Paul Andrew Strang (born 28 July 1970) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former international player. A

leg-spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

ning

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

, he played in 24

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

and 95

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s for

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 ...

between 1994 and 2001. He played Test cricket alongside his brother, Bryan Strang; their father, Ronald Strang, was a first-class

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

and was TV umpire for two of Zimbabwe's Test matches in 1994/5. Strang has since moved into coaching, joining the

Auckland Aces The Auckland cricket team represent the Auckland region and are one of six New Zealand domestic first class cricket teams. Governed by the Auckland Cricket Association they are the most successful side having won 28 Plunket Shield titles, ten ...

as a high performance coach in 2008, and becoming the full-time coach soon afterwards.

Domestic career

He played two seasons of

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

as an overseas player, firstly for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

in 1997 and then for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

in 1998.

International career

He studied at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, and toured Pakistan with the Zimbabwe side in 1993/4. He played his first Test in 1994, and became a professional cricketer in 1995. He was one of the leading wicket-takers in the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...

in India, taking 12 wickets with a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 16, although the team was knocked out in the preliminary stage, beating

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

(with Strang taking 5 wickets) but losing its other 4 matches. He scored his only Test century in the 1st innings of the 1st Test against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Sheikhupura Sheikhupura ( pa, ; ur, ) also known as Qila Sheikhupura, is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. Founded by the Mughal Empire, Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Jehangir in 1607, Sheikhupura is the List of most populous citie ...

in 1996–7, batting at No. 8, including a stand of 87 with his brother for the 9th wicket. He also took 5 wickets in Pakistan's 1st innings in the same match. Strang's achievement was overshadowed by a double century, 257 not out, scored by

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several criti ...

, and the match was drawn. He played in the

1999 Cricket World Cup The 1999 Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Cricket World Cup '99) was the seventh edition of the Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted primarily by England, with Scotland, Ireland, Wales ...

in England, where Zimbabwe beat Kenya,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

to qualify for the "Super Six" stage. He obtained his best Test bowling figures of 8–109 in the 1st innings against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at Bulawayo in 2000–1, although Zimbabwe lost the match by 7 wickets. This remains the best bowling figures recorded by a

Zimbabwean 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 Moza ...

in an innings in Test cricket (the best match figures belong to Adam Huckle). He only played in three further Tests, with his international career curtailed by a chronic injury to the muscles of his right hand in 2000.

Records

* Strang is the only Zimbabwean Test cricketer to take

ten wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

and still end up on the losing side of a test match.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strang, Paul 1970 births Zimbabwe Test cricketers Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Living people Cricketers from Bulawayo White Zimbabwean sportspeople Alumni of Falcon College Zimbabwean cricketers CFX Academy cricketers Mashonaland cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Kent cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Manicaland cricketers Commonwealth Games competitors for Zimbabwe Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup University of Cape Town alumni Zimbabwean cricket coaches