Online Reporter
Don Makanyanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE coach Justin Sammons believes that the intense competition that comes with playing against strong opposition will stand the senior cricket team in good stead in 2025.
The Chevrons, fresh from touring England for a rare Test against the Three Lions, also face top-notch opposition with upcoming series against South Africa and New Zealand.
Sammons feels that intense competition provided by the elite teams will help the Chevrons to not only improve but also prepare for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Zimbabwe will co-host the ODI World Cup with South Africa and Namibia.
But up next for the Chevrons is a Test in Bulawayo against recently crowned World Test Championship champions South Africa.
That is before they also face New Zealand’s Black Caps in Harare.
Zimbabwe have already played Ireland, England, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and will now face New Zealand and South Africa in both the red-ball and white-ball formats later from the end of this month through to the next.
For Sammons, it is the intensity that these matches will bring that will matter.
He told Zimpapers Sports Hub that the games will serve as a good learning opportunity for his team.
“The amount of cricket that this team has now played over the last eleven months and will play over the next, you know, five, four months as we go through our Zimbabwean winter and then, you know, into sort of spring and the early parts of the summer is brilliant.
“I have said it before, that is where you learn the most, so, you know, the more we play as a nation, the better we are going to get.
“I think we’re very fortunate that ZC has given us the opportunity to obviously gain that experience and take the learnings as we move forward,” said Sammons.
Reflecting on the historic Test against England, which Zimbabwe lost by an innings and 45 runs, Sammons felt the red-ball series was a great experience for everyone involved, full of positives for the Chevrons.
“England was a great experience for everybody involved. The occasion was obviously, as it goes without saying, massive.
“And, you know, the more occasions like that we can experience, the better we will start dealing with them.
“Once you’ve been there, then you understand how to process everything and sort of stay on task. So, yeah, that would be one of the big takeaways from this England test, just the ability to deal with big occasions.
“So, there’s big lessons moving forward from that,” added Sammons.
