The Sunday Mail
Veronica Gwaze
ZIMBABWE women’s cricket coach Adam Chifo has welcomed the inclusion of Rwanda to the Lady Chevrons tour to Uganda next month, saying that it will give his charges more game time.
The proposed triangular series involving hosts Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe has been turned into a quadrangular following the late inclusion of Rwanda.
“We are very happy with the latest addition of Rwanda to our trip to Uganda as it will give more games to play and a bigger platform to assess our progress,” said Chifo.
“All these three teams are formidable sides, which means we have enough pressure on us and leave little for complacency,” he said.
The quadrangular series, slated for April 4-12, comes as part of the team’s preparations for World Cup cricket qualifiers in May.
Zimbabwe recently won the right to host the preliminary leg of the ICC World T-20 qualifiers for the African region, which will be held from May 5-13.
Nine African nations are expected to converge in the capital, with matches spread across Harare Sports club, Old Hararians and Takashinga cricket club.
Chifo said he will leave no stone unturned as Zimbabwe seeks to utilise home advantage and make it through to the next round of the qualifiers.
“We are focusing more on skills and physical fitness and the preparations are going on well.
“After the Uganda trip, we hope to be in a position to identify our strengths and weaknesses both as a team and as individuals.
“From there, we go back to the drawing board and focus on the areas that need fine tuning,” he said.
Chifo is most certain to have one eye on his squad and another on the hosts who, in the past, have proven to be tough customers for the Lady Chevrons.
“We cannot say Uganda is stronger than us, even though we have lost to them in the past.
“We lost due to unforced errors, on our part, and losses of concentration.
“Ï am happy this time, we got a longer camping period, giving us more time to work on such areas, and the hope is that we will see a payoff soon.
“We are still a work in progress but I am happy, we are getting there by the day.
“By the time we face them (Uganda) we will be fully primed,” said the coach.
