Zimbabwe Club cricket news

The national club league starts again this weekend after a three-month break. The fixtures are as follows:

Universals v Harare Sports Club, at Universals Sports Club Old Hararians v Manicaland, at Old Hararians MacDonald Club v Alexandra, at MacDonald Club (Bulawayo) Queens Sports Club v Old Georgians, at Queens Sports Club

The points situation is at present as follows:

20 - Universals, Harare Sports Club, Old Georgians, Old Hararians. 10 - Alexandra, Queens Sports Club, MacDonald Club. 0 - Manicaland.

Old Hararians are the only club with a 100% record; their match against MacDonald Club was postponed at the last minute due to the inability of the latter to field a team. They play the bottom club, Manicaland.

Club previews are as follows, for those clubs it has been possible to contact:

Alexandra are expecting to miss Murray Goodwin, who has a minor elbow injury and whose parents are visiting from Australia, but otherwise expect all their leading players to be available.

Harare Sports Club will be without Stuart Carlisle, on vacation for the weekend, but otherwise both teams should be at full strength.

Old Georgians expect to be at full strength.

Old Hararians will still be without Paul Strang, the loss of whose bowling in particular has been missed, as he is 'a unique spinner in his own way'. Trevor Penney is expected to be back.

Queens Sports Club will miss Heath Streak, who has yet to receive medical clearance but expects to be fit for South Africa, and Henry Olonga, who has a minor injury. John Rennie, however, is confident that they will be able to bounce back.

Universals are not certain of the availability of all their players yet, as they have not had their final net practice at the time of writing.