Gregory Strydom

Gregory Strydom is a clean hitter of the ball who loves to hit the bowlers, especially medium pacers and spinners, out of the park. He scores runs at a quick pace in both versions of the game and is a reliable bowler who mixes medium pace with some off breaks. He has been constantly overlooked by the Zimbabwean selectors despite his brilliant performance in first-class and List A matches until he was named in the squad to take on Kenya in February 2006. His major weakness is that he has limited footwork and that leaves him vulnerable to genuine quick bowlers. He also tends to concentrate on the boundary shots and forget the need to work the singles in between times. His methods can be seen from his record for Matabeleland against Manicaland in Mutare in 2003-04: he scored 128 and 104, with 20 fours and no fewer than 16 sixes in the match. Sated with runs off journeymen bowlers, he struggled when coming up against the top bowlers in the trade, but has been learning to build his innings and work the ball around for singles. Short and of average build, he has powerful forearms that are responsible for most of his big hits, mainly on the leg side. He can be an abrasive character at times, but has settled down under coach Kevin Curran and is showing a more positive attitude
Steven Price September 2006