Prosper Utseya

Prosper Utseya

Personal information
Full name	Prosper Utseya
Born	(1985-03-26) 26 March 1985 Harare, Zimbabwe
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm off break
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Zimbabwe
Test debut (cap 65)	6 May 2004 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	10 September 2013 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 81)	20 April 2004 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	26 May 2015 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.	52
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2009–present	Mountaineers
2006–2009	Easterns
2004–2005	Midlands
2003–2004	Manicaland
2001–2003	Mashonaland
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 4 161 82 240 Runs scored 107 1,406 2,756 2,092 Batting average 15.28 17.14 21.53 15.96 100s/50s 0/0 0/4 1/15 0/5 Top score 45 68* 115* 68* Balls bowled 753 8,409 14,284 12,058 Wickets 10 132 217 213 Bowling average 41.00 46.28 29.99 40.15 5 wickets in innings 0 1 8 1 10 wickets in match 0 0 2 0 Best bowling 3/60 5/36 7/56 5/36 Catches/stumpings 2/– 48/– 33/– 75/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 10 June 2015

Prosper Utseya (born 26 March 1985 in Harare, Zimbabwe) is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He was former captain of Zimbabwe from 2006 to 2010. He bowls right-arm off break and is a useful right-hand batsman.

Early Life

Rising from the ranks of township cricket in Harare's Highfield suburb, he attended Churchill Boys High School (the cradle of many black Zimbabwean players), thanks to Zimbabwe Cricket Union scholarships. He uses Crown King Sport cricket gear.

Career

He was a promising talent at school level and made his first-class debut as opener for Mashonaland A at the age of 15. He scored a fifty in a tight situation in just his second Logan Cup match against Manicaland a day before his 16th birthday and soon moved into the Under-19 and Zimbabwe A sides with some notable bowling performances along the way.

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.

In 2004, he was moved to Manicaland to strengthen the provincial side there, and was selected for the CFX Academy. He took his first first-class five-wicket haul with figure of 5/32 against Manicaland in October of that year. He continued to hold a place in a weakened national side and took up the captaincy from Terry Duffin in 2006.

Utseya's bowling during the tour to West Indies in May 2006 where his flight and spin belied his lack of experience and years. He was consistently able to stem the flow of runs in the middle overs, and he provided two of the series highlights and one when he comprehensively beat Brian Lara with successive deliveries in the first match in Trinidad and the other his remarkable diving, juggling boundary catch in the second.

But he struggles to take wickets at international level, Utseya is a force to be reckoned with in Zimbabwean domestic cricket. His spin-bowling partnership with Timycen Maruma has resulted in a series of domestic titles, and in 2008-09 his ten-wicket haul helped Easterns clinch a thrilling one-wicket victory in a low-scoring contest against Northerns at Alexandra Sports Club in Harare that secured the Logan Cup.

He is the first and joint world record holder for conceding the least number of runs (6 runs) in a T20 International after bowling the complete quota of overs (4 overs is the maximum quota in a T20 match).

Utseya enjoyed a steady, if unspectacular, domestic season in 2009-10, though his franchise, Mountaineers dominated the first-class scene.

Utseya tendered his resignation as national captain after the side's disappointing performance at the T20 World Cup in May 2010 saying that he was stepping down in the interest of the team's future development. He led Zimbabwe in 67 one-day internationals, with 20 victories, and all 10 of the Twenty20 internationals the team has played.

In August 2014, Utseya reported for a suspect bowling action following the third ODI against South Africa in Bulawayo. Utseya was the fourth offspinner to have been reported for a suspect action over the last few months others are Sachithra Senanayake, Kane Williamson and Saeed Ajmal.

Utseya took hat trick against South Africa at Harare Sports Club and became the second Zimbabwean to claim a hat-trick when he dismissed three South African batsmen of consecutive deliveries in the third One-Day International match of the Tri-series in August 2014. Utseya accounted for the wickets of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw and David Miller. In process, he also took his career best figure and ended innings with figure of 5/36

Style

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.

ODI Half-centuries

No.	Socre	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Year	Result
1	68*	86	Kenya	Gymkhana Club Ground	Nairobi	2009	Won
2	57*	87	Kenya	Gymkhana Club Ground	Nairobi	2009	Won
3	67	120	Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium	Mirpur	2010	Lost
4	52*	146	India	Harare	Harare Sports Club	2013	Lost

ODI Five-wicket Hauls

No.	Figures	Match	Opponent	Venue	City	Year	Result
1	5/35	158	South Africa	Harare Sports Club	Harare	2014	Lost

See also

• List of One Day International cricket hat-tricks

External links

• Player profile: Prosper Utseya from CricketArchive
• Player profile: Prosper Utseya from ESPNcricinfo

Preceded by Terry Duffin

Zimbabwean ODI captain 2006–2010

Succeeded by Elton Chigumbura