zimcricketnews.com

Bangladesh Cricket Board have released the schedule for Zimbabwe's tour to the country in January, with the surprise being the inclusion of a Tri-Series including Sri Lanka. Seems we just can't avoid playing Sri Lanka at the moment... The full schedule is:

Tour Match
Tue 6 - Thu 8 Jan       Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy v Zimbabweans

Tri-Series
Sat 10 Jan      Bangladesh v Zimbabwe
Mon 12 Jan      Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
Wed 14 Jan      Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
Sat 17 Jan      Final

ODI Series
Mon 19 Jan      1st ODI
Wed 21 Jan      2nd ODI
Fri 23 Jan      3rd ODI

All ODIs will be held at at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur; the venue for the first-class tour match is to be confirmed.

Zimbabwe Cricket have confirmed the full intinerary for the upcoming tour by Sri Lanka. The details are:

12-15 November 2008     Zimbabwe Select v Sri Lanka     Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo
17 November 2008        Zimbabwe Select v Sri Lanka     Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo
20 November 2008        Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka: 1st ODI   Harare Sports Club
22 November 2008        Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka: 2nd ODI   Harare Sports Club
24 November 2008        Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka: 3rd ODI   Harare Sports Club
28 November 2008        Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka: 4th ODI   Harare Sports Club
30 November 2008        Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka: 5th ODI   Harare Sports Club

The Zimbabwe side are due to leave for Canada today, but there's confusion over whether the proper visa paperwork is in place to allow the side to travel. CricInfo reports that the Canadian Embassy in Harare has yet to issue visa, citing Canadian government reluctance to allow sporting ties with Zimbabwe at present; but organisers of the Canada Cup maintain that visas were issued on October 3rd (Friday past) and that the team will be travelling as planned. We'll know for sure soon enough, but if true it's disappointing to see politics raise its head again. It's understood that Bermuda are on standby to replace Zimbabwe should the team be unable to take part.
CricInfo - Confusion over Zimbabwe visas

The schedule has been released for the Canada Cup Four Nations Twenty20 competition, and the sides will face off as follows:

10 October 2008         Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
10 October 2008         Canada v Pakistan
11 October 2008         Canada v Zimbabwe
11 October 2008         Sri Lanka v Pakistan
12 October 2008         Pakistan v Zimbabwe
12 October 2008         Canada v Sri Lanka
13 October 2008         Final

Zimbabwe have been confirmed as taking part in the Canada Cup Four Nations Twenty20 tournament, to be held in Toronto in October, after West Indies pulled out of the contest. Canada, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the other participants. The tourney will be held at the Maple Leaf ground in Toronto between 10-13 October - no detailed fixture list is available yet, but I'll post it once I have it.
CricInfo - West Indies pull out of Canada quadrangular

The tri-series in Kenya has now been confirmed - there had been some speculation that Ireland would face pressure from the Irish Government over facing Zimbabwe, but Cricket Ireland Chief Executive Warren Deutrom has confirmed that they've cleared the series with the Department of Foreign Affairs, and there are no problems with the series being played on neutral ground.

In seperate news, ZC have also released the itinerary for Sri Lanka's visit to the country in November. The tour will comprise one 4-day match, a 1-day tour match and 5 ODIs - full details on our Fixtures page.

CricInfo lists the following fixtures for a tri-series in Kenya, with all matches to be played at the Gymkhana Ground in Nairobi:

Friday 17 October       Ireland v Zimbabwe
Saturday 18 October     Kenya v Ireland
Sunday 19 October       Kenya v Zimbabwe
Tuesday 21 October      Ireland v Zimbabwe
Wednesday 22 October    Kenya v Ireland
Thursday 23 October     Kenya v Zimbabwe

There's no official confirmation of this series yet that I'm aware of, so don't take this as certain.

According to CricInfo, Zimbabwe will tour Bangladesh in early 2009, in a visit arranged outside the Future Tours Programme. The tour will consist of both ODIs and first-class matches.

The tour appears on ZC's outline schedule for the 2008/09 season, which also includes two series against Sri Lanka (at home in 2008, and in Sri Lanka during 2009) and a home series against New Zealand - although that will be subject to the NZ government not taking action to prevent it. Noticeable by its absence is any mention of the visit to Kenya which had been expected to take place before the end of the year, with ZC clearly running scared of being beaten by the "weaker" African side.
CricInfo - Zimbabwe unveil preparations for 2008-09

It's been known for a while that there was a good possibility of Zimbabwe touring Kenya later in the year, either as a bilateral tour or as part of a tri-series with Ireland, who are visiting Kenya for the Intercontinental Cup fixture in October.

Last week, CricketEurope posted fixtures for a tour by Zimbabwe in November, featuring one 4-day match and 4 ODIs, set for the 12th - 23rd November, while several press agencies reported that a tour had been agreed for October. Cricket Kenya have since denied that any fixtures have been agreed, with CricInfo reporting the denials:

A Cricket Kenya source admitted even if ZC agreed to visit, there was no guarantee that the Kenyan government, which has been vociferously critical of the excesses of the Mugabe regime following March's presidential elections, would allow the team to enter the country. At a recent summit of African leaders, Kenya's prime minister Raila Odinga called for Mugabe to be suspended from the African Union until he allows free and fair elections.

So don't believe what you read just yet.
CricInfo - Kenya denies Zimbabwe tour agreed
CricketEurope - Kenya Playing Schedule June - December 2008

The itinerary has been agreed for Pakistan Academy's tour of Zimbabwe. The matches will be against an as-yet-unnamed ZC Board XI.

The tour will consist of 2 four-day matches and 3 one-dayers, as follows:

23-26 August    1st 4-day match         Harare Sports Club
29 Aug - 1 Sept 2nd 4-day match         Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo
4 September     1st 1-day match         Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo
7 September     2nd 1-day match         Harare Sports Club
9 September     3rd 1-day match         Harare Sports Club