Zimbabwe invited to play in South Africa domestic tournaments

The Zimbabwe national side has been invited to take part in this season's South African domestic competitions according to The Star newspaper. But they will not, as reported elsewhere, take part in the main domestic competitions.

The South Africa board are set to offer Zimbabwe the role occupied by Namibia last year and participate in the lower tier of provincial matches, the SAA Provincial Challenge. It is also first-class, but the three-day matches involve the 12 South Africa provinces' amateur teams. Brian Basson, Cricket South Africa'sSA's director of playing affairs, confirmed to Cricinfo that the invitation was not for the top-tier tournament.

"I am hoping to expose the young players to this level of competition because this is good for the development of the game on our side," Robin Brown, the Zimbabwe coach, told the Harare-based Herald. "I am not yet sure of the sides that we are going to play but our first game will be next weekend in Bulawayo and we are going to play six matches with the top two progressing to the semi-finals.

"The tournament games are played on a home and away basis and we are going to play the first three games before the Christmas holidays then the other three next year."