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No clarity on Zim matches
23/10/2007 15:59 - (SA)
Johannesburg - It was still uncertain on Tuesday afternoon whether the Highveld Lions would travel to Harare on Wednesday for a SuperSport Series first-class match against the Zimbabwe national team.
The Chief Executive of the South African Cricketers Association (Saca), Tony Irish, confirmed that player representatives of all six South African franchises had met in Cape Town on Monday to discuss the issue of matches against Zimbabwe.
"I can't at this stage reveal what was decided at the meeting, but you can take it from the fact that the meeting was held that some of the players have concerns about playing against Zimbabwe," said Irish. "We have taken up the issue with Cricket South Africa (CSA)."
CSA General Manager of cricket operations Brian Basson announced on Monday that Zimbabwe would take part in all three domestic competitions in South Africa.
The move to include Zimbabwe in South African domestic competitions was a consequence of a decision taken by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that steps should be taken to improve the standard of cricket in Zimbabwe in order to help that country return to Test cricket.
Had not yet named his team
Basson said that because the decision to include Zimbabwe had been taken so late, Zimbabwe would only play a single round of matches against the six South African franchises. The first-class competition is played on a home and away basis, with each team playing the other five teams twice.
"The franchises will earn points from their matches against Zimbabwe, but Zimbabwe will not earn points in the first-class competition," explained Basson. "However, they will be full participants in the MTN one-day competition and the Standard Bank Pro20 competition.
The Highveld Lions were scheduled to fly to Harare on Wednesday for the match which was due to start on Thursday, but on Tuesday morning Lions coach Gordon Parsons had not yet named his team.
"I'm not sure yet whether we will be going, so I haven't named a team yet," he explained.
The Diamond Eagles are scheduled to travel to Harare next month for a match starting on November 22.
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Rugby
