FORMER Zimbabwe captain Andy Pycroft will on Sunday officiate as a match referee for the 100th time in T20 Internationals when Zimbabwe battle it out against the visiting Bangladesh cricket team in the series decider.
It has been a week of personal landmarks, which started with Christopher Phiri and Forster Mutizwa standing in their first T20I and ends with Pycroft getting a century in the game’s shortest format.
Pycroft was part of the Zimbabwe team in their inaugural Test against India when Zimbabwe attained its Test status in 1992 and played a further two Tests before calling time on his international career.
The former Zimbabwe captain went into administration, post his cricket career, managing the Under-19 team. He also served as convenor of selectors for the senior men’s team.
As that was not enough, he also coached the Zimbabwe national team and Zimbabwe A side and did some stints as a cricket commentator during Zimbabwe’s home matches.
As he is affectionately known, Pych has been a match Referee in 81 Tests, 184 ODIs and 138 T20s. He has also officiated 21 times at the World T20I.
Seeing Pych on television during toss time had become a common feature in some iconic Test series or in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup flying the Zimbabwe flag so high when the Zimbabwe national team failed to qualify for the tournament.
Part of his job is enforcing the ICC code of conduct for the players and maintaining the spirit of cricket by fining wayward players, fining captains who maintain slow over rates, especially in ODIs.
One umpire who spoke to Entersportnews on condition of anonymity on the occasion of Pycroft’s 100th T20I as match Referee had nothing but praises for the former International batsman who has become a mentor to budding local umpires.
“For us, it’s also special because whenever Andy goes somewhere to officiate, he always comes back and shares his experiences with us during our “coffee shop” meetings. A lot of the success we’re having as umpires is because of his input,” said the umpire.
