Afghanistan’s proposed tour of Zimbabwe has been called off due to a disagreement with regards to the broadcast of the series.
Afghanistan were due to take on Zimbabwe in a five-match ODI series as part of their preparations for the 2019 ICC World Cup in England with the clashes set to take place in Harare between April 18 and 28.
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Zimbabwe Cricket had initially agreed to share the cost of hosting the five-match series. However, Zimbabwe’s insistence on streaming the matches instead to save costs has not gone down well with the Afghans who wanted the series to be broadcast live on television.
“Although the two boards had agreed to share the tour expenses, the prohibitive costs of broadcasting the matches live on television – which the ACB was insisting on – unfortunately derailed the proposed series,” Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement.
Afghanistan were due to play five ODIs in Zimbabwe.
With the tour now called off, Afghanistan will have to make do with ODI clashes against Ireland and Scotland in England to prepare for the 2019 World Cup. The Afghans are due to play two ODIs each against both Scotland and Ireland in May this year before taking on Pakistan and England in their World Cup warm-up matches.
The Afghans open their World Cup campaign against Australia on June 1. The team has recently concluded an ODI series against Ireland at Dehradun which ended at 2-2. The two sides will now square up in a one-off Test which begins at Dehradun on March 15.
The clash will be the second Test in history for both sides who made their respective debuts in the format last year.
