INTERNATIONAL Cricket Council president David Morgan is expected to visit the country in June to take stock of the reforms made by Zimbabwe Cricket in their quest to revamp the domestic game and the expected return to Test status.
Morgan announced, after the ICC meeting held in Dubai this week, that he will lead a delegation that includes chief executive Haroon Lorgat after receiving a report on the state of the game in Zimbabwe from a taskforce team set up to monitor cricket developments in the Southern Africa country.
According to information from the ICC media department, the delegation will receive further updates on the implementation of the 35 recommendations made by the taskforce team which was chaired by Julian Hunte of the West Indies. "The delegation will also discuss with Zimbabwe Cricket the progress made in the reconstruction of domestic cricket and the prospects for Zimbabwe’s return to Test match cricket, from which they voluntarily withdrew in 2006, within the next two years."
The visit by the ICC delegation is very important in that it comes just weeks before the crucial annual conference of the ICC board to take place at the end of next month.
The ICC taskforce consisting of Hunte, Lorgat and Jon Long visited the country for three days in November 2008 to assess the cricket situation and came up with the recommendations aimed at propping up the standards of the game in Zimbabwe.
The main points included reformatting the domestic season so that it extends over several months to expose players to more firstclass cricket.
The standard of domestic firstclass competition is considered one of the most important facets in ensuring Zimbabwe's return to the Test fold, as a good firstclass competition produces competitive international players. The taskforce also recommended ZC to encourage and attract experienced overseasbased players to play in domestic competitions.
The association was also urged to decentralise the running of the game and increase funding so that the provinces were empowered to administer and grow the game at local level.
This has seen the formation of the franchise system and increased participation by foreign players in the Logan Cup, the Stanbic Twenty20 and the Faithwear OneDay competitions.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe are expected to get their first Twenty20 test when they play West Indies A in one of the two warmup matches.
Zimbabwe lost the fourday game by six wickets on Tuesday despite a remarkable batting recovery by Andy Blignaut (72) and Graeme Cremer helping Zimbabwe to 351 in the second innings after a disappointing first innings score of 183 all out.
Tatenda Taibu (59) and Craig Ervine were the only performing batsman in the first innings in which most of their teammates failed to find their form.
West Indies replied with 250 and 257 and halfcenturies from Kirk Edwards and Kraigg Brathwaite in the second innings gave them the win after Chris Mpofu had done well taking seven wickets in the first innings.