'Funding issues’ lead to cancellation of Zimbabwe Women’s tour of Ireland
What’s the story?
Clearing the air on the absence of the Zimbabwe Women's team for a bilateral series against the Irish women on Sunday, the Cheif Executive of Cricket Ireland said that the tour had been cancelled by the Zimbabwean board, stating 'financial issues' at the last minute.
In case you didn’t know…
The Zimbabwe Women’s team were scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20 matches from 3rd of July to 14th of July.
Heart of the matter
The team was scheduled to arrive in Ireland on the 30th of June but the chief executive of Cricket Ireland (CI), Warren Deutrom said in a statement that the tour was cancelled by the Zimbabwe management, for ‘funding issue’.
He said, "We received correspondence late this afternoon from Zimbabwe Cricket in which we were informed that due to a funding issue, Zimbabwe Cricket will not be sending their women's team to Ireland.”
With the World T20 qualification in sight, the series was important for both the teams, but due to the last minute cancellation, the Irish team was left stranded in the middle of nowhere and will now have to decide on fixtures with other nations in a hurry.
Addressing this issue, Deutrom said, ”With the team due to arrive on Sunday, there is clearly no time to find an alternative and, after urgent consultation with the ICC to seek clarification, we regret to confirm the women's tour has been cancelled."
He also added that the men’s tour will go uninterrupted and the Zimbabweans had landed on the Irish soil as scheduled.
What’s next?
With the World T20 qualifiers looming over their heads, the Irish board will now have to look for match-ups with every team possible in order to keep their qualification hopes alive.