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players getting a standing ovation and welcomed by heart-thumping, brain-blowing music.
If the launch was anything to go by, then the on-field action should have the same high standards as the likes of Chris Gayle, Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes will bring a highly competitive feel to the country’s most popular cricket tournament.
Although fans will be keen to see their international heros in action, they will be hoping that their local heroes will come to the party and put in some quality performances as well.
The overcast conditions currently prevailing will most definitely encourage teams winning the toss to put the opposition in to bat especially in the morning games.
Surely the organisers would have considered the fact that late November, early December, is traditionally the beginning of the rainy season and that the risk of matches being washed out may become a very real and worrying factor.
Be that as it may the spectators not only have the international players to look forward to, but the addition of an electronic scoreboard and big screen will keep them glued to their seats, especially the big screen, as run outs, stumpings and fours and sixes will now be viewed by each and every fan in the ground.
What will also be an interesting observation is how the local players will be used.
Will all the international players and in particular the batsmen bat ahead of the Zimbabweans simply because of who they are and where they come from?
For example, Charles Coventry, who is comfortably the country’s cleanest striker of a cricket ball, will probably be batting as low as number seven or eight because of the powerful batting line up the Matabeleland Tuskers have. Let us also hope that the cricket lovers understand that the third edition of the Stanbic T20 is not just about one certain well built left-handed opening batsman, who is a truly world-class star, but that it is about each and every player trying to ensure a brighter future for Zimbabwe cricket.