Prosper Utseya

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Prosper Utseya
Zimbabwe
Personal information
Full name Prosper Utseya
Born 26 March 1985 (1985-03-26) (age 23)
Harare, Zimbabwe
Role Bowler, captain of Zimbabwe
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right arm off spin
International information
Test debut (cap 65) 6 May 2004: v Sri Lanka
ODI debut (cap 81) 20 April 2004: v Sri Lanka
Last ODI 26 August 2007: v South Africa
ODI shirt no. 52
Domestic team information
Years Team
2004 – 2005 Midlands
2003 – 2004 Manicaland
2001 – 2003 Mashonaland
Career statistics
Tests ODI FC LA
Matches 1 65 39 87
Runs scored 45 340 1298 501
Batting average 22.50 10.00 19.37 10.43
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/8 0/0
Top score 45 31 89* 41
Balls bowled 72 3361 6540 4489
Wickets 0 40 84 59
Bowling average 56.70 39.19 50.96
5 wickets in innings 0 2 0
10 wickets in match n/a 0 n/a
Best bowling 3/35 6/91 4/16
Catches/stumpings 2/– 20/– 17/– 28/–

As of 20 November 2007
Source: Cricinfo

Prosper Utseya (born March 26, 1985 in Harare) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. Rising from the ranks of township cricket in Harare's Highfield suburb, he attended Churchill High School (the cradle of many black Zimbabwean players), thanks to Zimbabwe Cricket Union scholarships, and now heads the National side. He bowls a right-arm off break and is a useful right-hand batsman with a current average of 22.50 in Tests.

While his initial place in the national team owed much to the withdrawal of several white players after Heath Streak's dismissal from captaincy, Utseya has more than earned his place since. He was ranked 15th in the ICC ODI Bowling Rankings in September 2006.

He has a reputation for being an extremely parsimonious bowler, albeit with less wicket taking prowess. In a Cricinfo article from August 2006, he had the lowest economy rate (3.84) amongst all spinners in the history of ODI cricket. In comparison, the economy rates for Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh at the same time were 3.85 and 4.11 respectively.

In July 2006, Prosper was appointed as the National Captain at the age of 21, replacing Terry Duffin at the last minute (see Cricinfo interview of August 2006). He got off to a good start, with a well fought 3-2 series victory against fellow wooden spoon contenders Bangladesh.

[edit] External links

Cricinfo profile.

Preceded by
Terry Duffin
Zimbabwean ODI captain
2006 - Present
Succeeded by
incumbent
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