Bryan Gavin Murgatroyd; born (19 October 1969 in

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The c ...

South-West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

) is a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He is a right-handed batsman. Since 2006, he has been billed as Gavin Murgatroyd. He made his international debut in February 2003. He was part of Namibia's first ever ODI team and was part of Namibia's first ever World Cup team.

Career

He was part of Namibia's squad for the

1994 ICC Trophy The 1994 ICC Trophy (formally the ABN AMRO ICC Trophy) was a cricket tournament that took place in Kenya between 12 February and 6 March 1994. It was the fifth ICC Trophy tournament to be staged, and acted as the Cricket World Cup qualification to ...

which also incidentally marked Namibia's first ever

ICC Trophy The ICC World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the Cricket World Cup qualifi ...

appearance. He showed the glimpses of his all-round prowess during the course of the competition both with the bat and ball. He was the leading run-scorer for Namibia during the 1994 ICC Trophy with 287 runs in 8 matches with a sublime batting average of 47.83 including a century. He also became the first Namibian to score a century in

when he achieved the historic feat during the Plate Final match against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. His knock of 106 propelled Namibia to a competitive fighting total of 262/8 and his knock guided Namibia to claim the Plate title defeating Denmark by 41 runs. He also scored a crucial knock of 93 in Group C match against Israel which propelled Namibia to a competitive total of 257 and Namibia successfully defended the total albeit of bowling masterclass from Murgatroyd who shined with the ball for Namibia by being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/26 including a priced scalp of Neil Ward who threatened to take the game away from Namibia. Murgatroyd bowled Ward for 92 and it eventually dented Israel's chance of winning the match and the former was awarded the player of the match. He also eventually ended up as the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 19 scalps in across 8 matches with an impressive bowling average of 10.26 and with a decent economy rate of 3.91, despite his valiant batting and bowling efforts, Namibia could not progress beyond group stage of the competition. He also featured in the Namibian squad for the

1997 ICC Trophy The Carlsberg Group, Carlsberg 1997 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 24 March and 13 April 1997. It was the Cricket World Cup qualification tournament for the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Bangladesh national ...

where Namibia finished the tournament at fifteenth position. He was a key member of the Namibian squad which reached the final of the

2001 ICC Trophy The 2001 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament played in Ontario, Canada in 2001. It was the Cricket World Cup qualification tournament for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Three spots in the World Cup were on offer and the Netherlands, host nation Canada ...

where Namibia enjoyed 10 consecutive wins on the trot before losing to the Netherlands on the final ball of the 2001 ICC Trophy Final. Netherlands managed to chase 196 on the final ball of the match to seal the deal but Namibia was able to qualify for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He was the third highest run-scorer for Namibia with 222 runs in 9 matches at the 2001 ICC Trophy just behind

Danie Keulder Danie Keulder (born 2 August 1973) is a former Namibian cricketer. He played for Namibia between 1994, when he first appeared for the team in the ICC Trophy, against Canada which his team lost by eight wickets, having put a mere 51 runs on the boa ...

and Riaan Walters. He was included in the Namibian national squad for the

2003 Cricket World Cup The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the f ...

which also marked Namibia's maiden appearance in the

Cricket World Cup The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...

. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut on 10 February 2003 against neighbours

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

at the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, in what was considered as Namibia's first ever international cricket match, first ever ODI match as well as Namibia's first ever World Cup match. He featured in all six World Cup matches Namibia had played and his six World Cup appearances were the only international matches he had managed to play in his entire career as Namibia did not get to play any international official matches for 16 years until 2019. His last international appearance came during Namibia's final group stage match against the Netherlands on 3 March 2003 during the World Cup. His last major competitive cricket match appearance came on 12 November 2004 during the 2004/05 Faithwear Clothing Inter-Provincial One-Day Competition when he played for Namibia against Manicaland in a List A match. In February 2020, he was named in Namibia's squad for the Over-50s Cricket World Cup in South Africa. However, the tournament was cancelled during the third round of matches due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. He was honored at the Cricket Namibia 2020 Annual Awards whereas he was acknowledged for his standout performance in the 2020 Over 50 World Cup with the bat and was presented the award for the top batsman after aggregating 90 runs in 3 matches against England, Wales and Pakistan. During the tournament, he scored a patient half-century against England in a rain affected match which was abandoned without a result. He and Rudi Birckenstock were the only standout batters for Namibia in the match against England where Namibia managed to score only 137/8 in the allocated 45 overs.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murgatroyd, Gavin 1969 births Living people Namibia One Day International cricketers Namibian cricketers People from Walvis Bay