adminnational team and try to earn a name for himself in the local game.
Born and bred in Masvingo, noone ever thought that this boy from Zimbabwe’s oldest town of Masvingo could be an instant hit.
But the left arm fast-medium bowler grabbed the headlines, not only in Zimbabwe but the world over.
He became the first Zimbabwean to claim five wickets on his ODI debut and became the first player in the history of the game to get 10 wickets in his first two ODI games. This displays natural talent, love and commitment to the game. For someone who grew up in Masvingo – a marginalised town and province in terms of cricket facilities – making it into the senior national team and becoming an instant hit, at 21, says a lot about Vitori.
The city only has one cricket ground, there is no gym for the players and this goes to show how determined he is to achieve his goal as a national team player.
“In Masvingo it is about the hard work and effort you put into the game because we are not as fortunate as Harare,” said Vitori.
“Back home we only have one cricket ground, we do not have grass nets, we do not have a gym and so it is about how much work we put into it.
“It is actually harder there because we do not have as much resources and facilities.
“So you would find that before the franchise system was introduced, most of the boys would stop playing cricket just after high school. As I grew up I used to watch the likes of Masakadza and Taibu on television, having those childhood dreams that some day I would play for the national team but I never knew that I would actually be sharing the same changing room with them.
“I started playing cricket when I was eight-years-old at Zimuto Primary School in Masvingo and my coach was Mufaro Chiturumani.
” I was a volleyball player but used to play street cricket using sticks as our stumps and logs as our bats and hitting out at lemons.”
Brian was, in May this year, picked for the Zimbabwe 32-man squad that went into camp where they worked mostly on fitness for the first two months as they prepared for the return to Test cricket.
He was also then picked for the XV in the triangular series against Australia and South Africa A but only got to play in the last game against South Africa where he took three wickets.
He made it into the final XV and starting XI for the one-off Test and five ODI series Bangladesh.
“I really never thought that I was going to make it into the final team and as the coach announced my name for this series I was so surprised and I thought that I was picked to learn from the professional players, the likes of Hamilton Masakadza, Elton Chigumbura and Tatenda Taibu. But as we went into camp I upped my game as I realised I could also be among the great players during the warm-up game against Bangladesh.
“But I believe I had done my work following the preparations as I had played well in these games.
“To me, it is a great achievement. I have set a standard so early in my career and I know everyone is looking at what I am going to do next but I have to just concentrate on my game and not let fame get into my head.
“When I got into camp I got a lot of support from the senior players, they are great guys and they motivated me, giving me a pat on the back.
“Elton encouraged me to work hard telling me I could play at the highest level,” added Vitori.
Rising from Runyararo West in Masvingo, Brian was one of the fortunate players who managed to get a scholarship from Zimbabwe Cricket after primary school.
He went to Victoria High in the same town where Pollock Mubobo introduced him to the game.
From there he went to Milton Boys High here where was selected for the Under-19 side that toured Namibia under coach Shepherd Makunura and signed for Masvingo (now Southern rocks).
“But then I was playing for their B side and everyone there always said I was lazy, overweight and they encouraged me to work harder on both my game and fitness.
“I started spending more time in the gym as fitness is a necessary part of the game. I started getting better, improving my game and played for Masvingo when I was 16, playing four games that season but I started having back problems and I was out for some time.”
At this stage Vitori thought of quitting cricket but it was the sweet tongue of former Southern Rocks coach Monte Lynch that made him start working on his fitness again.
“Monte kept talking to me and he convinced me that I could get better and maybe come back a better bowler.
“I started playing for the A side last year and we were now known as Southern Rocks and I loved the way we played in the Met Bank Pro 40 series semi-final where we beat Matabeleland Tuskers and I also took five wickets.”
However, Vitori knows a number of people who were good sportsmen but failed to reach their full potential as they failed to handle fame and money and he does not want to be among that list.
“I still have a long way to go in my game, I am just 21 turning 22 on February 22 next year so the 10 wickets I got in my first two ODIs show that I have a lot of potential and I need to do more work if I am to maintain that standard. I only have three ODIs to my name and that is just the beginning and there is more that lies ahead.
“And I also think that the more cricket we get to play the better we get and we need to be playing the bigger sides to keep the momentum and I guess I will also keep getting better and just keep a cool head.”
But it is the great team spirit in camp that he believes motivated him into getting so many wickets in two games, mentioning opening partner Kyle Jarvis as a great bowler as well.
“My opening partner Jarvis (Kyle), he is a good bowler and when I opened with him in the Test game I enjoyed his company but he was not fortunate enough to get any wickets earlier on with some dropped catches off his deliveries. But he was good enough to get five wickets by the end of the Test and he came in with two crucial wickets in the third ODI.
“I feel a lot better when I am bowling with him, we are both at the same level as we were debutantes.”
His biggest wish it to play as much cricket as he can in the different conditions and different environments where he can get to rub shoulders with other top cricket players.
“I wish to play in the IPL (India Premier League) some day and also in England for the county cricket because I feel that I have to get exposed to as many conditions as I can for me to improve my game.”
Online Reporter