Christopher Mpofu

Christopher Bobby "Chris" Mpofu (born 27 November 1985) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He has represented Zimbabwe at Test, ODI and Twenty20 International level. A tall seam bowler, he hits the pitch hard and can get good away movement - but as with many young quick bowlers consistency is his major problem. Technically, he has a good action but a better brace of his front leg through his delivery stride would allow him to make the most of his height, rather than collapsing as he tends to do at the moment.

Career

Mpofu made his first-class debut for Matabeleland against Manicaland in March 2004, taking three wickets on debut.^[1] In the 2004/05 Faithwear Inter-Clothing Provincial One-Day Competition, Mpofu was the leading wicket-taker with 11 wickets.^[2] He repeated the performance with again in the 2005/06 edition with 9 wickets.^[3]

Following the mass exodus of top level players in the Zimbabwean cricket crisis of 2004, Mpofu made his One-Day International debut against England, and cost the English team some anxious moments.^[4]

Following the exodus of the rebels, Mpofu was given his Test debut against Bangladesh at the Ma Aziz Stadium, Chittagong. He had scores of 0 and 5 in the match. The match was an indication of Zimbabwe's horrific decline in Tests as Bangladesh secured their maiden Test victory that too by a major 226 runs. Enamul Haque jr. trapped Mpofu lbw to secure the win.^[5]

One definite shortcoming, is his crease occupation. Not content with being stumped twice in an afternoon (for a pair) in the first Test against New Zealand in August 2005,^[6] he followed up by being run out for 3 in the second match, as he strolled down the pitch to congratulate his team-mate Blessing Mahwire on reaching his half-century, with the ball still in action.^[7] He still tends to blow hot and cold and has few rivals in the race to be considered international cricket's worst batsman.

Despite containing the basics, a good away movement, and a good action, Mpofu struggled, as for a long time he was the lone seamer among a cluster of spinners, and he had no one to help him out, and consistency was a major problem for the young seamer. There was a game against Pakistan in which he took 1/75.^[8]

As Mpofu later recalled, Zimbabwe's short tour of South Africa in 2010 was the most toughest part of his life. On flat batting pitches without any assistance to seamers, Mpofu recorded unflattering bowling figures of 1 for 59 in the Twenty20 match in Kimberley,^[9] and 0/59 in a One-Day International at Bloemfontein.^[10] Mpofu later said that he thought about Mick Lewis in that 438-game and how he never played for Australia again, and whether the same fate would befall Mpofu too.^[11]

It was former Zimbabwean fast-bowling great Heath Streak who helped Mpofu believe he could. When Streak was appointed as bowling coach, Mpofu had a sense that things were changing. The two had a more good understanding because Streak who also came from Matabeleland as Mpofu spoke in his mother language, Ndebele. Streak told Mpofu that in cricket, he needed a wider repoirtoire of balls. Furthermore, former English Test cricketer Robin Jackman told him after his disastrous performances in South Africa that if he had to succeed in international cricket, he will have to bowl a slower ball. Mpofu first tried that experiment in the nets, and following success there, tried them in an international match situation. This chain of incidents proved to be a turning point in Mpofu's career.^[12]

A string of decent performances followed in the 2010 tri-series against India and Sri Lanka, as Zimbabwe beat India (twice) and Sri Lanka (once) to reach the final ahead of favorites India, ultimately finishing as runners-up. Mpofu continued in the same vein in the team's tour of Ireland. Mpofu took 8 wickets from this two combined series.^[13]

Mpofu had a fine World Cup 2011 performance, with 7 wickets at an average of 22.71 from 4 matches and eased into a more senior role for Zimbabwe. Furthermore, he found a new-ball partner with Ray Price and created a new celebration jig with him as any one of them got a wicket.^[14]

Mpofu played in Zimbabwe's comeback Test match against Bangladesh, and took 5 wickets as Zimbabwe recorded their first victory since 2004 by a major 130 runs.^[15]

Chris Mpofu continued his good wicket-taking form in the next Test against Pakistan, by taking 2 wickets in the only innings he bowled. Another highlight being his six in the Zimbabwean first innings off Pakistan's stalwart spinner Saeed Ajmal that brought up the Zimbabwean 400. Despite this, the match was a heavy 7-wicket loss for the hosts who were playing at Bulawayo.^[16]

Mpofu continued his fine form in the next Test against New Zealand where he took 4 wickets in a single innings to restrict New Zealand to 426. He eventually finished with another 5-wicket haul. Despite captain Brendan Taylor's brilliant innings of 117 in the last innings, Zimbabwe lost the match narrowly by 34 runs, owing much to Black Caps debutant Doug Bracewell's 5-wicket haul that overshadowed Mpofu's and Kyle Jarvis's.^[17]

Records

• He is the world record holder for conceding the least number of runs(6runs) without bowling a maiden over in a T20 International after bowling the complete quota of overs(4 overs is the maximum quota in a T20 match).^[18][19]

References

External links

• Player profile: Christopher Mpofu from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Christopher Mpofu from CricketArchive
• Christopher Mpofu 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup Profile

Zimbabwe squad – 2007 Cricket World Cup 1 Taylor (c) 10 Kasteni 12 Brent 14 Williams 17 Dabengwa 23 Rainsford 26 Sibanda 28 Mpofu 33 Chibhabha 45 Matsikenyeri 47 Chigumbura 52 Utseya 53 Mupariwa 72 Duffin 88 Ireland Coach: Curran

Zimbabwe squad – 2007 ICC World Twenty20 1 Taylor 3 Masakadza 12 Brent 14 Williams 17 Dabengwa 26 Sibanda 28 Mpofu 33 Chibhabha 44 Taibu 45 Matsikenyeri 47 Chigumbura 52 Utseya (c) 53 Mupariwa 58 Marumisa 65 Maruma Coach: Curran

Zimbabwe squad – 2010 ICC World Twenty20 1 Taylor 3 Masakadza 6 Blignaut 7 Price 19 Lamb 28 Mpofu 30 Cremer 33 Chibhabha 44 Taibu 46 Sibanda 47 Chigumbura 52 Utseya (c) 65 Maruma 74 Coventry 77 C Ervine Coach: Butcher

Zimbabwe squad – 2011 Cricket World Cup 1 Taylor 7 Price 14 Sibanda 19 Lamb 23 Panyangara 28 Mpofu 30 Cremer 44 Taibu 47 Chigumbura (c) 52 Utseya 72 Duffin 74 Coventry 77 C Ervine 86 Masakadza 91 Chakabva Coach: Butcher Sean Ervine, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Ed Rainsford and Sean Williams were named in the original squad but withdrew from the tournament

Zimbabwe squad – 2012 ICC World Twenty20 1 Taylor (c) 3 Masakadza 7 Price 8 Jarvis 9 Waller 14 Sibanda 28 Mpofu 30 Cremer 45 Matsikenyeri 47 Chigumbura 52 Utseya 58 Muzhange 60 Vitori 66 Mutizwa (wk) 77 Ervine Coach: Butcher