Ireland Tour Of Zimbabwe Called Off Due To COVID-19 Concerns

Cricket Ireland on Monday has said that Ireland tour of Zimbabwe scheduled to take place in April has been called off due to the Covid 19 pandemic reasons. Zimbabwe and Ireland are two of the upcoming nations when it comes to cricket and this will be a big setback for the teams. Zimbabwe has reported more than 34,500 infections and more than 1,300 deaths from the novel coronavirus.

Ireland was scheduled to travel to Harare on March 28 ahead of a three-match Twenty 20 international series followed by three one day international series. The Ireland tour of Zimbabwe will now be rescheduled to take place on a later date while the pandemic concerns get better in time. With the T20 World Cup coming up in October, both the teams will be looking to play as many as series to pick their best team.

“We’re Obviously Disappointed” – Richard Holdsworth

Ireland’s high-performance Director, Richard Holdsworth has expressed his disappointment over the Ireland tour of Zimbabwe getting cancelled but added that he was not surprised by the decision to call off the tour. He appreciated the Zimbabwe board for their efforts and willingness to conduct the tour as much as possible but concluded that the safety of the players being more important now.

“We’re obviously disappointed, but to be honest, it is not an unexpected announcement from our Zimbabwean counterparts,” Richard Holdsworth, Ireland’s high-performance director, said.

“We appreciate their efforts and willingness to try and make the tour possible, but in the end the health and safety of players and support staff must be of primary consideration,” he added.

Alternative Fixtures To Prepare For T20 World cup

Richard Holdsworth added that they are looking for alternative fixtures during that period to prepare for the T20 world cup this year in India. He told about giving his players the volume and quality of cricket to keep the momentum going and added that he expects an update on Wolves tour.

“We’ll now look at whether alternative fixtures can be arranged during that period, which is a crucial windown in advance of a busy home season and in a T20 World Cup year. This places greater importance on the proposed Ireland Wolves tour in February/March given the need to provide many of our players the volume and quality of cricket we need to keep the momentum in player development we have been seeing over the last few years. We expect to be providing an update on the Wolves situation in coming days,” Richard Holdsworth added.

The Ireland team has a busy home schedule with three teams touring the nation this summer.