Australia will break a decade long drought when it tours Zimbabwe for the first time since 2004 in a one-day tournament later this year.
The Aussies will travel to capital city Harare for a three-nation tournament, also featuring South Africa, running between August 25 and September 7 after having last visited the cricket stragglers back in May 2004.
Besieged by mismanagement and corruption, Zimbabwean cricket isn’t exactly in a great place. The nation’s cricketing body has collected millions of dollars from the International Cricket Council for years– despite fielding some of the worst teams on the world stage– on the back of a domestic competition which features frequent player strikes due to a lack of funding.
The tri-nation tournament will see Australia take on Zimbabwe twice, but more importantly, receive a couple of crucial hit outs, plus a final on Sept 7, against quality a opposition in South Africa ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Just two Aussies likely to line up in the ODI tournament will have played in Zimbabwe before- veterans Michael Clarke and Shane Watson. Remarkably, Australian coach Darren Lehmann was still a player during the last tour.
The Proteas will have an extended stay in the African nation; playing a Test match and three additional ODIs in the lead-up to the tournament.
The tournament should at least provide Zimbabwe with some experience against top flight competition- something important for a team so under the pump they allegedly owe $17 million to a local bank.
“We are really excited to have the opportunity to host two strong sides like Australia and South Africa at the same time,” managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket Wilfred Mukondiwa said. “Our players need the high-level competition the two teams will provide, and our fans will enjoy watching the matches.”
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