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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe national men’s cricket team are set to face a busy schedule next year as they battle to clear a fixtures backlog in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.
The Chevrons, who were last in action three months ago during the tour of United Kingdom, will begin the year away in Sri Lanka for a limited overs series.
Zimbabwe are scheduled to play three One Day internationals and three T20 internationals in Sri Lanka, with the ODIs forming part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.
The series was initially scheduled to be held in 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic the tour had to be rescheduled for January 2022.
They will return home to host Afghanistan later in January for another limited overs series that also encompass the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League games.
Zimbabwe Cricket managing director, Givemore Makoni, told The Herald they are also in talks with Ireland, South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh, India and Australia.
“We are going to Sri Lanka in January and soon after that we get back home to play Afghanistan. I can say the talks with the Afghanistan Cricket Board are 90 percent done.
“After that we will have Ireland touring Zimbabwe in the first half of the year. I can also confirm there are talks with South Africa and West Indies for possible tours in 2022.
“Remember we are also due to tour Australia and host India for the outstanding Super League games. So it’s going to be a busy schedule,” said Makoni.
Afghanistan have since confirmed they will tour Zimbabwe next month. There have been unconfirmed reports that the Asians will play Zimbabwe over the festive holidays, providing a rare Christmas treat for cricket fans.
But a statement from the Afghanistan Cricket Board, detailing their itinerary into the new year, showed that they will only be coming to Zimbabwe between January and February.
The Chevrons are part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, which is a qualification pathway to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
They were supposed to play Australia away and India at home last year but the clashes were postponed following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The ICC Cricket World Cup Super League is a 13-team tournament that will take place across two years and will determine which teams qualify to the CWC 2023. A team gets 10 points for a win and five for no result.
Zimbabwe currently sit at the bottom of the 13-team table with 25 points from nine games. They won two games and lost six while one match was declared no result.
England currently lead the standings with 95 points from 15 games. Bangladesh are in second place with 80 points from 12 outings and are being closely followed by Australia, who have amassed 60 points from nine games.
India, who are the hosts in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, and the other top seven teams from the super league, will qualify automatically for the World Cup.
Online Reporter