Travis John Friend (born 7 January 1981) is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer and commercial pilot.
During his short international career. he made sporadic appearances for Zimbabwe having played only 13 test matches and 51 ODI matches. His career was cut short as his international career barely lasted for five years due to his fitness issues often being vulnerable to intermittent injuries and he could not quite nail or cement a permanent spot in the playing XI while also his involvement in contract dispute with Zimbabwe Cricket at an early age of 24 did not help the cause either. However, he was well noticed for his ability to bowl at a fierce pace but he often had the vulnerability of losing the line and length which also cost him a permanent place in the national side despite being highly talented. He created huge hype in Zimbabwean cricketing fraternity for being a tall, well built, pace bowling all-rounder and batted as a top-order batter at domestic level but he failed to live up to the expectations. Capable of bowling genuine pace, he was often wayward and lacked the necessary control to be a success on the international stage. In addition to his ability to bowl with pace and hostility, he could hold a bat, often being used in the role of pinch hitter for his side, very much in the mould of Andy Blignaut.
He even built up the reputation as potentially Zimbabwe's own Jacques Kallis in the making very early in his career and he was deemed as the second fastest bowler in Zimbabwe at that time only behind Henry Olonga. He made his international debut at the age of 19 when he made his ODI debut against New Zealand in September 2000 at Queens Sports Club, Harare.
Biography
He was born and raised up in Kwekwe, Midlands Province where he lived majority of his life. His father Ian Friend was also a first-class cricketer who played for Rhodesia B in two first-class matches. He began playing cricket at his family garden with his elder brother Jason Friend. His great-grandfather was also a cricketer who also played in the Logan Cup.
He attended Goldridge Primary School where his father Ian Friend served as his first cricket coach. He eventually played his first match for his school team while he was studying in Grade 3. He was chosen for the Midlands team to play in the national primary schools cricket week while he was studying in Grade 4. He went on a tour to South Africa with a Mashonaland Country Districts team and played primarily as a batsman bowling legspin. He was a regular selection for the national age-group teams. He played at Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19 levels. He also produced notable batting performances at the South African Schools Week, scoring 85 against Boland and 59 against Natal.
He applied to enroll at the CFX Academy in 1998 which meant he had to give up his final year at school. However, he was advised by Dave Houghton and by others who advised him to first of all finish his studies and then urged him to join the CFX Academy in 2000. He began playing club cricket for Old Georgians in the 1997/98 season but only featured in one game but during the following season 1998/99, he became a regular feature for Old Georgians.
He was nicknamed as "Testosterone". He was also fondly called by his teammates as Chunks referring to his body structure and height. He began his cricket career as a legspinner but he later switched to bowling right arm fast medium just two years prior to his international debut.
Friend is married, and has a son and a daughter.
International career
He served as the vice-captain of the Zimbabwean side during the 2000 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He captained Zimbabwe in four under-19 ODIs.
He made his ODI debut on 30 September 2000 against New Zealand during Zimbabwe's second match of the three match home bilateral ODI series which Zimbabwe won by surprise 2-1. He bowled seven wicketless overs conceding 29 runs on his ODI debut and Zimbabwe eventually secured the victory by 21 runs to level the series 1-1. He the subsequently made his test debut against India on 15 June 2001 during the second and final match of the two-match home test series and Zimbabwe stunned India to win the match by 4 wickets to level the series 1-1. In late 2001, he suffered huge stress fractures at the end of bilateral cricket tours with the national team in Australia and India but he recovered well on time to make himself available again for national selection.