adminRicky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
INTERNATIONAL cricket returns to Bulawayo next month when Zimbabwe takes on Afghanistan in five one-day games and two Twenty20 matches at Queens Sports Club. After being starved of international matches for over a year, Afghanistan’s visit to Bulawayo will be seen as a first step towards staging more international cricket games in the City of Kings.
Afghanistan last toured Zimbabwe in July last year and they are expected to arrive in Bulawayo on October 13 for a three-week visit to play in the limited overs matches.
Matabeleland Tuskers Cricket Franchise chief executive officer Stanley Staddon said soon after Afghanistan’s departure, Bangladesh will arrive in the city on October 31 for a three-week tour.
He said Afghanistan could even arrive earlier than October 13. “From the communication that we’ve had with ZC (Zimbabwe Cricket), Afghanistan have indicated that they want to arrive early to play a couple of training matches against Tuskers. As a franchise, we’re happy that (international) cricket is finally coming to Bulawayo and it’s our hope that people of this region will come in their numbers to rally behind the boys for the Afghanistan and Bangladesh matches,” said Staddon.
Dates for the Zimbabwe and Afghanistan one-day matches are October 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. There will be a two-day rest before the first T20 game is played on October 27 before Afghanistan winds up its visit to Bulawayo with the last T20 game two days later.
In their last visit to Zimbabwe, Afghanistan played four one-day matches, winning their two opening games by six wickets. The Asians then beat Zimbabwe by two wickets in the third game and the final encounter by 100 runs.
Bangladesh, whose bowling coach is former Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak, are set to arrive in the city on October 31, with their first of three one-day internationals on November 3. The second ODI will be played two days later and the last on November 7.
After the ODIs, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will battle it out in two four-day games set for November 10-13 and November 17-20.
Staddon said they were prepared for a busy international calendar that would be immediately followed by the domestic league.
“We’ve completed renovations of the dressing rooms at Queens Sports Club with these international matches in mind. A team led by ZC grounds curator Fungai Shanganya has done a beautiful job in maintaining the wickets at Queens Sports Club and BAC (Bulawayo Athletic Club), which can be used for warm-up games. There are 10 wickets, five for local matches and the other five for international games. The facility is ready for games because we never stopped working when the domestic season ended,” Staddon said.
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