3-mob.com 
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the new men’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the next four years.
The 12 Full Members will play a total of 777 international matches – 173 Tests, 281 ODIs and 323 T20Is – in the 2023-2027 FTP cycle compared to the 694 in the current one.
This includes the next two cycles of the ICC Men’s World Test Championship, multiple ICC events and a host of bilateral as well as tri-series action.
Here is how it affects Zimbabwe.
The good
All in all, Zimbabwe will play 109 matches across all formats. 45 of those will be T20I matches, 44 of the One Day Internationals and 20 tests. They play the least number in all formats, although not by a distance. Ireland play 110 and South Africa 113.
The bad
Zimbabwe will not play any of the big three (England, Australia and India) in this cycle. The galling one will be India which is a cash cow for just about any. The majority of matches will be against Afghanistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. With a small amount of test cricket arranged, the ability for Zimbabwe to properly scale up the ranks is limited. Granted, they will play the likes of South Africa, the West Indies and New Zealand in Tests (unless those are converted as some series have been), but given half their scheduled tests are specifically against Afghanistan, you can see what could happen here.
The different
109 matches. That is a lot of cricket. Add to that a home tri-series involving South Africa and New Zealand in mid-2025, it gets very interesting. Zimbabwe has been calling for more matches and their recent performances will see other countries take them slightly more seriously if they carry on with that trajectory. Outside the 109, Zimbabwe could stitch together other bilaterals,so that leaves more room for a blockbuster cricket schedule leading up to the ODI World Cup to be hosted in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia.
Comments
Loading…