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Paul Munyuki Sports Reporter
OFF-SPINNER Prosper Utseya is not giving up his career after being suspended from bowling in international cricket, saying his batting can keep him in the big time while he works on shaping his bowling. Yesterday, Utseya told The Herald that he faces a huge hurdle to return to the international scene as a bowler, but wasn’t giving up hope. “My main challenge is that here in Zimbabwe we do not have the machines or the system that is used to analyse the bowling action and so it is also difficult, on my part, to know if I am really on track without this machine.

“It’s an expensive system and only three countries have this facility in the world so during my meeting with the ZC officials, I asked if they could facilitate for me to go to India for part of my recovery lessons and pre-testing,” said Utseya.

He is targeting returning to the Zimbabwe side for the 2015 Cricket World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand as a bowler.
“I will try to work hard on my action so that I get back onto the field as a bowler,” said Utseya.

“But, no doubt, it is going to be tough on me to break away from that action because that is how I have been doing it over the last years.
“It’s like telling someone who has been using his right hand for writing all his life to start using their left hand for the same task, it’s not easy, and it will take time, patience and requires a lot of hard work.

“I do not want to rush it, but I need to make progress slowly because I also want to go and play at the ICC (World Cup) next year.
“We are yet to map out my training schedule, with regards to the bowling action recovery programme, but all that will depend on team selection, my making it for Bangladesh would determine when I am going to start and if I make it then my bowling would have to suffer a little bit.”

Utseya can be selected as a batting option only but that appears unlikely.
The cricketer says he has a good batting record in Bangladesh.

“That I have been suspended to work on my bowling action does not mean I am counting myself out of the Bangladesh tour because I can also bat, something I have done well against the Tigers because I have a good record against them.

“The guys (executive) at ZC have been very supportive, I met with them yesterday (Wednesday) and they showed real concern about my issue, that they will get a specialist to work with me in my rehabilitation and I could also be working with Doug (Hondo).

“I also had a meeting with Zimbabwe cricket coach (Steve) Mangongo and he said he would have loved to hear that I had received positive results.
“I have had a chance to read the analysis report on my action, but the difficult thing is that after undergoing the tests, we have to wait for sometime before we get the results, they are not instant.

“I was really disappointed hearing that I had failed the test because this is my first time in my entire playing career that such a thing has hit me and I feel that they (ICC) can’t let someone play for so many (10) years and then say it that I have an illegal bowl action now.”