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THE International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier which takes place in Bulawayo next week is another opportunity for Zimbabwe to demonstrate to the world the beauty and hospitality that the country can offer.
Eight cricket teams drawn from five continents will be in the country, at least for the next 10 days, as they battle it out in the final qualifying event for the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to be held in Australia later this year.
Hosts Zimbabwe will be joined in the qualifying tournament by Jersey, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea and Uganda.
The games will also have a global audience as they will be broadcast on the International Cricket Council media platforms.
So the international spotlight will be shining on Zimbabwe again as 20 highly competitive cricket games are expected to be played from this coming Monday up to the final match set for July 17.
Zimbabwe Cricket have confirmed that all the games will be played in Bulawayo. The two venues to be used are Queens Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club.
The organisers have put in place a lot of work in preparing the facilities, to the satisfaction of the ICC. President Mnangagwa is expected to officially welcome all the teams tomorrow at Queens Sports Club.
The global qualifier is one of the important tournaments on the ICC calendar, of course apart from the World Cup proper. The selection of the hosting nation usually is a product of a rigorous bidding process.
There will be a host of eligibility criteria, including the required infrastructure to stage the events and the capacity to host a successful event, with little or no margin for error.
The ICC prefers to stage events where there is support from the government in hosting the event and development of the sport in the country.
The ICC executive committee then votes for the hosts of the tournament after examining all the bids made by the nations keen on hosting.
So Zimbabwe has ticked all the boxes. In, fact, the nation has hosted tournaments of this stature before and the events have come out successful.
The ICC T20 World Cup qualifier comes just a few months after Zimbabwe successfully hosted the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifier last November.
Cricket has proven to be a key partner in driving tourism. The ‘Visit Zimbabwe’ partnership signed between Zimbabwe Cricket and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority two years ago was a key development in marrying the two sectors to greater effect.
The tourism sector has an important role to play in the attainment of our national Vision 2030 as it is one of the four pillars underpinning the growth of our economy alongside sectors like agriculture, mining and manufacturing.
Sports and tourism can form a formidable combination. The organisers of the event should take advantage of the visit by the seven national cricket teams to make sure that tourism also benefits.
They should sell packages to the teams to cater for recreational activities during their free days when they are not involved in training or games.
The Jersey national cricket team, which arrived in Zimbabwe on Tuesday, did not waste time to visit some of the tourism sites around Harare.
Their social media platforms were awash with pictures of players and officials on a game viewing jaunt just a day after their arrival, and they seemed to enjoy every minute getting up close with the elephants and other wild animals.
There are more of such attractions across Zimbabwe. This tournament should help market Zimbabwe to the world as a tourist destination. The games will be followed with keen interest from audiences in Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America, and of course from the home continent Africa.
So the local organising committee should step up their efforts and make sure that Zimbabwe wins on and off the pitch.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter