×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Afghan release Zim tour schedule

Sport
THE Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) yesterday released the schedule for their maiden tour of Zimbabwe starting on July 18.

THE Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) yesterday released the schedule for their maiden tour of Zimbabwe starting on July 18.

DANIEL NHAKANISO

The series, which will mark the first, will be the first time Afghanistan are hosted by an ICC Full Member board for an international series, and will include four one-day internationals (ODIs) and two four-day matches against the Zimbabwe A side.

In a statement, ACB officials said the series between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe was organised after long efforts by the cricket board of Afghanistan.

“The Afghan team was also supposed to play a number of Twenty20 matches against Zimbabwe. However, the decision was later changed as ODI and four-day matches were considered vital in a bid to prepare for the ICC World Cup 2015,” the ACB officials said in a statement released by an Afghan news agency Khaama Press.

“The ODI matches are scheduled to be organised on 18th, 20th, 21st and 24th of July, while the two ‘Test matches’ (four-day games) will be played on 27th July and 2nd August.”

The ACB chief executive Noor Mohammad Murad said the upcoming series against Zimbabwe was a major event for the Afghan team.

Murad said the series has been organised with the aim to prepare the Afghan team for the ICC World Cup 2015.

For Zimbabwe, the tour by Afghanistan is expected to go a long way in helping the Andy Waller-coached side which will play South Africa in a one-off Test match from August 9 before engaging the Proteas in three ODIs.

Australia, who will be travelling to Zimbabwe for the first time in a decade, will then join the hosts and South Africa for a one-day triangular series beginning on August 25.

In a bid to help the players prepare for the Proteas and the Aussies’ tour, Zimbabwe Cricket had lined up a tour for the Zimbabwe A side to travel to Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board, however, decided to cancel the tour which comprised two four-day games and three one-day matches, because it coincided with the monsoon season.

The sub-continent nation is currently experiencing heavy rains that make it impossible to play cricket matches.