Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Ireland men’s cricket team, which was meant to tour Zimbabwe for a limited overs series will no longer be coming, with the tour scheduled to a later date.
Cricket Ireland announced on Monday that they had reached an agreement with Zimbabwe Cricket to postpone the visit to the Southern African country. The Ireland team was due to fly to Harare on 28 March and play a three-match Twenty20 International series, followed by a three-match One Day International series in April.
Cricket Ireland high performance director, Richard Holdsworth said while they were disappointed, the announcement was something they were anticipating.
“We’re obviously disappointed, but to be honest, it is not an unexpected announcement from our Zimbabwean counterparts. We appreciate their efforts and willingness to try and make the tour possible, but in the end the health and safety of players and support staff must be of primary consideration,’’ Holdsworth.
Ireland will look for game time elsewhere with the country gearing up for the ICC T20 World Cup in India later on this year.
“We’ll now look at whether alternate fixtures can be arranged during that period, which is a crucial window in advance of a busy home season and in a T20 World Cup year.”
The postponed ODIs against Zimbabwe are not part of the ICC World Super League, with those fixtures scheduled for the Irish summer when the Zimbabweans make the trip to the European country.
Zimbabwe are gearing up to face Afghanistan in two Tests and three Twenty20 Internationals, a series scheduled for 2-20 March on neutral territory in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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