Craig Ervine

Craig Richard Ervine (born 19 August 1985) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer who plays all formats of the game. Ervine is a left-handed batsman. he was born at 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.

Craig Ervine

Personal information
Full name	Craig Richard Ervine
Born	(1985-08-19) 19 August 1985 Harare, Zimbabwe
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right arm off-break
Role	Middle-order batsman
Relations	Sean Ervine (brother)
International information
National side	Zimbabwe (2010–present)
Test debut (cap 75)	4 August 2011 v Bangladesh
Last Test	22 February 2020 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 109)	28 May 2010 v India
Last ODI	7 July 2019 v Ireland
T20I debut (cap 24)	3 May 2010 v Sri Lanka
Last T20I	11 March 2020 v Bangladesh
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 18 93 22 74 Runs scored 1,208 2,571 461 5,137 Batting average 35.52 32.54 23.05 40.44 100s/50s 3/4 3/15 0/3 11/26 Top score 160 130* 68* 215 Balls bowled – – – 210 Wickets – – – 3 Bowling average – – – 47.66 5 wickets in innings – – – 0 10 wickets in match – – – 0 Best bowling – – – 2/44 Catches/stumpings 16/– 42/– 12/– 65/–
Source: CricInfo, 11 March 2020

Domestic career

Ervine has played for Midlands in Zimbabwe.[1] 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.[1]

In December 2018, during the opening round of the 2018–19 Logan Cup, Ervine scored his tenth century in first-class cricket.[2] He was the leading run-scorer in the 2018–19 Stanbic Bank 20 Series tournament, with 328 runs in six matches.[3]

International career

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.[4]

On 6 August 2016 Ervine scored his maiden Test century, playing against New Zealand at Harare.[5][6]

On Zimbabwe's 2017 tour of Sri Lanka in 2017 Ervine scored a match winning 69 runs to level the five-match series 2-2.[7] 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.[8] In January 2020, during the first Test against Sri Lanka, Ervine scored his 1,000th run in Test cricket.[9]

On 22 February 2020, he captained Test team in the one-off Test against Bangladesh,[10] after Sean Williams, Zimbabwe's regular Test captain, took leave ahead of the match for the birth of his first child.[11]

Education

Ervine studied for A-levels at Lomagundi College.[12]

Personal life

Ervine's father Rory and uncle Neil both played first-class cricket for Rhodesia B in the 1977/78 Castle Bowl competition[13][14] and another uncle, Gordon Den, played for Rhodesia and Eastern province in the 1960s.[15] 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.[16]

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. Another brother Ryan played domestic limited overs cricket in Zimbabwe in 2009/10[17]

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. The injury required a three-hour reconstructive operation to his right hand.[12]

References

1. Craig Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
2. "Carl Mumba's eight-for lifts Rhinos to the top of Logan Cup table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
3. "Domestic Twenty20 Competition, 2018/19: Most runs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
4. "Ervine ton lifts Zimbabwe to stirring win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
5. "Ervine ton stalls dominant New Zealand". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
6. "Zimbabwe's sixth straight loss to New Zealand". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
7. "Calm Ervine helps Zimbabwe draw level". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
8. "Ervine's 151* headlines Zimbabwe's day". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
9. "Steady start for Sri Lanka after Embuldeniya five-for". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
10. "Captain Sean Williams To Miss Bangladesh Test For His Child's Birth". Pindula News. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
11. "Zimbabwe name squad for Dhaka Test". BC Crictime. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
12. Craig Ervine, CricInfo. Retrieved 0218-09-02.
13. Rory Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
14. Neil Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
15. Gordon Den, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
16. Alexander Den, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)
17. Ryan Ervine, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. (subscription required)

External links

• Craig Ervine at ESPNcricinfo