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FULL NAME: Brighton Tonderai Watambwa
BORN: At Harare, 9 June 1977
MAJOR TEAMS: Mashonaland A (1997/98); Mashonaland (1999/2000 to date); ZimbabweBoard XI (1998/99 to date). Present club team: Harare Sports Club
KNOWN AS: Brighton Watambwa. Nicknames: Bulb, Spikey, Slim
BATTING STYLE: Right Hand Bat
BOWLING STYLE: Right Arm Fast Medium
OCCUPATION: Professional cricketerFIRST-CLASS DEBUT: 28-30 August 1997; Mashonaland A v Mashonaland, at HarareSouth Country Club
TEST DEBUT: Still awaited
ODI DEBUT: Still awaitedBIOGRAPHY (updated April 2002)Brighton Watambwa is one of Zimbabwe’s young black pace bowlers who has improved steadily until he broke through into the Test team during 2001/02. This followed a real impact in the Board XI matches in the UCBSA Bowl Competition during the previous season. Tall and gangling, he generates a good pace and has developed his skills to the point where he is now able to trouble the top batsmen.Like most other emerging black players, Brighton has no family background in cricket. His interest first came at primary school, when he had the good fortune to attend Lilfordia Primary School a short distance to the west of Harare, where his headmaster was Iain Campbell, father of Test player Alistair. He started playing in about Grade Three, and many will be surprised to learn that throughout his schooldays he was better known as a batsman than a bowler, although he did bowl regularly and quickly. It was not until he played club cricket, where the limited-over game rules and promising players are so often placed in the lower middle order where they get very little opportunity to bat that he began to concentrate on bowling.At Lilfordia he spent three years in the school colts team and a further two in the seniors. He remembers scoring his first fifty in Grade Five but cannot remember his highest score. He does remember taking nine cheap wickets in an innings in one match. He did well enough to be chosen for the national primary schools team, which played a match against the previous year’s team. "That was hard cricket because they were a lot older than I and I wasn’t as quick as I thought I was," he says.For high school he attended Falcon College, nursery of so many of Zimbabwe’s recent top players. Unlike the others, though, he does not have very good memories of his cricket there. He played for his age-group first teams for his first three years there and the school second team in Form Four, before progressing to the first team for his final two years. "When you play for a strong side and someone always scores runs and someone always takes wickets, you have to share everything around," he says. His only representative cricket was for the Matabeleland Under-16 team in Form Three; he was injured during much of his final year when he might have had ambitions for the national schools team.He finished his schooling with a year at St John’s College in Harare in 1996, when he played Under-19 cricket for Mashonaland and was in the national squad for that age-group. He had a much more enjoyable year, succeeding mainly as an opening batsman, scoring several fifties and averaging in the thirties, and also bowling well enough to win the school’s all-rounder of the year award. He got full colours in one year, which he believes is a unique achievement. He also played in the Zone Six cricket tournament for Africa that was hosted by Zimbabwe that year.In his final two years at Falcon he played for Bulawayo Athletic Club without achieving anything outstanding, but when he moved to St John’s he joined Harare Sports Club and immediately struck gold with some fine performances, even recording a fifty in one match. He has stayed with the club ever since, with his best performance a six-wicket haul a couple of years back.After leaving St John’s he took a gap year in 1997, when he coached at Bryden School in Chegutu, and also made his Logan Cup debut for Mashonaland A. The following year he attended Rhodes University in South Africa where he played a lot of cricket and won a place in the South African Universities team after being joint top wicket-taker in the Universities Week.Back in Zimbabwe in 1999, he attended the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai with Dennis Lillee and played against the touring England A team. Shortly afterwards he was selected for the Zimbabwe Board XI in the UCBSA Bowl competition. He has played frequently for that team ever since, with the 2000/01 season proving his best. He remembers a particularly good match at Harare South the previous season, though, against Northerns, when he felt at the top of his game and bowled as well as he has ever done, yet took only three wickets."I think a bit of soul-searching has brought about an improvement this season," he said at the time. "I’ve had a bit of trouble with injuries in the past and I have come to accept that I had to change a few things in my action. I’ve done that, and since I’ve come back from injury I’ve been thinking a lot more about my game. I’ve slowed my run-up and brought about a slight change in my action, and they seem to be working out well for me." The need to slow down his run-up was first suggested to him by Robin Jackman when he was in Zimbabwe several years ago, and this was confirmed by Lillee and the Sri Lankan Rumesh Ratnayake who also coached him in Chennai, and followed him up when he played for the Zimbabwe A team in Sri Lanka during 2000/01.He is uncertain whether he is actually bowling as fast as ever he has done, as he recalls a school match for St John’s against Churchill where he feels he bowled as quickly as he has ever done. "But I think right now I’m bowling with more consistent pace than I have ever done," he says. "I’m a genuine swinger of the ball [predominantly away from the bat], though, and I think that’s my main strength. Most of my wickets are bowled or caught behind."He spent the 2000 season in Hertfordshire in England, playing for a club called Langbury. He took two five-wicket hauls for them and was their top wicket-taker. He has been injury-prone at times, struggling most with his groin and quadriceps. He is now a fulltime professional cricketer with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union.Brighton was eased into Test cricket against Bangladesh, making their first tour of Zimbabwe in April 2001, replacing Henry Olonga. He began shakily, but took his first wicket when he had Naimur Rahman caught in the slips. He took nine wickets in the two Tests, and another three in the First Test against India in June, and looked to have gained a permanent Test place.Then came personal tragedy. In the Second Test against India, at Harare Sports Club, he took a crucial early wicket, but then tore a hamstring, limped off the field, and that ended his season. He was working hard to get fit for the new season, but then had knee problems, on top of which he tore a quadricep muscle in his right leg.When he was finally fit to play club cricket again in October, he was quickly put into the Board XI team as the selectors were eager to have him back in Test cricket. It proved to be a long, slow haul to recovery, but he was eventually selected for the tour to India in February. He had little success on the dead pitches there. He followed this with selection for Zimbabwe A in the triangular tournament in Namibia, where he found the pitches a little more helpful. He took a few wickets in Logan Cup cricket, but his main concern was to hold out until the end of the season without further injury, and then enjoy a long break to recover his strength.His batting is unrecognized to the point where he usually goes in at number eleven. His highest score in any class of cricket is 89 in a Country Districts match for Selous or Chegutu, teams he represented for winter cricket at times in the past. He has taken eight wickets in an innings two or three times, but never equalled his nine at junior school.When fielding, he prefers the covers but is usually to be found on the boundary when bowling. "I like fielding," he says. "It’s a very big part of my game. I’m very quick and I like to think of myself as a very good fielder as well."Cricket heroes: Dennis Lillee, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, "and I do admire Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee, the genuine quicks in this world."Toughest opponents: "Andy Flower. Maybe Mark Vermeulen."Personal ambitions: "To play for Zimbabwe as soon as possible – and stay there! I want to open the bowling for Zimbabwe in both one-day games and Test matches. I’ll work on my batting, but I’ll look for my bowling to do the talking for me, because I am in essence a fast bowler."Proudest achievement so far: "My selection for South African Universities."Best friends in cricket: "I get on well with most guys and don’t really have a problem with anybody."Other qualifications: "I did my first-year Bachelor of Commerce and then dropped out to carry on playing cricket. My parents wanted me to go back to university this year, but then the ZCU offered me a contract and my parents agreed with that, so everything seems to be working out okay at the moment."Other sports: "At varsity I played a lot of soccer. I played a lot of hockey at school as well, and just generally all ball sports. I played a bit of rugby until I got a bit small for the heavy guys. The only sport I can say I never really liked is swimming. I’ve played tennis and I play a lot of squash nowadays. I now play social tennis and a little bit of soccer."Outside interests: "Reading, movies, music and junk food."

SYDNEY, Aug 2 AAP – Australians topped the latest individual bowling and batting Test rankings while Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar fell to his lowest level in almost five years.Tendulkar fell from second place in the PwC rankings to fifth while Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist remained comfortably at the top.Australian opener Matthew Hayden was fourth on the list behind second placed Pakistani Inzamam-ul-Haq and West Indian Brian Lara.No other Australian breaks into the top ten with Steve Waugh steady at 12th followed by Damien Martyn (13), Justin Langer (15), Ricky Ponting (20) and Mark Waugh (20).Despite taking 10 for 98 in his last outing against Bangladesh Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan has fallen narrowly behind Australian Glenn McGrath at the top of the bowling stakes.Shane Warne, who like McGrath hasn’t sent down a ball in Test cricket since Australia’s end of season tour to South Africa, comes in at fourth behind South African captain Shaun Pollock.Reflecting recent success in the series against India, English seamer Matthew Hoggart has climbed three places to be fifth.Jason Gillespie was the next best placed Australian at 13th, legspinner Stuart MacGill was 17th despite not playing since a one-off Test against South Africa last January and Brett Lee came in at 22nd.The last time Tendulkar was as low as five in the rankings was back in November 1997.The only current player to make Don Bradman’s alltime best team, he has been the target of increasing criticism following India’s 170 run drubbing by England at Lord’s on Sunday.Tendulkar was bowled for 12 playing a loose shot off Hoggard leaving the 29-year-old in the unusual position of suffering home press slings and arrows aimed at his previously godlike pedestal.Despite scoring 29 Test centuries at an average of 56.96 – second only to Gilchrist in the top fifty ranked batsmen – a pattern of failure has become evident when India needs something substantial to win or draw matches.Before the English tour Tendulkar admitted disappointment over his inability to grab the initiative especially in the latter stages of a game.This is borne out by Tendulkar’s second innings average of 31.9 over the last three years with no centuries.

There are only five matches on Sunday in the penultimate round of Norwich Union League matches, but there is something significant at stake in all of them to make sure they will be played with the intensity of cup-ties.The big two in Division One are involved, with Glamorgan Dragons set to take the title if they can go to Canterbury and beat Kent Spitfires. It was back in 1993 at this time of year that they took a similar journey when either Kent or Glamorgan could have won the title on the final day of the season. The Welsh county had a certain I.V.A Richards in their ranks at the time as they took the title in front of a crowd that had started queuing in the early hours of the morning.If the Dragons should slip up, Worcestershire Royals are ready to pounce. They are six points behind and know that only a win at Trent Bridge will keep them in the hunt. They will not be able to take too much solace from the fact that Nottinghamshire Outlaws are already relegated.The big match in Division Two is at Northampton where the Steelbacks meet the Essex Eagles. The Eagles allowed Surrey Lions to clinch promotion alongside Gloucestershire Gladiators when they lost by a mere two runs last week, but can clinch their own promotion with a win here. They are two points in front ot the Steelbacks. Should the home side prevail, the fight goes into the final week of the season.Lancashire Lightning go to Shenley to meet Middlesex Crusaders knowing that they cannot get into the promotion frame, but wanting to avoid a bottom four placing in League to avoid first-class opposition in the third round of the C&G Trophy next season. The same thought will be on Derbyshire Scorpions’ minds as they go to Hove to meet Sussex Sharks who, like the Crusaders, could escape that fate if all the results go in their favour.

Rahul Dravid, the former Indian captain, felt one-day cricket will be the sore loser especially in the aftermath of Twenty20 cricket’s tremendous success worldwide. He said the busy international schedule could force the number of one-dayers to be reduced.”There is a limited amount of time. Twenty20 cricket is popular now so something has to give”, Dravid said at a discussion forum organised to unveil the Castrol Asian Cricket awards, to be announced during the Asia Cup in Pakistan which starts this month. Dravid, Wasim Akram and Sanath Jayasuriya are part of the panel that will oversee the process that will pick the winners in various categories.Dravid, who captained the Bangalore Royal Challengers during the Indian Premier League (IPL), said he understood the decision to hold the Twenty20 World Cup every two years and the IPL once a year. But he hoped Test cricket would not be severely affected. “The number of one-day games might get reduced,” he said. “I hope they don’t reduce Test matches, too.”Asked if Asia could match its strong financial muscle with on-field cricketing prowess, all three had no doubt the subcontinent would soon rise to become the undisputed superpower.Akram, the former Pakistan captain, felt India could dominate through on-field performances too. “India could well rule the world in the next few years,” Akram said. Jayasuriya said though the Asian nations have the talent, the challenge lies in channeling this talent in the right direction. “We are the financial powerhouse of cricket. Now we need the support to direct the talent in the right direction.”Dravid’s view was more circumspect. “Just because we have the opportunities it doesn’t mean we will rule the world. Opportunities have always been there. The challenge is to harness the talent. The number of off-shore events that you had earlier in 50-overs cricket might be reduced to accommodate a few more Twenty20 tournaments or Twenty20 World Cup every two years, or the IPL every year or some other tournament.”

Dilip Vengsarkar, India’s chairman of selectors, has stressed the need to reduce the number of one-day games in order to tackle the issue of player burnout. Instead of cutting down on Tests per tour, Vengsarkar said ODIs had to be targetted.”We play around five to seven ODI games on every tour,” Vengsarkar told the . “This takes away 14 to 20 days. Personally, these two-Test series do not make much sense to me. It should either be three or five.” The proposed itinerary for England’s tour of India in November includes seven ODIs and two Tests.Vengsarkar also wanted the international schedule to be eased so that national players could participate in domestic cricket. “During most of the domestic matches I watched last season, there were not more than ten people witnessing the matches. You need international stars to take part in domestic cricket to raise the standard. Otherwise it would become very hard to judge quality and temperament for Test cricket. But where do the international cricketers have the time in a packed calendar?”Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently chose to pull out of the Test series in Sri Lanka because he needed a break and Vengsarkar said player fatigue had become a global problem. “The stronger nations have to honour their commitments against the weaker sides as well. But how do you accommodate so many matches? Test cricket should not suffer.”Vengsarkar dismissed the idea that the Indian Premier League had thrown up fresh talent to pick from. “Twenty20 is an exciting and popular format but tell me five cricketers from the IPL who can play for India? A lot of players got exposure but are they good enough to play for India. Only Manpreet Gony, you could say to a certain extent, was a find from the IPL. Players like Yusuf Pathan were in the frame even before the IPL. Test cricket will produce players for Twenty20, not the other way round.”

South African captain Shaun Pollock and vice-captain Mark Boucher frustrated the Sri Lankans with a record seventh wicket partnership to leave the home side with a clear advantage at the end of the third day of this second Test at SuperSport Park on Sunday.The lower order pair came to the crease with the South African innings wobbling on 264 for six but quickly regained the initiative, first wiping out the first innings deficit and then building a valuable lead during the 132 run stand.They were separated when Boucher (63) drove a return catch straight back to Chamila Gamage, but by then the damage had been done and at the close South Africa were 421 for nine, already 98 runs ahead.For Sri Lanka it was a long hot afternoon of frustration. Unlike at Wanderers they retained their discipline and made South Africa work hard for their runs, especially during the morning, but they lacked penetration and by the time the top order had been winkled out they were running out of steam.The pair batted positively, raising the tempo after a slow scoring morning and early afternoon. They wiped out the deficit before tea and then pressed on purposefully after the break, delighting the largest crowd of the series that lounged on the grass banks that ring this ground.Shaun Pollock, who scored a century against the Sri Lankans at the same venue on the last tour, finished the day unbeaten on 78 from 139 balls having hit eight fours and one six. He will now be hoping that Makhaya Ntini can accompany him to a third Test century tomorrow.Even Muttiah Muralitharan was forced to toil, bowling a remarkable 49.2 overs before claiming his first victim. For a side that have reputation for being susceptible against spin, South Africa have handled the master spinner with surprising ease.Muralitharan did, at least, have the satisfaction of moving past Kapil Dev’s 434 Test victims to become the third highest wicket taker in Test history when, late in the day, he trapped Andrew Hall lbw for a duck and then had Steve Elworthy (5) caught at silly point late in the day.Sri Lanka are not out of the game. In theory all three results are still possible. However, with only two days now remaining, Sri Lanka will have to score very quickly if they are to overhaul the South African lead and set a target that gives them sufficient time to force a win. A draw appears the likeliest result.Muralitharan said afterwards that Sri Lanka were still looking for victory: “We wanted to get them out for somewhere around our score but we can still put pressure on them in the final day if we score around 300 tomorrow – chasing 200 on the last day will not be easy.”Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka had started well, ending a 139 run partnership for the third wicket between Jacques Kallis (84) and Herschelle Gibbs (92) thanks to a suicidal piece of running from Gibbs who was left stranded half way down the pitch after being sent back by Kallis.It was a major bonus for the Sri Lankans, who had rarely troubled the pair, and it was followed soon after by the fall of Kallis, who was bowled by a perfect leg-cutter from Hasantha Fernando, the medium pacer’s first ball of the day.At 219 for four Sri Lanka were pulling themselves back into the game. That became to 264 for six after lunch when Chaminda Vaas used the second new ball to good effect, surprising Ashwell Prince (20) with a sharp short ball, and Gamage trapped Neil McKenzie (28) lbw.

Durham Dynamos simply cannot get going this season in the Norwich Union League. Yorkshire Phoenix won the only Division One match played today – Worcestershire Royals and Warwickshire Bears meet tomorrow because of the Bears’ involvement at Lord’s on Saturday – by 30 runs at Chester-le-Street, thanks to a good all-round batting display. Darren Lehmann top scored with 70 before off-spinner Richard Dawson took four wickets.Chris Silverwood continues to play an important role as pinch-hitter. Going in at number three in the order, he smashed 58 from 32 balls with 11 fours and a six. With Lehmann’s 70 coming from only 63 balls and Michael Lumb and Anthony McGrath both providing forties, the Phoenix total was an impressive 269 for five from their 45 overs.It was a good job McGrath got some runs, for his two overs in the Dynamos’ reply went for 22 – exactly the same analysis as produced by Gary Fellows. Gary Pratt was top scorer with 61, but he became one of Dawson’s four victims as the England off-spinner brought some order to the attack as one of eight bowlers used and the Yorkshiremen won with a certain amount of ease.In Division Two, Ed Giddins took five for 20 as Surrey Lions bowled out the Sussex Sharks for just 150 at The Oval. The only Shark with teeth was Robin Martin-Jenkins who scored exactly a third of the total. Otherwise the batting was unproductive against the bowler who learned his trade with Sussex. The Lions had slipped to 77 for four at one stage, but then Nadim Shahid with 50 and Adam Hollioake took the Lions home with an unbroken fifth wicket partnership that sealed the win by six wickets.Derbyshire Scorpions’ Stephen Stubbings was 98 not out as his side beat Lancashire Lightening by a healthy seven wicket margin at Derby. It was a very efficient bowling display by the Scorpions who stung Lancashire Lightening by keeping them to 174 for seven in their 45 overs. Stubbings had 12 fours and a six in his innings to secure yet another win for the Scorpions who move up to second place in the table, level on points with leaders Gloucestershire Gladiators.

Damien Brandy hit a brilliant 149 as Leicestershire drew their Second X1 match against Warwickshire at Kenilworth.There was also an excellent century from John Maunders as Leicestershire piled up an impressive 413 for six declared in their first innings.Maunders has recently been released by Middlesex and is having a trial with Leicestershire in a bid to earn himself a contract at Grace Road.Coach Lloyd Tennant was full of praise for both players and said of Brandy: “It was fantastic knock and he never gave a chance. He was run out on 149, otherwise he would have still be batting now.”Warwickshire were then dismissed for 294 on the second day with the wickets shared around between a strong Leicestershire attack which included Matthew Whiley, Charles Dagnall and Jamie Grove.But with the pitch getting slower all the time a draw always looked the most likely result. Leicestershire eventually set Warwickshire a target of 313 in 72 overs, but they finished well short for the loss of only one wicket.

Veteran middle order batsman Aravinda de Silva will miss the first half of Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia after requesting leave for personal reasons.De Silva, Sri Lanka’s highest one-day run scorer, who will retire from all cricket after the World Cup, will be unavailable for the first three games of the VB Series against Australia and England."Aravinda has sent a letter to the selectors, requesting leave for the opening part of VB Series," confirmed team manager Ajit Jayasekera from Bloemfontein on Friday.De Silva, now 37, who was recalled to Sri Lanka’s one-day side in August, scored 91 runs at 18.2 in Sri Lanka’s five-match series against South Africa.Sri Lanka’s three-man selection panel, headed by former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Guy de Alwis, was due to pick a 16-man squad for Australia earlier in the week but will now finalise selection on Monday when the team returns to Colombo.Wicket-keeper batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana is being seriously considered as de Silva’s replacement despite not being included in Sri Lanka’s provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup.Kaluwithrana’s international career looked to be over when that squad was announced but pressure is now being put on the selectors to reconsider theirdecision after a string of impressive domestic performances.Star off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan will be included in the squad but is also due to sit out the opening games as he recovers from a hernia operation.

After losing the services of three former international players between them during the past week, Western Australia and Victoria appear to be facing a fight to retain several more of their best cricketers.Simon Katich provided one of the biggest recruiting stories of the past decade at interstate level when he agreed late last week to switch from Western Australia to New South Wales. But it may not be the end of the bad news for the Warriors with at least three other players still being targeted by other states.Matthew Nicholson put an end to speculation about his immediate future by confirming yesterday that he has rejected approaches from New South Wales and South Australia and is remaining in Perth. The Warriors are likely to receive further good news when another high-profile fast bowler signs on with the team in forthcoming days, and there is also growing speculation that Damien Fleming may ultimately be headed west.But opening batsman Mike Hussey’s name continues to be linked with a possible shift to South Australia, and middle order batsmen Murray Goodwin and Rob Baker have also been eyed closely by other states.The Western Australian Cricket Association moved yesterday to quash rumours about possible departures by Hussey and Goodwin, but their names are not yet rated as certainties to be among the list of 2002-03 Warriors’ contract holders when it is released early next month.The Warriors also appear to have been thwarted in their bid to lure Queensland seam bowler Adam Dale away from Brisbane.Victoria’s desire to cultivate a more youthful playing list meanwhile looks to be under threat on at least two fronts.The Victorians’ shock decision this week to prune Fleming and Colin Miller from their playing list will deprive the Bushrangers of two of their best-credentialled cricketers of the last decade. But at least two other talented members of the state’s playing staff – an all-rounder and a pace bowler who were each contracted last summer – have already sparked interest elsewhere.In a rare piece of good news for the embattled Vics, speculation earlier this year that captain Matthew Elliott may have been keen to move elsewhere appears to have been off the mark.South Australia also remains a key player as one of the most flurried off-seasons in interstate history continues.Hussey and Nicholson are believed to have headed a shortlist of potential recruits along with Zimbabwean star Andy Flower, while experienced fast bowlers Paul Wilson and Brett Swain and young opening batsman Luke Williams are all considering the possibility of a move interstate.Complementing Tasmanian interest in Baker, the names of Swain and Williams have each come up at a series of selection meetings in Hobart this week.New South Wales’ cards are being played closer to the chest, with few clues available as to how the Blues’ list may be rounded out. Their selectors are, however, unlikely to make any more major additions to an already imposing batting line-up. Attention may instead need to be devoted to encouraging promising strokeplayers like Phil Jaques from pursuing greater opportunities elsewhere.Queensland’s position appears the most settled of all the states, with only changes at the margins expected when its contract list is unveiled. The likelihood that Dale will stay, and Ashley Noffke’s recent loss of his ACB contract, have meant that there is less room to work in adding extra fast bowlers to the Bulls’ core group of players. Former Test paceman Scott Muller may be among the relatively small number of casualties.Each of the six state associations has until 7 June to finalise its initial list of between 14 and 20 contract holders for the 2002-03 season.