Full name         :Raymond William Price

 Born                 : 12 June 1976 Salisbury, Rhodesia

 Current age     : 34 years  

 Major teams    :Zimbabwe, Mashonaland Country Districts, Mashonaland Eagles, Midlands, Northerns , Worcestershire

 Batting style    :Right-hand batsman

 Bowling style   :Slow left arm orthodox





Price was born two months prematurely and contracted meningitis when he was a few months old. He was given only a one in four chance of survival, but survive he did. However, although it was not realised for some time, he was left totally deaf by the disease. When he was four, he had an operation to regain his hearing. The operation was successful, but left him with terrible coordination difficulties. He was consequently some way behind his age group when he went to school. Price first played cricket with friends in his back garden. When he was at primary school he was a pace bowler, but took up spin at Watershed College, a boarding school near Marondera. He gradually got better and better at cricket, ending up as a key figure for the school team. He had attracted the attention of the Mashonaland County Districts cricket side, and he made his first-class debut in 1995/6, although only as an amateur. He was a trained installer of refrigeration and air conditioning units during this period of his career.


Price began to impress the Zimbabwe selectors and, when an injury and form crisis robbed Zimbabwe of the first-choice spinner Paul Strang, Adam Huckle and Andy Whittall, they selected him for the third Test of the series against Sri Lanka in 1999/2000. He became a marginal figure in the squad, sometimes he played and sometimes he did not, however in 2001/02 he began to put in some good performances for the national side, including 5-181, his first Test five wicket haul, against South Africa at Bulawayo and 4-116 against Pakistan at the same ground. In 2003 Price toured England and impressed everyone who saw him bowl. He was rated as a better spinner than the English spinner Ashley Giles.[1] It was in that winter's tour of Australia, however, that Ray truly established himself as a world-class bowler, taking 6-121 in the second Test at Sydney. Against the West Indies back home that winter Price ran through their strong batting lineup twice, taking 6-73 and 4-88 in the first Test at Harare and then again in Bulawayo, taking 5-119 and 4-36. He played a pivotal role in Zimbabwe's series win over Bangladesh that winter too, taking 8 wickets in two Tests. He was becoming disaffected with the politicisation of Zimbabwean cricket however, and in 2004 he joined the player rebellion led by captain Heath Streak. Soon afterwards he signed for Worcestershire and announced an ambition to play for England.