup.^[13][14]

International career

Early years

He was included in Zimbabwe's squad for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament despite the modest returns in domestic T20 competition and made his T20I debut in a rain-affected group stage match against Sri Lanka on 3 May 2010.^[15] He made his ODI debut against India on 28 May 2010 as part of the 2010 Zimbabwe Micromax Tri-Nation Series and scored a half-century on debut.^[16] He ended up being unbeaten on 67 runs off just 60 deliveries on debut as Zimbabwe chased down the mammoth 286 runs in a thrilling chase.^[17][18]

He made his test debut against Bangladesh on 4 August 2011 which was also a comeback test appearance for Zimbabwe after their readmission to test cricket. He made an impression on debut with the bat scoring an unbeaten 35 runs in a sixth wicket partnership with Brendan Taylor before Zimbabwe going onto declare at 291/5 and win the match comfortably by 130 runs.^[19]

He was named as part of the Zimbabwean squad during the 2011 Cricket World Cup which also marked his maiden appearance in a World Cup tournament. He had a decent World Cup campaign as he ended up as the leading run-scorer for Zimbabwe during the course of the tournament with an aggregate of 231 runs in 6 matches including 3 fifties.^[20] He was also a member of the Zimbabwe squad for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 showpiece. He signed as an overseas player for Lymington in the Southern Premier League for 2012 season.^[21]

In 2013, soon after Zimbabwe had returned from the tour of West Indies following the bilateral series, he refused to sign a central Zimbabwe Cricket contract with the intention to pursue his career playing club cricket for Irish club Lisburn and grade cricket for Morley in Western Australia.^[22][23][24] He moved to Ireland on a passport obtained via his great-great-grandfather in a bid to qualify playing for Ireland cricket team at some point of time.^[25] However, it was revealed that his ambitions to represent Ireland was just rumours.^[26] He made the move to leave Zimbabwe citing financial insecurity and to earn for a good living in overseas. He also played for Northern Knights in the European summer at the 2013 Inter-Provincial Championship and in the other half of the same year he went to Perth to play club cricket in Australia.^[27]

International return

However, he made a U-turn roughly 18 months later insisting that he once again made his intentions to play for Zimbabwe at international level and made himself available for national selections again in October 2014 ahead of the 2014/15 season.^[28] He was in contention for a spot in the national squad for the tour of Bangladesh in 2014 and was included in the main squads.^[29] He was thereafter subsequently picked for the 2015 Cricket World Cup which was held in Australia and New Zealand. During the 2015 World Cup, he along with Brendan Taylor put on Zimbabwe's highest fourth wicket partnership of 93 in a World Cup match which came against India.^[30]

On 2 August 2015, Ervine scored his first ODI century against New Zealand, an unbeaten 130 runs in a match which Zimbabwe won chasing more than 300 runs.^[31] Following the win against New Zealand, his teammate Sean Williams asked him personally to pay half the rent for his stay in the apartment.^[32] On 6 August 2016, Ervine scored his maiden Test century, playing against New Zealand at Harare.^[33][34]

On Zimbabwe's 2017 tour of Sri Lanka, Ervine scored a match winning 69 runs to level the five-match series 2-2.^[35][36] Zimbabwe won the 5th ODI and won the first ever series against Sri Lanka as well. Ervine's second test century came against Sri Lanka on 14 July 2017 at the R Premadasa Stadium and registered his career best test knock of 160.^[37][38] Despite his valiant efforts with the bat, Sri Lanka went onto win the closely fought test match after successfully chasing down the mammoth target of 391.^[39]

He was included in Zimbabwe's squad for the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament which was held in Zimbabwe.^[40][41]

On 14 July 2019, he involved in an unbroken runstand worth of 111 runs along with Sean Williams for the third wicket during the third and decisive T20I against Ireland and it is also the highest ever partnership for Zimbabwe in terms of runs in T20I cricket.^[42] Zimbabwe chased down the target of 172 runs to square the three match T20I series against Ireland 1-1.

In January 2020, during the first Test against Sri Lanka, Ervine scored his 1,000th run in Test cricket.^[43]

Captaincy

On 22 February 2020, he captained Test team in the one-off Test against Bangladesh,^[44] after Sean Williams, Zimbabwe's regular Test captain, took leave ahead of the match for the birth of his first child.^[45][46] He scored a century top scoring for Zimbabwe in first innings with 107 and despite his valiant effort with the bat in both innings of the match on his captaincy debut, Zimbabwe went onto lose by an innings and 106 runs.^[47][48]

In August 2021, he was appointed as white ball captain of Zimbabwe for the first time and assumed white ball captaincy for the first time during the limited overs series against Ireland and the T20I series against Scotland.^[49] He was reinstated as the captain of Zimbabwe side for the three match ODI series against Sri Lanka in January 2022.^[50][51][52]

Education

Ervine studied for A-levels at Lomagundi College.^[53]

Personal life

Ervine's father Rory and uncle Neil both played first-class cricket for Rhodesia B in the 1977/78 Castle Bowl competition^[54][55] and another uncle, Gordon Den, played for Rhodesia and Eastern province in the 1960s.^[56] Den's father, Ervine's grandfather, Alexander Den is recorded as having made one appearance for Rhodesia against the touring Australian national side in 1936.^[57] He along with his brothers Sean and Ryan were brought and raised up in a farm outside Harare and he inherited interest in cricket through his grandparents who would even pay 50 cents to anyone who took a wicket.^[27]

Ervine's brother, Sean Ervine also played for Zimbabwe and, after leaving the country in 2004, forged a successful career in English county cricket with Hampshire.^[58] Another brother Ryan played domestic limited overs cricket in Zimbabwe in 2009/10 season.^[59]

Ervine almost had a hand amputated in his early teens following a freak accident where he slipped and fell on broken glass in his family's living room. He slipped on some stray penlight batteries at home.^[27] His mum who was a nurse during wartime immediately helped her son from excessive bleeding. The injury required a three-hour reconstructive operation to his right hand.^[53]

References

1. "Craig Ervine appointed Zimbabwe's full-time white-ball captain". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
2. "CRICKET: Zimbabwe defeat helps Ireland World Cup hopes". newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
3. "Ervine 'humbled' to reach 100 ODI milestone". The Standard. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
4. "Craig Ervine leads recovery to 266 for 8". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
5. "Full Scorecard of Midlands vs Matabeleland 2003/04 – Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
6. "Full Scorecard of Mashonaland vs Midlands 2003/04 – Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
7. "Tenth edition of ICC U19 CWC – another exciting chapter in tournament's history". icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
8. "Craig Ervine Profile – ICC Ranking, Age, Career Info & Stats". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
9. "Lisburn sign Craig Ervine". cricketeurope.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
10. Craig Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
11. "Carl Mumba's eight-for lifts Rhinos to the top of Logan Cup table". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
12. "Domestic Twenty20 Competition, 2018/19: Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
13. "Logan Cup first class cricket competition gets underway". The Zimbabwe Daily. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
14. "Logan Cup starts in secure environment". The Herald. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
15. "Full Scorecard of Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe 7th Match, Group B 2010 – Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
16. "Full Scorecard of India vs Zimbabwe 1st Match 2010 – Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
17. "Taylor lauds Zimbabwe's all-round performance". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
18. "Taylor and Ervine seal terrific win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
19. "Full Scorecard of Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh Only Test 2011 – Score Report". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
20. "ICC Cricket World Cup, 2010/11 Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
21. "Cricket: Lymington sign Test star Ervine". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
22. "Why I quit Zimbabwe for county: Taylor". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
23. "Ervine refuses winter contract, opts for club cricket in UK". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
24. "Craig Ervine turns down Zimbabwe Test spot to play club cricket in England". Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
25. "Ervine reveals Ireland ambitions". cricketeurope.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
26. "Test star Ervine says non-qualified players can have place in inter-pros". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
27. "Ervine puts his scarred hand up for Zimbabwe". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
28. "Ervine and Lamb make themselves available". sportingnews.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
29. "Ervine and Lamb available for Zimbabwe selection". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
30. "World Cup – Zimbabwe Cricket Team Records & Stats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
31. "Ervine ton lifts Zimbabwe to stirring win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
32. "Can Craig Ervine now pay the other half of his flat rent?". Cricket Country. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
33. "Ervine ton stalls dominant New Zealand". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
34. "Zimbabwe's sixth straight loss to New Zealand". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
35. "Calm Ervine helps Zimbabwe draw level". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
36. "Ervine 50 helps Zimbabwe draw level in ODI series". Sunday Observer. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
37. "Ervine defies Sri Lanka with unbeaten 151". icc-cricket.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
38. PTI (14 July 2017). "Craig Ervine's unbeaten ton pulls Zimbabwe out of trouble". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
39. "Ervine's 151* headlines Zimbabwe's day". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
40. "Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams return as Zimbabwe name squads for South Africa, Bangladesh tours". icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
41. "ICC confirm match officials and squads for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier". icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
42. "Ervine, Williams help Zimbabwe level T20I series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
43. "Steady start for Sri Lanka after Embuldeniya five-for". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
44. "Captain Sean Williams To Miss Bangladesh Test For His Child's Birth". Pindula News. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
45. "Zimbabwe name squad for Dhaka Test". BC Crictime. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
46. "Craig Ervine to captain Zimbabwe in Bangladesh with Sean Williams expecting first child". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
47. "Test in balance after Ervine ton, Nayeem strikes". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
48. "Ervine makes his opportunity in Test cricket count". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
49. "Craig Ervine named Zimbabwe captain for Ireland, Scotland tours". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
50. "Craig Ervine to captain Zimbabwe for Sri Lanka ODIs". CeylonToday. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
51. "Craig Ervine to captain Zimbabwe for Sri Lanka ODIs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
52. "Zimbabwe retain Ervine as skipper for Sri Lanka tour". Zimbabwe Cricket. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
53. Craig Ervine, ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 0218-09-02.
54. Rory Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
55. Neil Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
56. Gordon Den, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
57. Alexander Den, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
58. "Sean Ervine: 17 interesting things to know about the Zimbabwean". Cricket Country. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
59. Ryan Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)

External links

• Craig Ervine at ESPNcricinfo