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NewsDay

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13 months, no Test cricket for Zim

Sport
The Zimbabwe national cricket team will not play any Test cricket this year with their next series in the longest format of the game only coming in January 2019 when they tour Bangladesh.

The Zimbabwe national cricket team will not play any Test cricket this year with their next series in the longest format of the game only coming in January 2019 when they tour Bangladesh.

BY Kevin Mapasure

When Zimbabwe play three Tests against Bangladesh in January, it will be their first after 13 months as they last played against West Indies in Bulawayo between October and November last year.

This year, Zimbabwe only have their T-20 tri-series with Pakistan and Australia which will be hosted in Harare before they take on the former in five one-day internationals (ODIs).

After that, the team will tour South Africa for three ODIs and the same number of T-20 as they begin their preparations for the World T-20 in 2020.

On the Future Tours Programme (FTP), Zimbabwe was scheduled to host Pakistan for Test cricket, but due to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC)’s financial woes, they had to ask Pakistan to defer those matches.

ZC has clashed with players over delay in payment of their salaries and allowances in recent months, a development that has seen some of the players that include former captain Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine not availing themselves for selection ahead of the tri-series.

While this year’s programme is rather thin for Zimbabwe, there will be a lot of action in all formats of the game next year.

In Bangladesh, they will play three Tests and the same number of ODIs, while they also have a scheduled tour of India for a single Test match and three 50-over matches.

They also have an away tour to Ireland for three ODIs and as many T-20s in July before August’s home series Afghanistan where the two will play their first Test match since the later gained full membership.

Added to that Test are five ODIs and three T-20s before the Windies also come in for one Tests and five ODIs to complete the programme for the year.