Zimbabwe have no space to host Kenya

Kenya's proposed series against Zimbabwe before Christmas has been scrapped after Zimbabwe Cricket said they could not fit it in due to a tight schedule. Zimbabwe, though, have no international matches until January.

"[The] Zimbabwe board communicated last week saying they have a tight schedule hence difficult to host Kenya for the intended three ODIs in Bulawayo," Cricket Kenya (CK) chief executive, Tom Tikolo, told the Daily Nation. "Late January is also a good date since from there we will head to South Africa to prepare for the World Cup [qualifiers]."

Both countries are keen to play more but neither is seen as an attractive opposition by most major teams. Despite this, they have not met in a bilateral series for almost three years, largely because the Zimbabwe board has shown a marked reluctance to agree to games. Critics of ZC claim that it fears being defeated by the Kenyans would increase the pressure on the board.

The last time they met, in January 2006, the series, which was played in Zimbabwe, was drawn 2-2. Kenya won when they faced each other in Nairobi last month .

Zimbabwe recently completed a five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, which they lost 5-0, and their next international fixture currently on the calendar is the opening match of a tri-nation tournament, against Bangladesh, in Dhaka on January 10.