Chari out of Zimbabwe A for personal reasons

TUSKERS skipper Brian Chari is set to miss the two three-day matches between Zimbabwe A and English County side, Durham County Cricket Club which gets underway today in Harare due to personal reasons.

The experienced Chari was named in the 15-member Zimbabwe A team for the two matches in the initial stages. He was named in the 15-member Zimbabwe A team for the two matches, but opted out for personal reasons.

The first three-dayer is scheduled for today to February 24 at Harare Sports Club, while the second is set for February 27-29 at Takashinga Cricket Club.

In the recently ended 2023/24 Logan Cup season, Chari led the batting charts with 692 runs at 49.43 and was followed by Johnathan Campbell with 675 runs and Tuskers teammate Aliakbar Hamid with 674 runs at 61.36 and 48.14 respectively. The Tuskers captain also scored a brilliant double century which was his first in First-Class cricket, helping Tuskers thump Rhinos by a massive 510 runs in their last match of the league. With Chari not participating, some of the players who had a stellar campaign in the Logan Cup and were picked in the Zimbabwe A team include Campbell,

Hamid, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Nkosana Mpofu, Matthew Welch, Donald Tiripano and Brian Bennett who were all among the top run-scorers in the just-ended first-class tournament, the Logan Cup.

Spinners Tapiwa Mufudza and Ainsley Ndlovu have also been rewarded for their impressive performances in the provincial four-day competition.

Takudzwa Chataira, Roy Kaia, Clive Madande, Cuthbert Musoko, Victor Nyauchi and Milton Shumba complete the 15-man squad for the first match. Mgcini Dube, Tanunurwa Makoni and Michael Chinouya will then join the Zimbabwe A side for the second three-dayer.

Meanwhile, Durham County Cricket Club touched down in Harare on Tuesday ahead of todays opener. This visit to Zimbabwe is the English County’s third in four years for a pre-season tour.

After the two red ball matches, Durham will then join the Domestic T20 Competition as the sixth team alongside the provincial sides Eagles, Mega Market Mountaineers, Rhinos, Southern Rocks and Tuskers.

The T20 tournament is pencilled in to start on March 3.

In their previous visit to Zimbabwe last year, Durham toured together with another English county team, Glamorgan, for a pre-season programme that included matches across all formats against local select sides. In 2020, they were also in the country alongside Derbyshire – which was then coached by former Chevrons head coach Dave Houghton – although that tour had to be cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans will be allowed to watch all matches free of charge.

Zimbabwe A Squad

Aliakbar Hamid, Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Takudzwa Chataira, Roy Kaia, Clive Madande, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Nkosana Mpofu, Tapiwa Mufudza, Cuthbert Musoko, Ainsley Ndlovu, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Matthew Welch

In for second dayer: Mgcini Dube, Tanunurwa Makoni, Michael Chinouya. – @brandon_malvin