admin
THE countrya��s flagship cricket team, Chevrons, will soon enter into battle when Zimbabwe plays host to the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament.
The 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup contest is scheduled for 4 to 25 March in Bulawayo, Harare and Kwekwe.
Bulawayoa��s Queens Sports Club is one of five venues that will be used for the qualifiers to choose two teams that will join the top eight ICC ODI rankings at the 2019 Cricket World Cup in the United Kingdom.
Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare and the Old Mutual Heath Streak Academy in Bulawayo will be used as practice venues.
While concern to every patriotic Zimbabwean will be that Chevrons are smarting from a pathetic campaign against Afghanistan on neutral venue in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, that poor form cannot be allowed to continue into a crucial World Cup Qualifier where only two teams out of 10 will qualify for next yeara��s World Cup.
No wonder the teamsa�� players and their coaches were given all the much needed preparatory game time by Zimbabwe Cricket, who through their chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani, are on record saying:
a�?The board has done everything humanly possible to get them prepared. We sent them to South Africa on a bilateral tour. We sent them on a triangular series in Bangladesh and they have been in Afghanistan. We made sure they play the Qualifier in Zimbabwe so that they can enjoy home advantage. The players must play their part, the coaches and the selectors must play their part.a�?
The Heath Streak-mentored side will be under immerse pressure but there will be no room for deplorable, embarrassing and unacceptable results.
The success-starved nation will be looking forward to seeing the Chevrons qualify for the World Cup for the sake of this sport loving Zimbabwean family.A� Coach Streaka��s stay in the job he was handed in October 2016 may also depend on the teama��s performance.
The best players must be selected as statistics are there for every cricket lover to see ahead of contest.A� West Indies became the first country to arrive in Zimbabwe last Sunday.
The big-name players such as Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine will be playing in Zimbabwe after the West Indies failed to gain direct entry to the main tournament.
They will be joined by the bottom three ranked ICC ODI nations Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland as well as the top four sides from the ICC World Cricket League Championship. The top two from the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 will also take part in the Qualifiers.
Hosting the World Cup Qualifiers must come in as a boost to Zimbabwe Cricket as the country seeks to resurrect the sport in the country.
In that regard, we say no to another Chevrons poor show. .
derick.khumalo