THE International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Trophy arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday via the Victoria Falls before it was taken to Harare later in the day.
KEVIN MAPASURE
The iconic trophy — which will be contested for early next year in a tournament that will be played in New Zealand and Australia — was paraded in the resort town by three Zimbabwe senior players, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya and Hamilton Masakadza.
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) chairman Wilson Manase was among a delegation that also included Victoria Falls mayor Sifiso Mpofu that received the trophy which was accompanied by ICC media and promotions officer Eurjt Singh.
ZC managing director Wilfred Mukondiwa was also present.
The trophy has already been to eleven other countries that will participate in the 2015 showcase.
Manase said that they had made a deliberate move to take the trophy to Victoria Falls in their effort to market the game in that town.
“This is an iconic trophy so we decided to bring it to the iconic Victoria Falls,” said Manase. “This is a very important place in Zimbabwe and in our effort to promote sports tourism; we want to grow the game in this town. We have taken this opportunity to bring some of the senior players here so that we can inspire the youngsters to take up the game of cricket.”
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ZC is pursuing efforts to build a 10 000-seater cricket stadium in Victoria Falls and mayor Mpofu was grateful that ZC had chosen Vitoria Falls as the entry point of the World Cup trophy.
“We want to thank ZC for choosing Victoria Falls as the first port of call for the cricket World Cup Trophy,” said Mpofu.
“The move has helped raise the profile of our town even higher and we wait for the day that we will see the team in action in this town.”
The trophy will be paraded in Harare today and the fans will get a chance to catch a glimpse as well as some photo opportunities. Zimbabwe has been placed in Group B with neighbours South Africa, Pakistan, India, West Indies, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Elton Chigumbura-captained side opens their account with a match against South Africa on February 15 in a day and night match.
