Mark Andrew Vermeulen (born 2 March 1979) is a former Zimbabwean

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 str ...

er, who played Test matches and One Day Internationals. He is a right-handed opening

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and occasional

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler.

Domestic career

He was former captain of Zimbabwe Under-19 team. Despite his troubles Vermeulen had an excellent 2004–05 season in which he averaged 43.60 in domestic cricket but the rise in his numbers coincided with economic decline and political turmoil and he did not immediately have the opportunity to see if that could translate on the cricket field. He spent time at the

Matabeleland Tuskers The Matabeleland Tuskers is one of five Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in the Bulawayo Metropolitan and Matabeleland North area. They play their home matches at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. They were ...

Mid West Rhinos The Mid West Rhinos is one of the four cricket Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in Midlands Province and the Mashonaland West area. They play their home matches at Kwekwe Sports Club in Kwekwe. History ...

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and Southern Rocks and completed a full house of playing for all the teams in the country when he returned to the

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in his home-town of

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

. The domestic season was stalled by a player strike but once it got underway, Vermeulen made good on his commitment. He was the second-highest run scorer in the

Logan Cup The Logan Cup is the premier domestic first-class cricket competition in Zimbabwe. It is named after James Douglas Logan. History The first recorded cricket match in what was known at the time as Rhodesia was played in August 1890 near Fort V ...

with 580 runs in seven matches at an average of 64.44. A complete turnaround was achieved when he was selected for the Zimbabwe A tour of Namibia in February 2009.

International career

He was attacking and naturally athletic, and was first drafted into the

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 ...

for the second Test against

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in November 2002 at the expense of

Guy Whittall Guy James Whittall (born 5 September 1972) is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer who played 46 Test matches and 147 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and captained Zimbabwe in four ODIs. He played as an all-rounder and was known as an a ...

. He made a few decent scores in one-day internationals and played three matches in the 2003 World Cup. He was struck on the head by a ball bowled by

Irfan Pathan Irfan Pathan (; born 27 October 1984) is a former Indian cricketer turned Commentator, Cricket Analyst, Actor and Dancer. He was a bowling all rounder and a member of the Indian cricket team that won the inaugural 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup a ...

during Zimbabwe's

VB Series The Australian Tri-Series was an annual one day international (ODI) cricket tournament held in Australia, and contested by Australia and two touring teams. The series was the primary format for international one-day cricket throughout most of ...

campaign in Australia in 2004. In 2009, Vermeulen made a brief comeback for ODIs against

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but then disappeared off the radar again while he made his way around Zimbabwe's domestic circuit. On the 2003–04 tour of Australia, Vermeulen fractured his

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during a One-Day International match against

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. This was the second time this had happened to him inside a year, after the identical injury occurred in February 2003 while practising. Successful surgery has limited the impact that these injuries have had on Vermeulen's cricketing career. Although he had a side career in golf, Vermeulen decided to make the 2013–14 season his final go at trying to be an international cricketer. In July 2014, he was given hope that his international career would be resurrected when he was picked for the Zimbabwe A side to play

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. He scored a century in the first four-day match and could not be overlooked for the one-off Test against

which followed.

Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...

described him as calm, for a change. A decade after last playing in whites for Zimbabwe, Vermeulen made a comeback in August 2014. In July 2009, the comeback was complete with Vermeulen earning a call up to the

squad for the One Day International Series against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. In the first match of the series, played at

Queens Sports Club Queens Sports Club Ground is a stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It is used primarily used for cricket matches. The stadium has a capacity of up to 13,000. The stadium is the home ground for the Matabeleland Tuskers, who are the current Logan Cu ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...

, Vermeulen scored 92 in Zimbabwe's score of 207, before being dismissed by being run out.

Disciplinary problems

He has had a number of disciplinary problems. He was sent home from Zimbabwe's tour of

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in 2003 after ignoring management instructions to travel with the rest of the squad. Then in 2006 he was banned from all cricket played under the auspices of the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

after a violent altercation with spectators at a match between Ashton and his club, Werneth in the

Central Lancashire League The Central Lancashire Cricket League (CLCL) was a fifteen team cricket league, traditionally based in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was then based in Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The league ran competitions at Fir ...

. The original ban imposed was ten years, but on appeal it was reduced to three years, two of which were suspended. The ban took effect from 1 April 2007. In October 2015, Vermeulen was banned from all cricket by

Zimbabwe Cricket Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

after posting racist comments on social media.

Accusation of arson

In November 2006, Vermeulen was held by police after apparently fleeing the scene of a suspicious fire at the Zimbabwean Cricket Academy in

. A fire had also been set at the

headquarters. ZCU Managing Director Ozias Bvute confirmed that Vermeulen was being held "for questioning" in the incident. Vermeulen was formally charged with arson in the incident on 2 November. In January 2008, he was cleared on grounds of mental illness, and in February announced that he was hoping to make a comeback. In May 2008, Vermeulen offered to help rebuild the academy he burnt by using a percentage of his earnings that he would get by playing for Zimbabwe again.

Style

At his most comfortable against pace bowling, Vermeulen was a back-foot player by inclination, particularly strong on the cut, pull and hook shots, although he was also a sweet timer of the ball through the covers. He was an excellent slip fielder, and an occasional offbreak bowler.

References

External links

telegraph

HowSTAT! statistical profile on Mark Vermeulen

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vermeulen, Mark 1979 births Living people Cricketers from Harare Alumni of Prince Edward School People educated at Malvern College White Zimbabwean sportspeople Afrikaner people Zimbabwean people of South African descent Zimbabwean Under-19 ODI captains Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Zimbabwean cricketers Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Zimbabwe Test cricketers CFX Academy cricketers Matabeleland cricketers Mashonaland A cricketers Mid West Rhinos cricketers