THE International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup Trophy will be in Zimbabwe tomorrow and Wednesday. SPORTS REPORTER
It will arrive in Victoria Falls tomorrow afternoon from Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of the trophy’s tour to all the countries that will compete in the next ICC Cricket World Cup, which will be in Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 15 next year.
“We have organised for the trophy to come through Victoria Falls so that we could help market the holiday resort and do our bit for the fiscus by helping to generate tourism receipts,” Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) managing director Wilfred Mukondiwa said.
In the absence of one-day international captain Elton Chigumbura, who is in India playing for Caribbean Premier League champions Barbados Tridents in the 2014 Oppo Champions League Twenty20 tournament, Test captain Brendan Taylor, former captain Prosper Utseya and senior player Hamilton Masakadza will receive the trophy in Victoria Falls together with ZC chairman Wilson Manase and the resort mayor Sifiso Mpofu.
The trophy will then be taken to the Falls where the three players will be photographed holding one icon with another in the background. The ICC will distribute this photograph worldwide.
The trophy will come to Harare at the end of the day on Tuesday. It will be taken around the central business district at 9am on Wednesday (October 1 2014)and then be put on display at the home of Zimbabwe cricket, Harare Sports Club, from 10am until 4pm that day.
Zimbabwe is the 12th stopover for the trophy since its journey began on July 3 this year. It has so far been to Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, England, Wales, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Ireland and Afghanistan, Pakistan and now South Africa.
After Zimbabwe, the trophy will go to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) then Jamaica and Barbados in the West Indies. After four months round the world, the trophy will arrive in Melbourne, Australia, on November 6 – 100 days before the beginning of the global cricket showpiece.
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Zimbabwe is in Pool B of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup with India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, UAE and the West Indies. Their first game is against South Africa at Seddon Park in Hamilton, New Zealand on February 15.
Some background: the current trophy was designed and produced in London by Garrard and Company for the 1999 champions, Australia. It was the first permanent prize in the global cricket tournament’s history because, prior to this, different trophies were made for each ICC Cricket World Cup.
The trophy is made from silver and gilt and features a golden globe held up by three silver columns.
The columns, shaped as stumps and bails, represent the three elements of the game of cricket: Batting, bowling and fielding, while the globe represents a cricket ball.
The trophy stands 60cm high and weighs approximately 11kg. Names of previous winners are engraved on the base of the trophy, with space for a total of 20 inscriptions.
