Hamilton Masakadza facts for kids

Hamilton Masakadza, born on August 9, 1983, is a famous former cricket player from Zimbabwe. He played all types of cricket games for his country. He was a right-handed batsman and sometimes bowled with his right arm.

Hamilton also captained the national team at times. His brothers, Shingirai Masakadza and Wellington Masakadza, also played cricket for Zimbabwe. All three brothers played for the Mountaineers team in Zimbabwe.

He made history by being the first player to score more than 150 runs twice in one series. This happened against Kenya in 2009. In 2018, he became only the fourth Zimbabwean cricketer to play in 200 One Day International (ODI) matches. Hamilton retired from international cricket in September 2019 after playing his last match against Afghanistan.

Early Cricket Days

Starting Young

Hamilton Masakadza started playing cricket at a very young age. In February 2000, when he was just 16 and still in school, he achieved something amazing. He became the first black Zimbabwean and the youngest player ever to score a first-class century. A century means scoring 100 runs in one game.

Test Debut Record

Soon after this, in July 2001, he made his Test debut. This was against the West Indies in Harare. In his second turn at batting, he scored 119 runs. This made him the youngest player to score a century in his very first Test match. He was 17 years and 354 days old at the time. However, his record was broken less than two months later by Mohammad Ashraful from Bangladesh.

Playing for Mountaineers

After taking a short break to study at the University of the Free State, Hamilton returned to the national team in late 2004. He has been a regular player ever since. He was also the top run-scorer for the Mountaineers in the 2017–18 Pro50 Championship, scoring 317 runs in six matches.

International Career Highlights

ODI Achievements

While Zimbabwe was not playing Test cricket for six years (2005–2011), Hamilton improved his skills in One Day Internationals. He scored his first century in an ODI on August 14, 2009, against Bangladesh. In October 2009, he scored 156 and 178 not out in a home ODI series against Kenya. This made him the first Zimbabwean to score 150 or more runs twice in ODIs. He was also the first player from any country to do this in the same series. He holds the record for scoring the most runs in a five-match ODI series, with 467 runs.

Return to Test Cricket

When Zimbabwe started playing Test cricket again in August 2011, Hamilton scored 104 runs in the first innings against Bangladesh. This was his second Test century, ten years after his first one! In 2015, he played in the main Cricket World Cup for the first time. He had previously played in the Under-19 World Cup twice, in 2000 and 2002.

Partnerships and Records

In 2014, Hamilton and Sikandar Raza set a new record for the highest partnership for Zimbabwe in ODIs. They scored 224 runs together for the first wicket. By November 2015, Hamilton was Zimbabwe's sixth-highest Test run-scorer and fifth-highest ODI run-scorer.

Twenty20 International Success

He is also Zimbabwe's top run-scorer in Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. He was the first Zimbabwean to reach 1,000 runs in this type of game on September 29, 2015. In January 2016, during Zimbabwe's tour of Bangladesh, Hamilton set a world record. He scored 222 runs in a four-game T20I series, which was the most runs ever in a T20I series between two countries. In June 2016, he became the first Zimbabwean cricketer to play in 50 Twenty20 International matches.

After Retirement

Director of Cricket

In August 2019, Zimbabwe Cricket created a new job called "director of cricket." This role was meant to help improve how cricket is managed in the country. Hamilton Masakadza was chosen to be the very first person in this important job. He officially started his duties in October 2019. His main task was to create plans and programs to help all of Zimbabwe's cricket teams play their best.

Resignation from Role

Hamilton served as Zimbabwe Cricket's director of cricket for five years. In March 2024, he decided to step down from this position. This decision came after Zimbabwe's national team did not qualify for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.