Bongani Ndlovu
Brandon Moyo
ENGLISH side, Derbyshire County Cricket Club have cancelled their scheduled pre-season tour of Zimbabwe due to travelling constraints.
Derbyshire, whose tour of Zimbabwe was cut short due to Covid restrictions in 2020, were initially booked for a two-week pre-season tour of Zimbabwe, from March 9, to prepare for the new season before playing friendlies against Leicestershire and Leeds/Bradford UCCE.
However, the Qatar Airways flights booked for the tour, scheduled to pass through Doha, have been cancelled due to the ongoing conflict in the region and alternative routes were not financially viable for the Club on short notice.
The squad will now be heading to Desert Springs, Spain, for a six-day training camp later this month.
The club’s head of cricket, Mickey Arthur confirmed the development in a statement.
“Due to the huge disruption to travel worldwide means we cannot go ahead with our trip to Zimbabwe. We thank Zimbabwe Cricket for their understanding and co-operation throughout this process, we have had to move quickly to ensure our players can get a good amount of outdoor training before the new season and we are pleased to have secured a top-level facility in Desert Springs on short notice.
“This is a crucial part of our pre-season preparation, it allows our players to train on grass pitches and get some good work in their legs outdoors. It also gives us the opportunity to discuss our plans for the new season, which we are all optimistic for,” said Arthur.
Online Reporter