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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) has announced that they will be hosting South Africa UndeR-19 Emerging as part of their early preparations for the 2026 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup that the country will co-host alongside Namibia.

The two Emerging schoolboy sides will play five one-day matches with all games taking place at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. The five-match one-day series will run from this Friday to Sunday next week.

The opening game of the series will be on Friday and the other games will be played on September 22, 25, 27 and 29.

The Zimbabwean side will be under the tutelage of head coach Elton Chigumbura who said the forthcoming matches are crucial as they are meant to assess their strength as a team.

The former Chevrons all-rounder added that despite the fact that the global showpiece will be in 2026, it was good for his boys to know what kind of opponents they will be up against.

Elton Chigumbura

“This tour is very important for us as it will give us an indication of where we are as a squad. Obviously, we still have 16 months to go but it will be a good test for the players to see the kind of levels they will be facing when the Under-19 World Cup comes,” said Chigumbura. 

In a statement, ZC said the Zimbabwe Under-19 Emerging squad for the series was picked during Zimbabwe Cricket’s Under-17 Week held in Harare last month and it is yet to release the squad. 

Chigumbura said they are looking at giving the players as much game time as they possibly can so that the youngsters get used to their home conditions.

“The boys we have selected are very talented but we need to polish one or two things and I am happy with what we have done so far in line with our preparations for this tour. Also, going forward, we will be focusing on getting more game time and we have planned over 100 games from now until the next Under-19 World Cup in 2026.

“There will be lots of games, both local and international so that the boys get the necessary experience. So, we are looking forward to it and I am sure it will be a very good preparation for us as we will also be trying to get used to our home conditions ahead of the global tournament in our own country,” said Chigumbura.

The series come after South Africa Emerging toured Zimbabwe for a multi-format series that included two four-day games and three one-day matches last month. The matches were all played at Queens Sports Club. – @brandon_malvin