zimfan
May 27, 2012, 03:03 PM
After the conclusion of the Stanbic Twenty20 series late last year, cricket fans have virtually been of good and competitive cricket. Then, news broke out that South Africa would be playing five T20 matches against Zimbabwe in preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup, which will be held in Sri Lanka in September.
Even though the five matches will be classified as warm-up games, the players would benefit immensely from playing these matches as the two sides will also be in the same group as Sri Lanka.
The problem was that a lot of fans, who can't be at Harare Sports Club, would have been left out of the party given that the matches were not going to be televised. But the arrival of Bangladesh on the scene, after they requested to be part of the extravaganza, changed everything because the triangular event will now be televised.
Zimbabwe have been hard at work in camp since May 2 and both Brendan Taylor and Prosper Utseya were involved in a T20 match which saw an All-Star XI take on a formidable Asian XI in Canada recently.
The rest of the team, however, are at a disadvantage as they have been out of action since their forgettable tour of New Zealand way back in January/February. In contrast, the Proteas, who had a very successful tour of New Zealand in the same conditions of the Land of the Long White Cloud where the Zimbabweans were humiliated, have had a number of players who have been active, performing consistently well in the Indian Premier League.
So Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will have their work cut out for them when they take on AB de Villiers when the series gets underway next month.
Zimbabwe"s provisional squad of 24 has some new faces as well as some of the familiar faces.
The new faces have forced the selectors to sit up and take notice after some good performances in the Stanbic Twenty20 series, which also featured a strong international flavour.
It may also be worthwhile having the domestic T20 competition played in August this year instead of November/December.
This will give the players a chance to play a fair amount of Twenty20 cricket before jetting off to Sri Lanka for the World Cup in September.
Even though the five matches will be classified as warm-up games, the players would benefit immensely from playing these matches as the two sides will also be in the same group as Sri Lanka.
The problem was that a lot of fans, who can't be at Harare Sports Club, would have been left out of the party given that the matches were not going to be televised. But the arrival of Bangladesh on the scene, after they requested to be part of the extravaganza, changed everything because the triangular event will now be televised.
Zimbabwe have been hard at work in camp since May 2 and both Brendan Taylor and Prosper Utseya were involved in a T20 match which saw an All-Star XI take on a formidable Asian XI in Canada recently.
The rest of the team, however, are at a disadvantage as they have been out of action since their forgettable tour of New Zealand way back in January/February. In contrast, the Proteas, who had a very successful tour of New Zealand in the same conditions of the Land of the Long White Cloud where the Zimbabweans were humiliated, have had a number of players who have been active, performing consistently well in the Indian Premier League.
So Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will have their work cut out for them when they take on AB de Villiers when the series gets underway next month.
Zimbabwe"s provisional squad of 24 has some new faces as well as some of the familiar faces.
The new faces have forced the selectors to sit up and take notice after some good performances in the Stanbic Twenty20 series, which also featured a strong international flavour.
It may also be worthwhile having the domestic T20 competition played in August this year instead of November/December.
This will give the players a chance to play a fair amount of Twenty20 cricket before jetting off to Sri Lanka for the World Cup in September.