2023-2031 FTP news, updates, etc

[Googly]

For 20k a month or whatever disgusting salaries these blokes draw they should be doing a lot more.

All Hail Dave!!

[secretzimbo]

It begs the question why these crazy new ideas like adding depth and playing more cricket weren't tried before
I'm not sure how they take credit for bog standard stuff that should be ongoing and if they've failed to have done it before why are they still there? I mean what's changed that they are now doing the absolute bare minimum to keep us alive, and on top of that having the audacity to try and take credit for it.
We have fallen so far behind its mind numbing.

Has anybody heard any further news about Gary Ballance?
I guess his arrival is not imminent. It would seem he'll be here at the end of the County season.

So true, seriously. There is a lot going on right now and it feels amazing.... but only because we've been so deprived for so long Yet nobody asks why we haven't had any of this for the past twenty years?!

There's quite a lot of random club cricket tournaments and weekends happening out in the provinces at the moment. The next thing they need to do is maybe publicise it rather than everything being so secretive. someone told me the u19's have been playing red-ball cricket for the past few weeks too. Although the boys that have been invited compared to others left out is as usual rather revealing....

Of all the cretins banking their massive ZC salaries, surely the absolute biggest con of all is whoever they employ to do social media/marketing/PR.

Anyway, back on the FTP.....I really miss Test cricket, man it's been way too long since we've played. This simply has to be resolved.

[sam_ahm]

New FTP is out. Zimbabwe have a pretty poor list of Fixtures against top teams, although the calender itself has enough fixtures it is almost every thing against Ireland, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Big 3 don't play a single series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as always helping, have a couple of white ball series lined up.

WI, NZ, and RSA all i think have just one series.

Here is the link folks.
https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2744666

[zimbos_05]

It's shocking how little we play SA considering how easy the trip is.

Getting a little tired of always playing AFG, IRE and the like.

[Marshmallow]

53odi excluding India and Australia matches
50T20i
23Test

7 away series.
1 Triseries against NZ and SA in Zim.

[TapsC2]

That's not that many games. We might play 20-25 T20s this year alone. Also over 20 tests? Maybe thats what ZC has been preparing for all along with all that red ball cricket I doubt we will play all those, especially since the ICC has given them back control of the funds.

[ZIMDOGGY]

It's shocking how little we play SA considering how easy the trip is.

Getting a little tired of always playing AFG, IRE and the like.

Badly.
I understand why we do, but theres no fun in success against them and makes player comparisons hard.

How can we compare Sikander Raza to Grant Flower for example?
When one only plays Bdesh/Afg over and over, and does well, when the other played top 8 teams.

Beating Afghanistan is nice and makes you feel the way your favourite club side makes you feel when they win a game against a decent side, but when Zim beats NZ/WI/AUS/INDIA/SA/ENG/PAK in a test or series it feels like winning a premiership.

[sam_ahm]

Overall I'm a little disappointed, as we all know all those tests won't happen and most will get replaced with ODIs Or T20s. Moreover it is like playing Ireland and Afghans in a loop with Bangladesh also a frequent opponent.

One pleasent thing to see in this FTP overall is the return of Tri-Series'. Zimbabwe involved in one of those with NZ and RSA.

But yeah if we do get all those tests, it will be great!

[CalZim]

June/July 2025 is the big one, test series against SA and New Zealand.

I really hope those go ahead.

I have missed test cricket, seems forever ago since our last match.

[Mr Twig]

The biggest surprise for me is no incoming tour from India, unless India (and Australia) are counting these upcoming ODI championship games as part of this FTP cycle. EDIT: Reports suggest they're being counted in this FTP cycle.

In the end, Zim are playing every other full member (except England of course) and the fixtures are reasonably spread out over the 4 years in all formats. It's about as good as we can get until performances hopefully improve.