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Mukudzei Chingwere Sports Reporter
BEFORE departing Harare for Bulawayo with the Zimbabwe national cricket team, the pilot of their plane, wrote on Twitter rallying the players to hoist the nation’s flag high in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup qualifiers.

Pilot Merna Cremer, the wife to Chevrons skipper Graeme Cremer, joins an expectant nation hoping the national side secure World Cup qualification on home soil.

Ten teams, including Zimbabwe, will be vying for the remaining two World Cup slots during the qualifiers to be played from March 4-25.

Naturally, Merna is Graeme’s number one supporter and she tweeted imploring the players to make the nation proud.
“So great to have the coach, captain, team on board, delivering them safely to the City of Kings. All the very best, this is our soil, this is our home. Do your country proud,” tweeted Merna.

Skipper Graeme talked of his delight to have his wife as pilot for an important assignment assuring the nation they are aiming to make them proud.

“Yes she is my wife hahaha, it is something that is very special for me, it is very impressive for her to be part of us, and it is actually very nice to me,’’ said Cremer.

“It is not the first time she has flown me (but) this time we got really excited, definitely, it gives us confidence going into the qualifiers.

“We are going to put all our energies into the qualifiers and hope for the best.’’
Their warm-up match against Ireland was called off on Monday because of a wet outfield at Queens Sports Club.

“It has just been the weather that has been distracting us but we hope to do well and qualify for the World Cup,’’ said Cremer.

“We are looking forward to playing in front of our home fans and the guys are raring to go.”
The Chevrons are in Group A and will play Nepal, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Scotland.

Meanwhile, the ICC yesterday wished Zimbabwe fast bowler Tendai Chatara a happy birthday after he turned 27.

‘’He took his maiden Test five-wicket haul in Zimbabwe’s famous victory against Pakistan in 2013 and has 103 wickets for his country across all formats. Happy Birthday to Tendai Chatara!’’ the ICC tweeted.