The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is set to return to Africa in 2027, and this reminded me of the 2003 edition, which was co-hosted by Zimbabwe and South Africa. The impact of this event was profound for me and many others. Although I had discovered my love for cricket a few years prior, the 2003 World Cup took it to another level for me.
Now, twenty-four years later, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia will once again host cricket’s biggest event, and I believe it will be a special occasion. Speaking of special, my interviewee this week certainly fits that description. Dave Houghton has been making special contributions to cricket in Zimbabwe since the beginning of his career.
Let’s go back to 1983 when Zimbabwe played their first One Day International match, which happened to be in a World Cup. It’s a match that I feel is not celebrated enough, as little-known Zimbabwe did the unthinkable. In their first-ever ODI, they stunned Australia by 13 runs. How incredible is that?
As I was analyzing the scorecard of that match, which I believe is the biggest upset in ODI World Cup history, I noticed a familiar name: Dave Houghton. I searched my contacts and upon finding Dave’s number, I was delighted.
My first-ever interview with Dave happened a few weeks before the pandemic forced lockdowns across the world. He had toured Zimbabwe with Derbyshire County for their pre-season. Durham also made that trip which ended a 17-year hiatus since an English County team had toured Zimbabwe.
Dave played a role in making this happen, and it’s something that has continued to this day.
Pic: Zim Cricket
I recently caught up with Dave, and my first question was about the 1983 match. I was eager to learn more about it. “We never really considered ourselves as being on debut,” Dave told me. “We had been playing together for a long time and had been through the Associate Members Cup. We also played against very strong West Indian and Australian A sides. We were excited about playing against iconic teams, most of whom we had only ever seen on TV. We were excited about winning, but then disappointed about not adding to those wins when we had chances against India and Australia again.”
“I got out first ball for zero, but I thought I kept really well in a low scoring encounter. The value of contributing highly on the fielding side,” he said
After beating Australia, Zimbabwe went on to lose the remainder of their matches. However, beating an Australian side that included Allan Border, Denis Lillee, Rod Marsh, and Jeff Thomson was remarkable.
Nine years after playing their first ODI, Zimbabwe got a taste of Test cricket, and Dave delivered a masterclass against India at Harare Sports Club. “It was the first Test for the country, a century on my test debut and a wholly satisfying first five-day game,” he said. “We had to prove that we were worthy of our new status, and I think we did that well,” said Houghton who also became Zimbabwe’s first Test Cricket captain.
But Dave wasn’t done yet.
In 1994, Sri Lanka toured Zimbabwe, and Houghton produced a record that has lasted three decades and counting.
“I had felt that I had reached the age of retirement. I had indicated to the coach, John Hampshire, that I was going to retire. He convinced me to play on. I batted poorly in the first test, scoring a scrappy 50, which sort of confirmed my initial thoughts that I should retire. Hamps forced me to play on, and I’m glad he did. I got 266 and followed it up with 141 in the third test. It was my best performance. I batted for nearly two days and never made a mistake. I was sad I didn’t manage to get to 300.”
No Zimbabwean batter has scored more than 266 in Test Cricket since Houghton’s special innings.
In 2022, Zimbabwe upset Australia again, this time in their backyard when Dave was in charge as coach. “I was very fortunate to be a coach during such an enjoyable period in Zim Cricket. It was a great 18 months or so, and hopefully, we’ll be up there again soon. I was delighted with the win, but felt if we’d had a bit more luck with the toss, we could have contested the series too!”
Why has Dave played a role in having English County teams tour Zimbabwe as part of their preseason training? “I learnt a lot of my formative cricket in contests against touring A-sides and County teams. I am hoping that our up-and-coming players will get the same experiences that I had, and hopefully, they will get better with that constant exposure.”
It appears that the relationship between ZC and ECB is improving, with Zimbabwe set to play a Test in the UK in 2025. How significant is this for Zimbabwe Cricket? “For the same reason as above, it’s important to have this close relationship. Having teams from schools, academies, Counties, and from time to time national sides is exactly the consistent contest we need to improve. A number of our young players also come over and play club cricket in Zim winter, which is a big help too.”
Zimbabwe continues to produce top coaches at the international level. Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower made history with England. Keith Dabengwa is the head coach of Denmark, Stanley Timoni is in Botswana, and Leonard Nhamburo is in Rwanda, to mention a few.
“I think we grow up in the game learning to solve problems, mostly as the underdogs and it makes us think and plan, in order to overcome. This in turn has helped us develop as coaches,” reckons Houghton.
What does Zimbabwe need for a good performance at the home World Cup in 2027?
“The 2027 World Cup is an opportunity, in front of our fans, to compete.
“We are a very good side, at home, and we must use that to our advantage. I would hope that a top-four finish should be our minimum goal and with a bit of luck and the crowd behind us, who knows, maybe we can go all the way.”
It was an honour to catch up with Dave and after this chat, I got inspired to know more about the 1983 legends I hope one day I will talk to Duncan Fletcher who was the captain of the 1983 team.