His parents moved to Australia where he spent five and a half of his formative years during which time he played for Glenelg youth team.
His performances there won him their Junior Cricketer award for outstanding play and a selection to the South Australia under-15 team.
[1] His elder son, Mark found fame playing for, and also captaining, Surrey and was for some time a mainstay batsman for England, not suffering the one-Test fate of his father.
Butcher was a left-handed opening batsman with an aggressive playing style and a fondness for hitting shots off the back foot, although he started his career as a left-arm fast-medium bowler.
His recall coincided with the day his son Mark Butcher made his maiden Test century for England against South Africa.
Butcher was highly credited for reviving Zimbabwean cricket as the national and domestic game greatly improved.
[citation needed] In return, the Zimbabwean team defeated Australia and Pakistan in the warm-ups of the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, but struggled in the main event.
This was followed by victory in Zimbabwe's first Test match in six years, against Bangladesh, which was a historic achievement, further backed up by another ODI Series win.
They then nearly defeated the same opponents in the one-off Test, chasing 366 at Bulawayo, but a spectacular collapse, in which they lost six wickets for 44 runs made them end up with a 34-run loss.
With their recent improved performances Butcher, who had a major role to play, said that his team could beat New Zealand on the Test match in the return leg in January 2012.