Graeme Cremer's legspin showed enough promise to get him into the Zimbabwe side at 18, after just six first-class matches, to fill the hole left by the exits of Paul Strang and Andy Whittall, and Ray Price's international hiatus. In the handful of Tests he got before Zimbabwe's suspension from Test cricket in 2004, Cremer showed a glimpse of his talent, taking six wickets each in series against Bangladesh and South Africa. He made his ODI debut in 2009 and took 15 wickets in his first series, against Kenya. Later that year, he took a six-for against the same side, before going on to play the 2011 World Cup.

Cremer was appointed Zimbabwe's captain in 2016, and he responded well to the leadership challenge, making his maiden Test hundred, against Sri Lanka in Harare that year, having returned to the format after three years. In July 2017, he led his side to an unexpected ODI series win in Sri Lanka and took nine wickets in a one-off Test in Colombo.

In 2019, after Zimbabwe failed to qualify for that year's World Cup, Cremer put his career on hold to move to Dubai due to family commitments.