The Covid-19 pandemic has come in the way of what was supposed to be, for a change, a fairly busy international calendar for Zimbabwe. The country’s premier batsman Brendan Taylor called it “extremely frustrating”.
They don’t get to play as frequently as most of their Full Member counterparts do, but 2020 was supposed to be different for Zimbabwe with assignments against Ireland, Afghanistan, Australia, India and the Netherlands lined up.
They began the year with a home Test series against Sri Lanka and followed it with a full tour of Bangladesh. “Personally, this break is not doing us any favours,” Taylor was quoted as saying by Zimbabwean weekly The Standard.
“I feel we are a team that needs to be playing more often; we’ve always been starved of cricket. This year we had a full schedule of international cricket, but that’s now been jeopardised by this pandemic. So it’s extremely frustrating and hurtful times.”
He added: “But there are people out there losing their lives and their loved ones to this terrible virus, so at the end of the cricket is not so important anymore, is it?” he said. “As sportspersons, their focus now should be on helping the less privileged sections of society get through the pandemic.
“I think it’s a time where, as players, we can be a little more proactive, setting up GoFundMe pages trying to help the old, the homeless – that’s a big issue in our country,” he said.
“When this virus comes to an end it will be nice to support local business, restaurants and other areas that are in desperate need and that’s where as players we are very lucky to be in a position to give back.”
