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John Hampshire, Zimbabwe’s first professional cricket coach and the man who was at the helm when the country played its first test match in 1992 has died aged 76.
The former England and Yorkshire batsman who later became an international umpire, passed away on Wednesday (March 1) aged after prolonged illness.
In an interview with cricinfo published earlier this year he spoke of his coaching Zimbabwe:
I was very lucky because Zimbabwe rang me up and asked if I’d coach them. I leapt at it. It was a fantastic experience. Great country, although I wouldn’t go out into the bush because I was terrified of snakes. I went to Vic’ Falls a lot, but I kept to the pathways. When Zimbabwe went into Test cricket, we had just four professionals: Dave Houghton, the two Flowers and Alistair Campbell. The inaugural Test, against India, we batted till lunch on the third day.
May his soul rest in peace.
