Dion Myers: ‘Time away from the game a blessing in disguise’

Dion Myers has said that time away from cricket has given him a broader perspective on his game and renewed energy for his second stint. The 22-year-old Zimbabwe batter had taken a break from cricket to pursue his university studies in the UK before returning to the international fold in the ongoing five-match T20I series at home against India.

“Over the last few years, there’s been a lot of self-introspection, seeing how my first stint went and things like I did well… things I can improve upon,” Myers said at his post-match press conference on Wednesday. “And watching a lot of cricket, honestly, along with my own training. It just helps sometimes when you’re out of the system or set-up to be able to look from a panoramic view and see what you can achieve or what you can do better to give to the team. The time away from the game [was] a blessing in disguise and it helped me realise a few more things about myself and also I needed to grow up.”

Myers had captained Zimbabwe in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup and, in just over a year’s time, he made the step-up to the senior team in a one-off Test against Bangladesh in Harare. He subsequently featured in ODIs and T20Is for Zimbabwe before pausing his cricketing career for academics. In his third international innings upon return to action, Myers struck an unbeaten 65 off 49 balls, his maiden international half-century, against an India side that had three T20 World Cup champions in their ranks.

“It’s surreal, honestly,” Myers said. “It’s something that you dream about as a young boy, and I really thank my team-mates and my family for the support and above all, I thank God. Lots of times were tough in the past few years, but [I] managed to find a way, so very proud of it.

“Being back in the team…it’s such a nice vibe, wonderful coaching staff as well and they’re there to support us, so I expect a lot more from this team going forward and very excited for the future.”

With Zimbabwe moving on from the likes of Sean Williams and Craig Ervine, the young pair of Myers and Clive Madande offered a glimpse into that future with a counterattacking 77-run sixth-wicket stand off 57 balls after they had been reduced to 39 for 5 in seven overs. Myers was particularly fluent against spin, taking Ravi Bishnoi, Player-of-the-Match Washington Sundar and Abhishek Sharma for a combined 44 off 31 balls. Madande, at the other end, lined up seam-bowling allrounder Dube for a pair of sixes.

“It was the sort of wicket where you couldn’t really come in straightaway and start going at 150-200 strike rate,” Myers said. “I just tried to play it my way, hitting it on the ground early on, get into the game and as the innings goes on, you pick more areas of the ground. But from the others, the intent was great. You can’t fault that and I think if a couple of guys do well, it’s crazy what this team can achieve. It’s just a matter of time, I can assure you that.”

Myers had a rust-ridden restart to his career – he had laboured to 23 off 22 balls in the first T20I before holing out for a duck in the second. Also in that second game, Abhishek Sharma whacked him for 4, 6, 4, 6, 4 in a 28-run over. However, that didn’t dent Myers’ confidence going into the third T20I.

“It’s brilliant to learn and it’s brilliant to be in the firing line, and I’m a big believer that if a situation presents a tough circumstance, you’re going to stand up or just let it go,” he said. “So, it was a great experience for me, personally, I didn’t take it in a confidence-down sort of a way and I thought there are some things that I need to work on much like they’re trying to improve. That’s how I’m taking it and the rest of the boys are taking it.”

After being particularly sharp in the field in the series opener, Zimbabwe were guilty of a number of lapses in the second and third games. Myers summed it up thus: “It was just different phases throughout the game. Maybe we just bowled a touch too straight and a touch too short [with the ball] on the odd occasion and the mis-fields didn’t help us. So, it was just minute differences [between the two teams] but I thought India played very well.”