Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

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maehara
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Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

Post by maehara »

So the 3rd ODI has been moved from Bulawayo to Harare. The Chronicle in Bulawayo carried the news yesterday, along with a long gripe (now dropped off their website, sadly) about how ZC was discriminating against the City of Kings by not giving them more matches - the last ODI series, against Bangladesh, was all in Harare, and when one of the ODIs against England had to be dropped after the journalist accreditation issues on that tour, it was a Bulawayo game that got axed.

Does The Chronicle have a point, or is it just a case of sour grapes? I'd point out that a lot of the SAA Provincial matches were in Bulawayo, with a decent number of MTN Domestic and Standard Bank Pro20 matches pencilled in for Queen's Sports Club as well...

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

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Well, the way I see it, the more games that are played in Harare, the better the chance Zimbabwe have of winning. They never seem to do well at Bulawayo, so it is best to let that be the venue for the less important matches, such as the A team matches and SAA provincial games.

2 matches are being played there, so there isn't really much of a case for discrimination. Bulawayo is the "second" city, why should it have the majority of the matches. One thinks there would also be the chance of a better crowd in Harare.

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

Post by maehara »

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:They never seem to do well at Bulawayo.
The pitch at Queen's hasn't been the same since they lost their last groundsman, Noel Peck - up until then, it was one of the best-playing pitches on the international circuit, but now Zim seem to find it almost unplayable. Something that Queen's really need to look at.

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

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maehara wrote:
brmtaylor.com admin wrote:They never seem to do well at Bulawayo.
The pitch at Queen's hasn't been the same since they lost their last groundsman, Noel Peck - up until then, it was one of the best-playing pitches on the international circuit, but now Zim seem to find it almost unplayable. Something that Queen's really need to look at.
I remember reading about his departure on Cricinfo... any idea who replaced him?

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

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Queen's no doubt was and still is one of the finest international arenas. I remember in 96, i didn't live far from it, i could literaly just walk to the ground. I would love to see more games being played there. One thing ZC needs to do is spread international games all over the country, it will help a lot on promoting the game further. India and Pakistan are implementing the same policy to places like Guwahati (India) and Peshawar(Pakistan) and Sialkot (Pakistan). Imagine if we had a Test and ODI ground in Vic Falls, that would be one of the greatest thing ever.

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

Post by maehara »

Kopje wrote:One thing ZC needs to do is spread international games all over the country, it will help a lot on promoting the game further.
They used to play a lot of the 'A' games in Kwe Kwe & Mutare, but that seemed to stop about 2 years ago. Last year's domestic programme also showed some matches being played in the likes of Hwange & Triangle, but I don't know if they ever went ahead. You're right though, they need to get back to playing more matches outside Harare & Bulawayo. The petrol situation may be an issue, though?
Imagine if we had a Test and ODI ground in Vic Falls, that would be one of the greatest thing ever.
...and to this day I'm surprised they've never done that.

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

Post by Kopje »

The weather in places like Triangle, Masvingo, Hwange and Plumtree is very good for cricket. If matches were to be scattered to such locations, some venues would need to be revamped to handle large matches, but ofcourse the current economic and fuel situation in Zimbabwe eclipses the possibilities of doing some of these things.

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

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maehara wrote:
Kopje wrote:One thing ZC needs to do is spread international games all over the country, it will help a lot on promoting the game further.
They used to play a lot of the 'A' games in Kwe Kwe & Mutare, but that seemed to stop about 2 years ago. Last year's domestic programme also showed some matches being played in the likes of Hwange & Triangle, but I don't know if they ever went ahead. You're right though, they need to get back to playing more matches outside Harare & Bulawayo. The petrol situation may be an issue, though?
That is why Triangle is out of the question. First class facilities in the middle of nowhere. It is about 400-500km from Harare by bus I think? No touring party wants to spend that long on the road.
Kopje wrote:Imagine if we had a Test and ODI ground in Vic Falls, that would be one of the greatest thing ever.
That would be the greatest! As far as tourism goes, people are staying away from Harare, so not many people travel with touring sides. If matches were played in Victoria Falls though, I think the fact that you nowhere near Harare, and only a hop, step and a jump away from Zambia, would mean people would be more likely to travel to Zimbabwe for the cricket. See the Falls, do the cricket - it could be a package, and quite frankly it's something that should have been looked at a long time ago.

I see a few problems with it though. You couldn't have the ground too far from the township, it would need to be walking distance to be viable. Secondly, the mist? I've never been to Victoria Falls (want to :)) but isn't there a good chance that mist would encompass the ground?

Lastly, I'm not sure Victoria Falls has a large enough population to support a cricket match. A 5000 seat stadium with grassy banks square of either side of the wicket would look fantastic to international viewers. But if there are no tourists at the game, then would the ground be empty?

But definitely, a fantastic idea. I hope they do it one day. It should even be government funded because of the amount of tourism it would bring :mrgreen:

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

Post by maehara »

brmtaylor.com admin wrote:Secondly, the mist? I've never been to Victoria Falls (want to :)) but isn't there a good chance that mist would encompass the ground?
Unless they managed to find space inside the national park, the mist wouldn't be an issue - it doesn't drift that far from the falls. I've only been to Vic Falls once, but I can't think of anywhere that close where they'd be able to site a cricket ground - most of the prime land is already taken by hotels...
Lastly, I'm not sure Victoria Falls has a large enough population to support a cricket match. A 5000 seat stadium with grassy banks square of either side of the wicket would look fantastic to international viewers. But if there are no tourists at the game, then would the ground be empty?
It would be something for the tourists - and probably not worth doing until the country's profile has improved a bit. But definitely worth doing eventually.

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Re: Schedule Changes - Discrimination Against Bulawayo!

Post by Kopje »

I think Vic Falls would get a lot of international fans, suppose it hosted teams like South Africa, England and India.

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