Ryan Burl

A dynamic middle-order batsman and a part-time leggie, Ryan Burl as a youngster loved squash more than cricket, but it's the mateship and togetherness that pushed him towards cricket.

Burl was part of two U-19 ICC Cricket World Cup campaigns in 2012 and 2014 and made his first-class debut for Mashonaland Eagles against Midwest Rhinos on November 11th, 2014. During a first-class match in the 2017-18 Logan Cup, the southpaw was given out for obstructing the field after he pushed the ball away from the stumps to save his wicket. Nonetheless, he was the stand-out performer in the Logan Cup with 401 runs in five matches.

After a string of impressive performances in the Logan Cup, the Marondera-born all-rounder made his Test debut against South Africa in the Boxing Day Test on December 26th, 2017. It was a forgettable match both for Burl and Zimbabwe as they lost to South Africa by an innings and 120 runs. His T20I debut came against Afghanistan on February 5th, 2018. A year later, Burl scored 30 runs in an over against Bangladesh which is the most by any Zimbabwean batsman.

Picked by Chattogram Challengers following his impressive showing in the T20I tri-series in Dhaka in September, his maiden BPL stint couldn't have had a bigger boost. As a 25-year old, Burl gave up on a county career, reshaped his batting focus to fit the needs, and prioritized playing for his country despite all the administrative challenges.

Now that love has evolved into an international career that needs big performances almost regularly to keep himself afloat. Burl is a shoo-in for the upcoming fixtures of Zimbabwe and other T20 leagues going around in the world.

(As of March 2021)