Sean Michael Ervine (born 6 December 1982) is a Zimbabwean former

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. Ervine played as an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled right-arm

medium pace Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

. Ervine was born at

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 ...

and played for his country in 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 ...

but became one of the cricketers who rebelled against the

Zimbabwe Cricket Union 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 ...

, and left the country in May 2004 for a new life in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He subsequently made his way to England, playing for

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hampshire. Hampshire teams formed by earlier organisations, principal ...

between 2005 and 2018. In September 2018, he retired from all forms of cricket.Ex-Zimbabwe international Sean Ervine retires from the game

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

, 2018-09-02. Retrieved 2018-09-02. After retiring from cricket, he took up

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, with the aim to qualify for the

MENA Golf Tour The MENA Tour is a golf tour in the Middle East and North Africa. It was founded in 2011 by the Dubai-based Shaikh Maktoum Golf Foundation. It was previous affiliated to The R&A and the Arab Golf Federation. The previous iteration of the tour was ...

. He is currently playing for Minster (Sheppey) Cricket Club.

Domestic career

Ervine originally played for the short-lived CFX Academy team and then

Midlands cricket team The Midlands cricket team was a first-class cricket team representing the Midlands province in Zimbabwe. They competed in the Logan Cup from 1999 until the competition was revamped after the 2004–05 season. The club played their home matches at ...

in Zimbabwe. He made his

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

debut for CFX 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 ...

in March 2001. Ervine was educated at

Lomagundi College , location = Old Strip Road , city = Chinhoyi , province = Mashonaland West , country = Zimbabwe , coordinates = , opened = , type = Independent, boarding and day school , headmaster = Dean Seeliger , teaching_staff = 42 , grades_lab ...

. After leaving Zimbabwe in 2005 he signed to play for

in English

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 ...

and for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in Australian domestic cricket. Ervine declared that he would not return to play for the Zimbabwean national side and, following excellent form for Hampshire and Western Australia, Ervine announced that he would seek to qualify for either

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

international representation.Sean Ervine

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

. Retrieved 2018-09-02.Ervine considering his Test options

, 2005-09-04. Retrieved 2018-09-02. His time in Australia was less successful and he was unable to hold down a place in the Western Australia team,Zimbabwe stars find life tough in Australia

, 2004-10-27. Retrieved 2018-09-02. although he became a regular in county cricket for Hampshire. Once he had committed to no longer playing for Zimbabwe he was able to play county cricket in England as a non-overseas player as he holds an Irish passport.Hampshire to field just one overseas player in Twenty20

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2018-09-02. He retired from professional cricket towards the end of the 2018 English cricket season. After finding his opportunities to play limited at Hampshire he had joined

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

on loan but retired after just two matches with the team.Sean Ervine makes his 'biggest decision' and calls time

, 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2018-09-02. During the

2009 County Championship The 2009 County Championship season, known as the LV County Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the 110th County Championship season. It was contested through two divisions: Division One and Division Two. Each team played all the others in ...

season, Ervine scored 832 runs at an average of 41.60, making him Hampshire's fourth highest run scorer in the competition.Sean Ervine
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. In the

2009 Friends Provident Trophy The 2009 Friends Provident Trophy was an English county cricket tournament held between 19 April and 25 July 2009. The competition was won by Hampshire Hawks who beat the Sussex Sharks by 6 wickets at Lord's. Format The eighteen first-cl ...

, Ervine scored his highest

List-A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

score of 167

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Ervine was later a member of Hampshire's winning squad in the final as they defeated

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

by six wickets. Later in his career Ervine returned to Zimbabwean domestic cricket with the Southern Rocks in 2010 before going on to play for

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 ...

and

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 ...

.Ervine signs for Matabeleland

, 2011-12-08. Retrieved 2018-09-02. On debut for Southern Rocks he made scores of 208 and 160, his two highest innings in first-class cricket at the time.Southern Rocks v Mid West Rhinos
Scorecard,

. Retrieved 2018-09-02. Later the same year he scored 237 not out against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

playing for Hampshire.

International career

Ervine made his debut for

in October 2001 in a

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 ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was a member of the 2003 World Cup squad and ever-present during the England tour later that year. He had begun to show signs that he was maturing into a genuine international player with his last three

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

innings all half-centuries 53 against

, and 86 and 74 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 ...

. He played 42 one-day internationals, scoring a total of 698 runs at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of nearly 26 and taking 41 wickets. Arguably his best moment in international cricket came in the 2003–04 VB Series in Australia against

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 ...

when he scored a century before being run out for 100 during an unlikely, but ultimately unsuccessful, run-chase at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

.Laxman seals a thriller

, 2004-01-24. Retrieved 2018-09-02. Batting with

Stuart Carlisle Stuart Vance Carlisle (born 10 May 1972) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played 37 Test matches and 111 One Day Internationals for Zimbabwe. He was captained the side briefly, leading them in six Tests and 12 ODIs, and achieving a 2–3 res ...

, Ervine contributed to what was Zimbabwe's highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs, putting on 202 runs between them. Ervine was one of the 15 rebel cricketers in dispute with the

and left the country in 2004.Sean Ervine announces retirement

, 2004-05-15. Retrieved 2018-09-02. It seemed he might make an unlikely comeback for the country at the 2011 World Cup when he was named in their squad for the tournament, having had some preliminary discussions about the possibility, but later pulled out, reversing his decision due to the financial security that a guaranteed county contract with Hampshire brought.Ervine pulls out of World Cup squad

, 2011-01-26. Retrieved 2018-09-02.I made the right decision, insists Ervine

, 2011-04-11. Retrieved 2018-09-02.

Family

Ervine's father

Rory Rory is a given name of Goidelic languages, Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish people, Irish, Scottish people, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given n ...

and uncle

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

both played first-class cricket for Rhodesia B in the 1977/78 Castle Bowl competitionRory Ervine
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. and another uncle,

Gordon Den Gordon Den (born 11 July 1939) is a Rhodesian cricketer. He played 27 first-class matches between 1963/64 and 1969/70 and 2 List A matches in the 1969/70 season. He is the uncle of current Zimbabwe international Craig Ervine, former Zimbabwe in ...

, played for Rhodesia and Eastern province in the 1960s.Gordon Den
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. Den's father, Ervine's grandfather, Alexander Den is recorded as having made one appearance for Rhodesia against the touring Australian national side in 1936.Alexander Den
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02. Ervine's brother, Craig is also a Zimbabwean international cricketer who has played Test, ODI and T20I matches for the country. Craig left Zimbabwe for 18 months from late 2013 but, unlike his brother, later made himself available again for the national side.Craig Ervine

. Retrieved 2018-09-02. Another brother, Ryan played domestic limited overs cricket in Zimbabwe in 2009/10Ryan Ervine
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-09-02.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ervine, Sean 1982 births Living people Cricketers from Harare Alumni of Lomagundi College White Zimbabwean sportspeople Zimbabwean people of British descent Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom Zimbabwean cricketers Zimbabwe One Day International cricketers Zimbabwe Test cricketers Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup CFX Academy cricketers Midlands cricketers Hampshire cricketers Western Australia cricketers Southern Rocks cricketers Mountaineers cricketers Matabeleland Tuskers cricketers Duronto Rajshahi cricketers Brothers Union cricketers Partex Sporting Club cricketers Quetta Gladiators cricketers Derbyshire cricketers