Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
CRAIG ERVINE lives by one mantra and one simple truth when it comes to his age and Test-playing days.
When it comes to his age, the Zimbabwe top-order batter believes that “age ain’t nothing but a number”.
He also views Test cricket, his favourite format, as the pinnacle of the sport, and he would like to keep playing for as long as possible.
He would not even mind putting on his Chevrons’ jersey for one match in the World Test Championship (WTC).
That is, of course, if the International Cricket Council (ICC) decide to expand the tournament and Zimbabwe get the spot.
The ball is in the air, no pun intended, on both.
Ervine, his age and Test-playing days all made the headlines last week during the first Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.
The match might have ended in a draw, but the 41-year-old’s unbeaten 206 runs off 279 balls saw Zimbabwe bat out the day and finish on 523 for five last Monday.
He shared an unbeaten 208-run sixth-wicket partnership off 225 balls with Wessly Madhevere, who also brought up his maiden Test century.
In fact, it was a match of many firsts, with Brian Bennett, Brendan Taylor, Antum Naqvi and seamer Newman Nyamhuri all reaching individual milestones.
When the dust settled, only one name stood head and shoulders above the rest.
At 41 years and 78 days old, Craig Ervine became the third-oldest player to score a Test double-hundred during the Sharjah Test against Afghanistan.
Eric Rowan was 42 years and six days old when he scored 236 against England in 1951, while Jack Hobbs scored 211 at 41 years and 195 days against South Africa in 1924.
Ervine also became the oldest batter to score a Test hundred for Zimbabwe, bettering the record Taylor set with his first-innings hundred, a record that Ervine previously held.
And heading into the second Test, which began on Friday, the magnitude of his achievement was yet to hit the Zimbabwe international.
“I don’t think it has quite hit home yet,” said Ervine, on the eve of the second Test. “Obviously, there is still one more Test to go, and our main goal has been to prepare for that one as best as possible and win the series.
“That being said, it has been a very surreal experience. I have heard from many people from all across the world, all sending congratulatory messages.
“That has been very special getting all those messages from people, some of them I didn’t even expect would reach out.”
Ervine even went one step further to pay a special “thank you” to his wife, who remained at home in Zimbabwe to take care of their three kids.
He said he has been away for about four weeks, leaving her to take care of housing and childcare duties while he is on tour.
Ervine even did his best to make his time away count, as his unbeaten double century put him in a special and elite class of Zimbabwean cricketers.
He became the fifth Zimbabwean batter to score a double century after the Flower brothers, Andy and Grant, Guy Whittall and his former coach Dave Houghton.
In fact, Grant Flower and Houghton were among the people who reached out to congratulate him.
“I have done a lot of work with Dave (Houghton) from his time at Tuskers and, obviously, with the national team,” said Ervine.
“So, it was nice to hear from him. And I also got a message from Grant Flower as well, which was quite special.
“Growing up, I watched these guys play, and it was also special for me, as a young kid, back then.”
Now, the first Test between these two nations, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, will likely go down in history as one of the most predictable matches of all time.
The track at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium did not play ball at all, with both teams believing that it would wear down and become more bowler-friendly as the match progressed.
That the match would end in a draw was certain by the time play resumed on Monday, for the fifth and final day.
The wicket continued to remain unresponsive and offered no assistance to the bowlers.
And Ervine and the Zimbabwean batters, first Bennett and then later Naqvi and Madhevere, made the most of it.
“Yeah, it was a really good batting wicket and, mentally, I just told myself if I could get through the first hour or so in the morning then it would be just a case of getting myself out with silly mistakes,” said Ervine.
“It was very difficult for a bowler to get you out as there wasn’t a lot of movement.
“There was no pace or turn for the bowlers, so it was just a matter of sticking to a simple process with the options I wanted to use in order to score.”
After his first hundred, Ervine kept his head low and started thinking about his batting partners in Naqvi and then later Madhevere. He shared a 140-run fifth-wicket stand off 253 balls with the latter, helping Naqvi reach his maiden half-century on debut.
With Madhevere, Ervine added another 208 runs during which the two reached more milestones.
By then, Afghanistan were resigned to the fact that the match would end in a draw, with their skipper Rahmat Shah even asking the Zimbabwe duo if they wanted to continue.
With Shah using his part-time spinners and Ervine and Madhevere edging closer to milestones, the answer seemed simple enough.
“I didn’t really think much about reaching the double century, to be totally honest,” said Ervine.
“I think it was roughly about drinks after lunch when the guys came up to me and told me to go on the offensive during the last hour and try to get to 200.
“At that stage, Wes (Madhevere) was in the 60s and even asked me if I thought he could get a hundred.
“I backed him to do it as he was still a little fresh and I figured out that I was a little too far away from the 200 mark.
“After that short drinks break, we sort of upped the rate and got a few boundaries. However, when the last hour started, I thought I was still too far, but Rahmat Shah asked if we wanted to carry on and we said yes.”
The rest is, as they say, history, as both Ervine and Madhevere achieved their milestones a few balls apart.
Soon afterwards, both team captains — Zimbabwe’s Bennett and Afghanistan’s Rahmat Shah — decided to call it a day, with the match ending in a draw.
The two teams are currently still tangled in a duel for superiority, in the ongoing second Test that enters day three today.
However, there is a bigger story in play at the moment — the WTC.
In a few months, a series between these two teams (and Ireland) could have consequences for the WTC points table, with the competition’s expansion ongoing.
Zimbabwe, in particular, are pushing for a place in the elite club and see it as their responsibility as full members to champion the longest format, even if it is a financial strain.
In 2025, they played 10 Tests to show their commitment to the cause, but they have only had one in 2026 prior to the series against Afghanistan.
For Ervine, inclusion into the WTC would be a dream come true for the top-order batter, both personally and for Zimbabwe.
“Yes, there is certainly a lot of discussion around the World Test Championship and it would certainly be nice for Zimbabwe to be included,” he said.
“I think from a development and maturity point of view, we will certainly get better from playing more Test cricket, getting exposed to different conditions and game plans.
“It would certainly be huge for us if we could be involved in that WTC expansion.”
