Zimbabwe A To Play Ireland And Canada In South Africa

[zimfan1]

CC World Cup Qualifiers 2009

Canada and Ireland to face Zimbabwe A

Cricinfo staff

March 18, 2009

Canada and Ireland will meet Zimbabwe A as part of their preparations for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers, but any potential political embarrassment will be diluted as the games will take place in South Africa.

Zimbabwe A will play Canada on Tuesday, March 24, and Ireland two days later at the Africa Cricket Association headquarters in Benoni.

"We had no hesitation in accepting the invitation [from the ACA]," a Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman told Cricinfo. "Opportunities such as these are definitely what we are looking for to give our next best players the necessary exposure for them to be able to challenge those at the top, thus improving our standard of play."

© Cricinfo

[zimfan1]

good stuff lets see if we can build on the nambia performances

i think exactly the same team should be sent as a reward for doing so well in nambia

only down side is that they will miss the first round of the logan cup but we cant pass on this oppotunity

[brmtaylor.com admin]

To be honest I'm not thrilled. We need the likes of Manyumwa, Maruma, Garwe - not to mention Mark Vermeulen and Charles Coventry - playing in the Logan Cup. Those players are the heart and soul of the domestic competition in my opinion, while they are not in the national team their focus rests with performing well for their province unlike the national team players whose priorities lie, understandably, with the national team.

So yeah, I would have definitely sacrificed a few meaningless games against Canada and Ireland (what can they gain from 200 overs maximum that they couldn't playing consistently against the likes of Price, Cremer and Masakadza?) in order to maximise the quality of competition in the Logan Cup.

Having said all that, using the Cricinfo theorem of opposites the odds of having a full cast for the Logan Cup have just got a whole lot stronger, so perhaps I am worried about nothing.

[maehara]

I can see them bumping the Logan Cup back a few days to accommodate these matches, as they won't want to be missing the players. The LC dates have already been shifted around a little, another change probably wouldn't hurt.

[zimfan1]

i think why we have to jump at this chance is that if our A side is seen to be beating the associate sides then it makes our case for regaining our test status more stronger

at least we are seen to be doing something and if we help out these teams they may offer us more A tours in the future that we will need

i do see you point but it is only one round out of five and playing against the likes of Rankin, Morgan, porterfield will be more of a challenge then playing against some of the weaker players in the Zimbabwe competitions

one thing that the board could do is move the logan cup dates back till the Sunday of the week of the 23rd but im not sure if thats possible especially as i imagine a few of the players will be of to the club scene in England at the start of may.

[zimfan1]

Zimbabwe A to play Ireland and Canada

,br>TWO days after returning from their ultra successful tour of Namibia, Zimbabwe A will be regrouping to prepare for matches against associate nations - Ireland and Canada.

This follows an invitation from the Africa Cricket Association (ACA) to play the two sides as part of their warm-up programme for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009, which is in South Africa from the first to the 19th of next month.

Zimbabwe A will play Canada on Tuesday and Ireland on Thursday week, at the ACA headquarters in Benoni, South Africa.

The Steven Mangongo coached side goes into camp on Thursday and will leave for South Africa on Sunday to clash both Ireland and Canada.

“We had no hesitation in agreeing to such win-win arrangements that help the two sides with practice and acclimatisation while exposing our next best talent to competitive play, something that players such as ours outside the senior squad who are talented but inexperienced can never get too much of,” said Zimbabwe Cricket spokesperson Lovemore Banda.

“We are keen to keep exposing our players who are on the verge of senior selection to such play because that is necessary for them to be able to challenge those at the top, thus improving our standard of play,” he added.

The national selection panel has retained the same squad that won all three one-day matches and a twenty20 fixture in Namibia last week.

They first cruised to a nine-wicket win over a Namibian Invitational XI before winning the first one-dayer against Namibia by three wickets and the second by 42 runs. They also beat Namibia by 45 runs, in a twenty20 match.

Zimbabwe A will have their work cut out against Canada and Ireland which took part in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, and are now vying for tickets to the 2011 edition in Asia by finishing among the top four in the qualifying tournament in South Africa.

Squad -Eric Chauluka (captain), Bothwell Chapungu, Tendai Chisoro, Charles Coventry, Trevor Garwe, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Mbekezeli Mabuza, Admire Manyumwa, Timycen Maruma, Shingirai Masakadza, Natsayi Mushangwe, Richmond Mutumbami, Mark Vermeulen and Cephas Zhuwao.

Coach: Steven Mangongo;

Assistant coach/Manager: Clement Mahachi; and

Physiotherapist: Trevor Wambe.

[zimfan1]

unchanged sqaud seems fair to me

[brmtaylor.com admin]

i think why we have to jump at this chance is that if our A side is seen to be beating the associate sides then it makes our case for regaining our test status more stronger

at least we are seen to be doing something and if we help out these teams they may offer us more A tours in the future that we will need

That is a good point. To the general public I guess it does look good for our A team to be playing and winning, especially for the question of Test status.

[maehara]

Names unchanged, but I see they've changed the captain - wasn't Timycen Maruma the captain in Namibia?

[Detective RDS]

Good to see that Zim 'A' will play against Ireland and Canada.

I guess it will be good for the players playing in South Africa.Cricket played on South Africa is of high standard.It will add more cricket experience and efficiency under the players belt.

Great chance for all the players to repeat same thing what they did against Namibia.