Zimbabwe Cricket cancel Rising Stars tour at last minute

Zimbabwe
Rising Stars

Zimbabwe Cricket have cancelled their Rising Stars Academy tour to the United Kingdom just three weeks before it was set to take place.

The move is the latest in a string of drastic decisions taken by the board since the failure to qualify for the World Cup.

Flash Sports was appointed in 2017 to act as UK liaison for the Zimbabwe Rising Stars academy and was responsible for all tour matches, fixtures, logistics and accommodation.

Its managing director, Nick Gordon, said: “We received a message from ZC via Tatenda Taibu last night that the academy project and tour was not taking place in 2018.”

“Given that we are three weeks away from the first game and with all fixtures and arrangements in place, it is pretty disappointing timing to say the least. Countless hours have been spent putting things in place and seemingly for nothing.”

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Zimbabwe Cricket sacked the entire backroom team as well as the skipper of the men’s national team after failing to qualify for the 2019 World Cup ostensibly for a failure to meet their stated targets though rumours abound that the cash strapped board could not afford to pay their staff.

Gordon added : “Although we felt ZC had turned a corner with the appointments of Heath Streak as coach and Tatenda Taibu as selector and head of the academy, with recent events it feels like they are lurching from one crisis to another.”

“It is desperately frustrating for us, although I feel more sorry for the players – they are the victims here. Zimbabwe is laden with cricketing talent, but they lack the system and resources to maximise their undoubted potential and, unfortunately, I don’t see that changing in the near future.”

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