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Brandon Moyo, b[email protected]

GROUP matches of the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers are set to be free of charge to all spectators.

The tournament is set to commence on 18 June with matches taking place in Harare and Bulawayo. All group games will be free of charge, with payments starting during the Super Six stage.

During the Super Six stage, the general entry ticket will be pegged at US$2 while the grand stand will cost US$5.

In Bulawayo, matches will be played at the city’s ceremonial home of cricket, Queens Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) and final preparation are near completion at both facilities. In 2018, when Zimbabwe also hosted the Qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup in England, entry for group stage matches was free.

Group B, which has Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, Oman and the United States of America (USA) will play their matches in Bulawayo while Group A matches will be played in Harare. Group A is made up of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Netherlands, West Indies, Nepal and the hosts, Zimbabwe.

Apart from the free entry, a number of local schools are set to benefit through the Cricket for Good initiative where each team will be assigned a school which they will be working with, teaching them cricket and in return, the school will support the team during their matches.

In Bulawayo, for the first time, all matches will be televised across both stadiums. Just 17 days are remaining until the start of the much-anticipated global showpiece. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) promised yet another memorable tournament. – @brandon_malvin