Ireland Confirm Zim Cricket Tour

By Perkins-Tino Bare
Ireland confirmed their 3 ODI Zimbabwe tour which is set to kick-start on the 9th of October with further games on October 11 and 13. A four-day game against Zimbabwe A is also part of the tour and it will follow on October 17 before the Irish start their InterContinental Cup match in Namibia on October 24.

Before the Ireland visit, Zimbabwe will host Pakistan for one-day internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals starting on September 27.The busy period for Zimbabwe Cricket continues as they look forward to win some matches and garner-up those valuable points to avoid having to go through the qualification phase in the next World Cup.

"It's great to be playing what should be a really competitive series," Ireland head coach John Bracewell told espncricinfo,  "Ireland have enjoyed some really hard tussles with Zimbabwe over the years and I expect these games will be equally as tough. He then added that, "It'll be a test for the squad playing in different conditions, and it'll also serve as good preparation for when we travel on to Windhoek for the Intercontinental Cup clash with Namibia."

The two sides have only met 5 times since their first meeting at the 2007 World Cup with the last encounter being at this past World Cup in which Ireland won the match by an agonising 5 runs.

It is however bad news for Bulawayo as they wont be getting any cricket action once again with all three ODIs set to be played in Harare, with the first game scheduled for October 9. The second match will take place two days later, with the third pencilled in for the 13th.

The Irish come into the series with a cocky attitude and nothing shows this as much as the fact that we are being used as preparation for their matches against Namibia. Zimbabwe however should not despair as Malcolm Waller is set to make his comeback to bowling after his ban. He`ll also be looking forward to building up on his form which had dipped over the past couple of games.

Prior to this series Zimbabwe host Pakistan for three One Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 Internationals from September 24 to October 5 respectively. That is after the lads had spent the better of the winter engaged in some cricket as they played India and New Zealand and it may sound redundant but surely Zimbabwe Cricket has to be applauded for ensuring that the boys get that nuch needed game-time which they have always craved for.The national team will immediately switch focus to Afghanistan, where they will play five ODIs in Bulawayo on October 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 before rounding that off with two T-20s on the 27th and 29th of the same month.Bangladesh A will also tour Zimbabwe in November where they will play three 50-over and two four-day matches against Zim A in what is set to be a happy period for cricket lovers.

Many players will be looking to capitalise on this as fatigue is definitely going to grapple some of the players.Zimbabwe`s convenor of selectors, Kenyon Ziehl,m is assured of this as he said “I am pleased with a number of exciting young players who have the potential to push hard for places in the senior side,” said Ziehl. “We have Masvaure, Burl, Mutombodzi, Wellington Masakadza and Goodwin Mamhiyo, who had taken an initiative to go abroad and play club cricket to improve themselves. We are keen to have a look at them and see where they can fit in.” he said in an interview and threfore Zimbabwe Cricket has no excuse for rotating players who have been so disappointing in the past matches.

Though it has been a busy period for the Chevrons, it is however worrying that they are not going to get any Test Cricket soon as there is no Test match whatsoever on the cards in the upcoming matches. The closest is that 4-Day match in which we play as Zimbabwe A and one tends to wonder if a cautious approach is the right one especially considering the number of years that we spent away from Test cricket.