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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
DERBYSHIRE County Cricket Club have announced they will tour the majestic Victoria Falls during their three-week pre-season camp in Zimbabwe.

The tour comes as a huge boost for diplomatic re-engagement, domestic cricket and sports tourism.

The side is leading the way back into Zimbabwe for the English County Cricket Clubs who are returning here for the first time in 23 years.

Led by former Zimbabwe captain and coach Dave Houghton, who is their head of cricket, Derbyshire will face a Zimbabwe Select side in two T20 matches, two 50-over games and two three-day fixtures at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.

The touring side, which will later be joined by another club Durham County Cricket Club later in the month, will be hosted by the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Melanie Robinson at a reception ceremony set for tomorrow evening.

Derbyshire are touring the country for the first time.

Apart from the scheduled tour of Victoria Falls, they will also be involved in community activities in Bulawayo where they will spend most of their time.

“The Derbyshire are travelling to begin the 2020 pre-season tour of Zimbabwe, in partnership with Briggs of Burton,’’ the club said.

‘‘The squad and coaches will be based in Bulawayo for most of their three-week stay, where they will play a total of six matches, across three formats, against strong opposition. The team will also intersperse regular training sessions with community-focused activities and training sessions with local clubs, as well as a visit to Victoria Falls.

“The players will return to Derby on Sunday March 29, three weeks before the County Championship opener against Leicestershire at The Pattonair County Ground.”

Derbyshireare one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. They have a professional set-up that their Zimbabwean counterparts will be looking to tap into during the next three weeks.

They have in their ranks players like Sean Abbott, an Australian all-rounder who has represented his nation in both the ODIs and T20Is. Derbyshire will play two T2Os against the Zimbabwe Select this Saturday and Sunday.

This will be followed by the one-dayers on March 17 and 19 and then they will wrap up the tour by playing two three-day games later in the month.

All the matches will be played in Bulawayo. Durham are also expected to join in during the course of the month.

Durham, who toured Zimbabwe in the 1991/92 season, will play two three-day matches against the Chairman’s XI at Harare Sports Club in the capital.

The club is home to South Africa international Farhaan Behardien and England’s 2019 World Cup-winning team players Ben Stokes and Mark Wood.

The last English county cricket side to officially visit Zimbabwe was Worcestershire in March-April 1997.

The visit by the two clubs, which comes as Zimbabwe vigorously push for re-engagement with the Western countries, is a massive boost for cricket and diplomatic relations between the countries.

Durham 2020 pre-season tour match schedule

Tomorrow: Evening Reception with British Ambassador to Zimbabwe

Saturday: T20 vs Zimbabwe Select XI

Sunday: T20 vs Zimbabwe Select XI

Tuesday March 17: 50-Over match vs Zimbabwe Select XI

Thursday March 19: 50-Over match vs Zimbabwe Select XI

March 21 – 23: Three-Day match vs Chairman’s XI

March 25 – 27: Three-Day match vs Zimbabwe Select XI