Bio on Ebrahim in Taranaki Daily News

[CrimsonAvenger]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-n ... e-hard-way

Living in a young, post- independence and segregated Zimbabwe, where old habits and racial inequality still exist, Dion Ebrahim was moulded into the disciplined, determined and independent character who is now the leader of the Taranaki cricket team.

If ever there was a player who understood pressure and how to cope with it, then he is it.

It was Ebrahim's schooling that mostly shaped the way he evolved. Educated at Falcon College, which had a deep history in cricket and rugby, and in fact laid claim to eight of the 11 test players when Ebrahim was first chosen, he was offered both a rugby scholarship in Cape Town, South Africa, and a position in the newly formed Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, which he took up.

This was a military-style school dominated by white farmers' kids, where caning and other forms of antiquated punishments were the norm. Life might have been tough but it never broke his spirit.

Part of the academy programme was to spend the off-season in England, which taught some more valuable life lessons for a 19-year- old, as well as fine-tuning his batting skills.

It was a natural progression into first-class cricket and after being the leading first-class batsman in Zimbabwe for a couple of seasons, he was selected in the national side.

He played 29 tests, with a high score of 94, against India. But after being a central figure in the "players' corner" in trying to recover payments not made by the Zimbabwe Cricket Board, plus drawing attention to supposed fraudulent behaviour by board members, which led to his being arrested briefly, the fun had departed and Ebrahim did the same.

He headed to England, initially, playing league cricket and working as a real estate salesman, before finally, having talked to an eloquent speaker about the advantages of living in Hawera, he shipped himself off to the south Taranaki town in 2007.

The fun returned, the runs flowed, and in only 26 games for Taranaki Ebrahim has now notched up six centuries, only one fewer than the seven of Brian Richards - the leading all-time scorer for Taranaki - at a mammoth average of 65.

In the meantime, Ebrahim is pondering a life in New Zealand, first-class cricket for Central Districts, and to develop a coaching academy in Taranaki.

Coaching is a real passion of his and he is enjoying being at New Plymouth Boys' High School among a good number of talented cricketers.

Taranaki's young cricketers may be the benefactors of a real strong character.

The Zimbabwe side arrives in New Zealand for a solitary test, three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches in late January, and Ebrahim will know all the players,from his mate Tatenda Taibu, who had previously made himself unavailable but has now returned, through to the match winners in captain Brendan Taylor and seamer Keegan Meth.

He will be following with much interest, with one part of him no doubt wondering if it all could have been different and he could be walking out to play for his home country in New Zealand.

Zimbabwe's loss is Taranaki's gain. Now we need to make sure we utilise his talents to the fullest.

[ZIMDOGGY]

Don't like the article

It Wraps dion hard but 3/4 of ZCF are more eloquent.

Taranaki also sounds like some sort of Japanese sushi dish

[hhm]

I didn't like the way we treated him at Tuskers! Better him than Horton, at least he was a loyal Zim batsmen of quality! Anyway, if we do come short of batsmen in NZ, at least he'll be a few minutes away, and best adapted to the conditions than all our other batsmen!

Will monitor closely how he performs for Central Districts! Very good player! Good news about him is like music to my ears!

[sloandog]

Ya i agree, of what i saw of Ebraham, he was solid in defense. However, did he have the shots ? hmmmm

[eugene]

Dio Ebrahim was a very ordinary player whos abilities probably mean that playing club cricket in Taranaki is where he is best suited. He was solid on defense but he just couldn't get the ball away once any pressure was applied to him - kind of like Carlisle but much worse. He was a good fielder at least.

[aydee]

Shame that he left the Tuskers after just the 1 season, he'd played well and would have continued to add experience and value to franchise cricket. His international record, over an extended period, was almost hopelessly poor though...

[eugene]

Ebrahim really did get a decent spell in international cricket. Even when the rebel-saga unfolded he still wasn't one of our best batsmen and failed to do anything of substance. Ebrahim, like Matsikenyeri was a beneficiary of quotas so he never really neede to perform to get selected.

I wonder if he ever returned that car to ZC? Perhaps ZC hired Innocent 'I didn't do it' Chinyoka to retrieve the car?

[gargamel]

Ebrahim really did get a decent spell in international cricket. Even when the rebel-saga unfolded he still wasn't one of our best batsmen and failed to do anything of substance. Ebrahim, like Matsikenyeri was a beneficiary of quotas so he never really neede to perform to get selected.

I wonder if he ever returned that car to ZC? Perhaps ZC hired Innocent 'I didn't do it' Chinyoka to retrieve the car?

I find it quite narrow minded of you to think that chaps like Matsi and Dion were selected on a quota basis . I think there were a lot of rubbish white players selected before players like Gripper, Gav Rennie , Craig Evans ,D Viljoen ,Barney Rogers, Niel ferrer Stuart Carlise , Andy Whitall, Chuck Coventry , the list is endless . The point is these so called players of colour deserved to represent the majority and i take their hats off to these men who openned the gates for young black kids to play with out the fear of being refused entry to train, being laughed at for not having gear, having to hitch hike 100km to get to game, beg for a lift to a game . Its people like you Eugene that make cricket archaic .

[sloandog]

I think it's fair to say that you can take Rogers and Coventry off that list. Rogers was a solid opening batter with all the shots in the book, and Coventry was (is) still a serious threat with the bat.

[eugene]

It is well documented that Matsi was a quota selection, they (ZC) paid Mark Vermeulen to sit out an ODI so that Matsi could be selected and therefore meet quotas. I am not seeking to debate the pros/cons of quotas but there is no denying the fact that Matsi and Ebrahim were both quota selections.