10 June,2011 08:30 AM IST | | AFP
Construction work will begin at Victoria Falls early next year on what promises to be a spectacular new Zimbabwe Test and ODI cricket ground after the local council granted planning approval.
It will be the third Test arena in the country after Harare Sports Club and Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
These are due to stage matches against Bangladesh in August, including one Test in Harare, following Zimbabwe's return after six years absence to the game at top level.
Australia's Glenn McGrath at the Victoria Falls in Harare, 1999, where a
cricket stadium is soon to be constructed.Pic/Getty Images
The new ground is designed to attract additional local and international visitors on top of those already drawn to one of Africa's premier tourist destinations.
It will also be a second home ground after Queens for the Matabeleland "Tuskers," one of five first class provincial sides recently established into a first class league.
The new ground is to be sited close to the Gorges, deep ravines gouged through millions of years, which take massive volumes of water from the 100 metres high Falls down into Lake Kariba, formed in 1958 by a hydro-electric dam across the Zambezi River.
These are regarded by many white-water enthusiasts as providing among the best rafting in the world. In addition to staging Tests and ODI's, the expectation is that other cricket teams will be attracted, in particular English representative and county sides, who were occasional tourists in previous years.
Zimbabwe Cricket CEO Ozias Bvute and former captain Alistar Campbell confirmed the council approval. ufffd
