Prosper Utseya (born 26 March 1985 in

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 ...

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 ...

) is a

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, who plays all formats of the game. He was the former captain of

from 2006 to 2010. He bowls right-arm

off break 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 ...

and is a useful right-hand batsman. Utseya has not played any form of cricket since 2015.

Early life

Rising from the ranks of township cricket in Harare's Highfield suburb, Utseya attended Churchill School, the cradle of many black Zimbabwean players, thanks to Zimbabwe Cricket Union scholarships.

Domestic career

Utseya was a promising talent at school level and made his first-class debut as an opener for Mashonaland A at the age of 15. He scored a fifty in a tight situation in just his second

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 ...

match against

Manicaland Manicaland is a Provinces of Zimbabwe, province in eastern Zimbabwe. After Harare Province, it is the country's second-most populous province, with a population of 2.037 million, as of the 2012 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census. After Harare and Bulawa ...

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. In 2004, he was moved to

to strengthen the provincial side there, and was selected for the

CFX Academy The CFX Academy cricket team was a first-class cricket team representing the Zimbabwe's cricket academy in the country's domestic cricket competitions. They competed in the Logan Cup from 1999 until 2002. The club played their home matches at the ...

. He took his first first-class

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

with figure of 5/32 against

in October of that year. Utseya has been a force to be reckoned with in Zimbabwean domestic cricket. His spin-bowling partnership with

Timycen Maruma Timycen Maruma (born 19 April 1988) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer. Beginning his cricketing career as a leg-spinner, he shifted his role to an all-rounder. In 2008, he scored his maiden first-class half-century (71) against a strong Pa ...

has resulted in a series of domestic titles, and in 2008-09 his

ten-wicket haul 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 ...

helped Easterns clinch a thrilling one-wicket victory in a low-scoring contest against Northerns at

Alexandra Sports Club The Alexandra Sports Club (also called the Alex Sports Club) is a sporting complex in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. The venue's primary use is as a cricket ground, and it has hosted both international and domestic fixtures. History Cricket is ...

in Harare that secured the

. Utseya enjoyed a steady, if unspectacular, domestic season in 2009-10, though his franchise,

Mountaineers Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

dominated the first-class scene.

International career

While his initial place in the national team owed much to the withdrawal of several white players after

Heath Streak Heath Hilton Streak (born 16 March 1974) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. By his statistical record, he is the best bowler to have played for Zimbabwe. He is the a ...

's dismissal from captaincy, Utseya has more than earned his place since. He continued to hold a place in a weakened national side and took up the captaincy from

Terry Duffin Terrence Duffin (born 20 March 1982) is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer, who played Test matches and One Day Internationals, captaining the side in ODIs. International career Duffin has played two Test matches for Zimbabwe against ...

in 2006. Utseya's bowling during the tour to

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

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. Utseya is the first and joint world record holder for conceding the fewest runs (six runs) in a

T20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

after bowling the complete quota of overs (four overs is the maximum quota in a T20 match). Utseya tendered his resignation as national captain after the side's disappointing performance at the

T20 World Cup The ICC Men's T20 World Cup (earlier known as ICC World Twenty20) is the international championship of Twenty20. Organised by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament consists of 16 teams, comprising t ...

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. Utseya took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against

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 ...

Harare Sports Club Harare Sports Club is a sports club and the Harare Sports Club Ground is a cricket stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe. Founded in 1900 and known as Salisbury Sports Club until 1982, it is mostly used for cricket matches, and has served as the primary ...

and became the second Zimbabwean to claim a hat-trick when he dismissed three South African batsmen in consecutive deliveries in the third One-Day International match of the

Tri-series The Rugby League Tri-Nations (known as the Gillette Tri-Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby league tournament involving the top three teams in the sport: Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand and is the predecessor of today's Rugby L ...

in August 2014. Utseya accounted for the wickets of

Quinton de Kock Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for South Africa in limited overs cricket, Titans at the domestic level, and Lucknow Super Gian ...

Rilee Rossouw Rilee Roscoe Rossouw (born 9 October 1989) is a South African cricketer who played for South Africa between 2014 and 2016, before making a return to international cricket in July 2022. In South Africa he played domestic cricket for Knights and ...

and David Miller. In process, he also took his career best figure and ended innings with figure of 5/36

Bowling action

In August 2014, Utseya reported for a suspect bowling action following the third ODI against

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 cl ...

. Utseya was the fourth offspinner to have been reported for a suspect action over the last few months; the others were

Sachithra Senanayake Senanayake Mudiyanselage Sachithra Madhushanka Senanayake, commonly called Sachithra Senanayake ( si, සචිත්‍ර සේනානායක; born 9 February 1985) is a former professional Sri Lankan cricketer who played all three formats ...

Kane Williamson Kane Stuart Williamson (born 8 August 1990) is a New Zealand cricketer who is currently the Captain (cricket), captain of the New Zealand national cricket team, New Zealand national team in limited overs cricket. He is considered as New Zealand' ...

, and

Saeed Ajmal Saeed Ajmal SI ( Punjabi, ; born 14 October 1977) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all forms of the game. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who bats right handed. At domestic level in Pakistan he represented Fai ...

. Utseya 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
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 Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...

and

Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh (born 3 July 1980) is a member of parliament in Rajya Sabha and an Indian retired cricketer and cricket commentator, who played for the Indian national cricket team from 1998 - 2016. Singh was a right-arm spin bowler. In India ...

at the same time were 3.85 and 4.11 respectively.

Controversies

Utseya claims that he became a victim of racism during the

2015 ICC Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by Aust ...

, and slammed allegations against former Zimbabwe cricketer Alistair Campbell, managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket, over the appointment of an "all-white" coaching staff and administration. He claimed that Campbell had "personal issues" against him, and was thus not included in the starting XI in any of the world cup games, despite being in the squad.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Utseya, Prosper 1985 births Living people Cricketers from Harare Alumni of Churchill School (Harare) Zimbabwean cricketers Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Zimbabwe Test cricketers Zimbabwe Twenty20 International cricketers Zimbabwean ODI captains Mashonaland cricketers Manicaland cricketers Midlands cricketers Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup One Day International hat-trick takers