adminCurtworth Masango
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) launched the inaugural edition of the Zim Afro T10 cricket tournament that will be played in August.
The franchise is expected to bring cricket stars from around the world, with six privately-owned teams set to take part.
ZC managing director, Givemore Makoni, said they had done all due diligence to ensure the tournament was clean. “There are a lot of leagues around the world and Zimbabwe doesn’t have one.
“We are one of the 12 Test-playing nations so we need to have our own, but just as everyone is saying, we needed to do due diligence that whatever league we are going to be involved in is clean.
“That is why it took us some time to come up with this,” he said.
“We are busy as we want to be known for cricket. We have increased our tournaments as we want to keep our players busy. It’s one of the things that once contributed to our downfall as we didn’t have enough game time.
“So, adding tournaments like this will create much-needed game time. We will not only focus on national team players, but also the fringe players and talented youngsters.
“In terms of exposure, I think it will go a long way in growing our game.”
Global T10 and Zim City founder, Shaji Ul Mulk, said he dreams of seeing cricket being introduced at the Olympics games.
He said negotiating with the local board was a long process.
“We have been negotiating with the board for about a year and the board had its own terms and conditions it had to approve and all that stuff.
“So we are planning to do this in August. My personal dream is for cricket to be in the Olympic Games using this format because it is the perfect format that can be played at the Olympics,” he said.
Online Reporter