Zim cricket team leaves for World Cup

[CrimsonAvenger]

http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2011-0 ... -world-cup

The Zimbabwe national cricket team leaves the country on Tuesday for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where they will intensify their preparations ahead of the 2011 International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup on the sub-continent.

In Dubai the 15-member Zimbabwe team will meet up with the legendary former West Indies captain Brian Lara who signed with Zimbabwe Cricket as batting consultant for the pre-World Cup preparations.

The national team manager Lovemore Banda told NewsDay Sport that the team would be based at the ICC’s High Performance Centre in Dubai until February 9 before leaving for Chennai in India.

“The national cricket team will leave the country tomorrow (Tuesday) for Dubai via Johannesburg for a training camp at the ICC’s High Performance Centre and a practice match against Netherlands until February 9 when they leave for Chennai, India.”

“Upon arrival in Dubai the national team will link up with Brian Lara who will be joining the squad there to help them continue their preparations in sub-continent conditions from February 1,” said Banda.

The West Indies batting prodigy will be working with national coach Alan Butcher and the rest of the technical staff in preparing the squad for the esteemed World Cup event.

Zimbabwe national team assistant coach Steven Mangongo said the 10-day training camp in Dubai would help the team acclimatise to the conditions on the sub-continent.

“This is the most ideal preparation for the team and something that we have been asking for as the team will have enough time to adjust to the slow wickets and the weather conditions we expect to find in India.”

“The team needs to be together before a big tournament like this as now the new faces like Tino Mawoyo and returnees like Charles Coventry, Gregory Lamb and Sean Williams will have enough time to bond with the rest of the team,” said Mangongo.

While in Dubai the Zimbabwe team will play Netherlands on February 8 before leaving for Chennai the following day, where they will play two warm-up matches against Ireland and South Africa.

According to the ICC Cricket World Cup warm-up matches schedule Zimbabwe will play neighbours South Africa at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on February 12.

Zimbabwe will then complete their warm-up schedule with a match against Ireland at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha and Nagpur three days later.

Zimbabwe is Group A with defending champions Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Canada and Kenya and they will kick-start their campaign against Australia on February 21 in Ahmedabad in India.

Skipper Elton Chigumbura and his charges will be under pressure to win against ICC Associate members Canada and Kenya, while they should also fancy their chances against a struggling New Zealand side.

The mega cricketing event will be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and will end on April

Zimbabwe World Cup squad: Elton Chigumbura (captain), Regis Chakabva, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Gregory Lamb, Shingirai Masakadza, Christopher Mpofu, Raymond Price, Edward Rainsford, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams
Non-travelling reserves: Terrence Duffin, Njabulo Ncube, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusimuzi Sibanda

[clikcspeed]

I hope the guys will pack cameras - lots of them, we want lots of pictures in and out... Safe journey blokes...

[brmtaylor.com admin]

I hope the guys will pack cameras - lots of them, we want lots of pictures in and out... Safe journey blokes...

Indeed! Who could forget the wonderful discussions we had on the forums here a few years ago... has Barney Rogers made a comeback? Or has Kenyon Ziehl aged very well?

[sloandog]

I hope the guys will pack cameras - lots of them, we want lots of pictures in and out... Safe journey blokes...

Indeed! Who could forget the wonderful discussions we had on the forums here a few years ago... has Barney Rogers made a comeback? Or has Kenyon Ziehl aged very well?

I don't understand ....