The Night Watchman

Harold Kutcher will sign off his international career against Scotland on Saturday. I met up with his club manager SamuelVimes, to ask him about the spinner.

1. Kutcher has been a member of the Zimbabwe squad since day one, and has provided some memorable performances. Which performance do you think has been his best?

Would have liked to have said one of his tour performances there, but he’s usually gone missing in the big official matches - or the batting has been appalling. His finest hour was probably taking 10-2-23-2 in a display of Dynamo spin and flawless Flower wicketkeeper as we beat Australia by 64 runs at home (Match 129897)

2. Kutcher is the 3rd highest wicket taker for Zimbabwe with 35 wickets. Are there any wickets of his in particular that stand out?

Another match against Australia (222533) - he’d been given a newish ball, just hammered for six in the previous over, comes back and bowls the new batsman cleanly. Oz were skittled and we walked to the target.
3. Have you been surprised by Harold’s success at international level?

Not really, he was always a magnificent force for the team. He averaged under ten with the ball in Twenty20 and 16 in fifty-overs despite almost never playing bots. I’m a bit disappointed he never showed off his best on tours - his stats look better than they do thanks to a few minnow games at the World Cup - and it was probably the right time to go.

4. How much further do you see Kutcher carrying on for with Dynamo Morpork?

It’ll be good to have an old hand around the squad in key matches for at least a couple of seasons - having new men graduate to the national side all the time means I need a deep squad. He should also get cheaper over the years, but I can’t see him contributing usefully past 33, not even in Twenty20.

5. He’s been handy with the bat as well at national level, averaging just under 20 in all matches. What would you put this success down to?

He has a lot of natural talent with the bat - hasn’t worked on it quite as much as he might have liked, but he’s made two fifties in domestic cricket and was always good for a few runs at the end - I’ve always been impressed with how he runs between the wickets as well, always takes a run when it’s on.

6. And finally, Kutcher’s final match will be against Scotland on Saturday at the Mwene Mutapa. What do you think would be the perfect way for him to sign off?

Reaching forty international wickets is probably a bit too much, but I might perhaps hope for the seamers to take a couple, put the pressure on early, and for Kutcher to take a five-for and ensure that he doesn’t have to bat I wouldn’t really want him to hit the winning runs as it means he hasn’t done his job with the ball!

Prepared by GoldenDuck (Zimbabwe National Assistant Manager)