Zimbabwe A to take on the Titans?

Following their warm-up games against the senior Zimbabwe World Cup squad this week, plans are afoot for Zimbabwe A to take on the South African franchise side, the Titans, at the end of March.

The Titans are a formidable team who have just recently won the SuperSport Series - South Africa's premier first-class trophy. The Titans squad contains several South African internationals in Paul Harris, Alfonso Thomas, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and the captain, Martin van Jaarsveld.

They promise to be stiff opposition for the inexperienced Zimbabweans, but tours such as these are essential for Zimbabwe to build up a base of experienced players following the recent spate of retirements which led to Zimbabwe withdrawing themselves from the Test arena. Zimbabwe are set to resume Test cricket later in the year.

Speaking on Thursday, Kenyon Ziehl, the chairman of the national selection committee said: "Most of the guys in the side are extremely talented players who are pushing for slots in the national team but still need a bit more time playing List A cricket. The operations department is currently working on a Zimbabwe A programme with prospects of the Titans from South Africa coming down for a couple of games at the end of March.

"There are also plans to invite South Africa A in May and a possible tour to India as the year progresses but the final details of these tours still need to be confirmed.