Travis Friend

Travis Friend
Personal information
Full name
Travis John Friend
Born7 January 1981 (1981-01-07) (age 43)
Kwekwe, Midlands, Zimbabwe
NicknameChunks
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 51)15 June 2001 v India
Last Test26 February 2004 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 59)30 September 2000 v New Zealand
Last ODI3 February 2004 v India
ODI shirt no.18
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1999–2000CFX Academy
2000–2004Midlands
2005Derbyshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 13 51 44 88
Runs scored 447 548 1,791 1,105
Batting average 29.80 16.11 31.42 16.49
100s/50s 0/3 0/3 3/7 0/4
Top score 81 91 183 91
Balls bowled 2,000 1,930 5,608 3,201
Wickets 25 37 79 77
Bowling average 43.60 48.08 39.92 35.92
5 wickets in innings 1 0 2 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 5/31 4/55 5/16 4/37
Catches/stumpings 2/– 17/– 33/– 30/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 26 April 2017

Travis John Friend (born 7 January 1981) is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer and commercial pilot.[1]

During his short international career, he made sporadic appearances for Zimbabwe, having played only 13 test matches and 51 ODI matches. His international career was cut short due to his fitness issues, being vulnerable as he was to intermittent injuries and he could not quite cement a permanent spot in the playing XI while his involvement in contract dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket at an early age of 24 did not help the cause either.[2] He was certainly well noticed for his ability to bowl at a fierce pace but often had the vulnerability of losing the line and length which also cost him a permanent place in the national side despite his immense talent. He created huge hype in Zimbabwean cricketing fraternity for being a tall, well built, pace bowling all-rounder and batted as a top-order batter at domestic level but he failed to live up to the expectations.[3] Capable of bowling genuine pace, he was often wayward and lacked the necessary control to be a success on the international stage. In addition to his ability to bowl with pace and hostility, he could hold a bat, often being used in the role of a pinch hitter for his side, very much in the mould of Andy Blignaut.

He even built up the reputation as potentially Zimbabwe's own Jacques Kallis in the making very early in his career and he was deemed as the second fastest bowler in Zimbabwe at that time only behind Henry Olonga.[4] He made his international debut at the age of 19 when he made his ODI debut against New Zealand in September 2000 at Queens Sports Club, Harare.[5]

  1. ^ "Which cricketer became a commercial airline pilot after his retirement?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Travis Friend : A talent who could have been a shining star". cricketcult.com. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Look what you're missing". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Travis Friend - a short biography". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).