Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
IT has been a long wait for Bulawayo to finally host international cricket again as the country’s second largest city gears up to witness top notch action when Zimbabwe women, the Lady Chevrons face their Bangladesh counterparts, the Tigress at Queens Sports Club as from Wednesday.
Bulawayo last hosted international cricket way back in July 2018 when the Zimbabwe men’s team faced Pakistan in five One Day Internationals, a series the tourists easily won 5-0.
In April last year, Bulawayo was meant to host the limited overs series between Zimbabwe and Ireland but the tour was rescheduled to take place this year but Zimbabwe Cricket called it off because of “scheduling challenges”.
Zimbabwe women did take on their South Africa Emerging counterparts in five 50 over matches at Queens Sports Club in May but the matches were not full international fixtures Tuskers general manager, Nicholas Singo is excited about the return of international cricket to Bulawayo.
“Finally excitement is back in Bulawayo and we are very excited that we are going to be hosting Bangladesh at Queens. It’s not only an honour but we feel excited that we will be hosting an international game after three years, it has been a long time since we hosted an international match,’’ Singo said.
What is more electrifying is that cricket fans in the city, 1 000 who have to be fully vaccinated will be allowed into Queens Sports Club for each of the three matches.
“We will allow a thousand paying spectators to the ground, obviously we have to observe the Covid-19 regulations like social distancing. To make sure that we don’t inconvenience people, we will make sure that we do pre-sales of our ticket,’’ he said.
There has been an outcry from football fans about the entry fees for the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League 2021/22 season. Football fans are required to fork out US$10 for the rest of the ground, US$15 for the grandstand and US$20 for the VIP. Well, cricket fans will not such headaches as US$2 gets one into the rest of the ground and US$5 into the grandstand, with all these payable in local currency at the official rate.
For the convenience of the fans, tickets will be available from the Tuskers offices at Queens Sports Club from tomorrow.
“It’s sort of a welcome party, we want to make sure that everyone comes to watch the ladies and support them, the grandstand will be going for US$5 and the rest of the ground will be US$2. For those paying in local currency, we are working out something for them to pay at the official rate,’’ said Singo.
For Singo, not having fans allowed into Queens Sports Club was just like having a mansion that is not occupied.
“This is of the fantastic grounds, it has been like having a mansion without anyone living in it. So finally we have got people who are coming to live in our mansion and enjoy the pleasure of our mansion, this is a spectacular ground, the trees are always green, the outfield is always green, everything about Queens Sports Club is always great to be so for me once you come to Queens, you never want to go away from Queens,’’ he said.
Sadly, due to Covid-19 guidelines, there will not be much entertainment off the field of play since fans have to practice social distancing, which means they cannot express themselves the way they are used to.
“Because of Covid-19, entertainment will be limited, however, we will make sure that there are provisions for food outlets within the stadium, we will make sure that all gates are opened so that there is a flow of movement into and out of the stadium,’’ said Singo.
The Adam Chifo coached Lady Chevrons arrived in Bulawayo last week Tuesday, started training at the match venue on Wednesday as they gear up for the three matches. Bangladesh landed in Harare yesterday and are heading to Bulawayo today.
Mary-Anne Musonda, the Zimbabwean captain goes into the series against Bangladesh on a high after she was nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October. The Lady Chevrons skipper is put forward for the women’s award together with the Irish duo of all-rounder Laura Delany and right-handed batter Gaby Lewis.
Musonda will know before the end of this week if she is the winner of the award or not.
On top of her nomination, Musonda has also secured kit sponsorship from Keeley Cricket, an outdoor and sporting goods company based in the United Kingdom.
Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are using the three-match ODI series to fine tune for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 that will be staged in Harare from 21 November to 5 December. The 10-team global tournament will decide the remaining three participants for the 50-over ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand.
Besides Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, the other teams participating in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 are West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and the United States of America.
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Online Reporter
Londile Moyo