Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
JUSTIN SAMMONS was the picture of cool, calm, and collected as the Zimbabwe senior cricket team coach welcomed back his Chevrons outfit for training this past weekend.
The Chevrons have two crucial assignments coming up in the next month, starting with a T20 Tri-series against Namibia and South Africa.
The tournament will run from August 28 to September 6 at the FNB Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek, with the three African sides playing each other twice before the top two teams meet in the final.
The Chevrons will then have a short turnaround before they host Australia in a three-match One-Day International series, slated for September 15-20 at Harare Sports Club.
For Sammons, it was important to give his charges rest after back-to-back visits by Bangladesh and India.
Bangladesh were in the country for a full tour, which included a one-off Test, three ODIs, and three T20 internationals.
Zimbabwe dominated the Test, beating Bangladesh by an innings and 85 runs, before taking the ODIs 2-1 in Harare.
Bangladesh then claimed the three-match T20 series 2-1 at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. India then came in and blew the Chevrons out of the water, taking the short three-match T20 series 3-0 at Harare Sports Club.
“We start preparations this week,” said Sammons.
“Obviously, the guys have come off two months with the camps and then a full month of cricket, and they have had a few weeks off just to refresh so that they can come back mentally and physically fresh.”
With the 2027 ODI World Cup months away, it goes without saying that a lot of high expectations and energy will be pointed towards Australia’s visit.
However, Sammons has refused to brush aside the Tri-series, which he believes should help prepare his charges mentally and give them some competitive game time.
“Every tour is important,” he said.
“It is a great opportunity for the group to continue improving and to continue to gain experience. This is a T20 series, so as we move towards 2028 and the World Cup there, it’s another opportunity for the group to gain more information and help keep us at our best.”
“The objective is to keep improving and, obviously, go there and hopefully lift that trophy.
“That would be amazing if we can actually win the whole thing,” he said.
“Obviously, the Australia tour is different because that’s 50-over cricket and this is a T20 format,” added Sammons.
“However, the Tri-series will give us an opportunity to be match-ready in terms of the intensity needed to obviously match Australia.
“So from that point of view, it does help as it will aid us with the intensity that’s needed,” he said. The T20 game remains one of the Chevrons’ favourite formats, with Zimbabwe fresh off their best performances and finishes at the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
The Chevrons made it all the way to the Super Eight, beating the likes of Australia and co-hosts Sri Lanka in the process.
In T20 skipper Sikandar Raza, the Chevrons have one of the top all-rounders in the world and arguably one of the most sought-after performers in the shorter version of the game.
Blessing Muzarabani, Zimbabwe’s top bowler, is not far behind. The lanky Chevrons seamer has seen his stock rise since his World Cup performance, making it into the Team of the Tournament and getting snapped up by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. Most recently, Muzarabani was retained by the Gulf Giants for the World International T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
The fifth edition of the United Arab Emirates’ premier T20 competition is slated for November 20-December 20, with Muzarabani among four players who have been retained by the Gulf Giants ahead of the October auction.
The other three include the South African duo of David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, as well as Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai.
Muzarabani returns after missing last season due to injury.
