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The final of the 2017 Pakistan Super League will be held in Lahore, according to PSL chairman Najam Sethi, who made the announcement during the player draft in Dubai on Wednesday. The remaining matches in the tournament will be played in the UAE in February and March 2017 as scheduled.ESPNcricinfo had reported in August that the PCB had asked the Punjab government to initiate a process to stage the match in Lahore, which will likely be played on March 9. The Punjab government has reportedly given the PCB permission to host the match and has alerted security agencies to take necessary measures.”The second edition of the PSL, with five teams in the competition, will be more successful and the final will be held in Lahore,” Sethi, who is also the head of the PCB executive committee, said. “International players know what we can do; most of them are ready to come to Pakistan and play. We have signed players with a condition that if their team reaches the final, they will have to go to Lahore and they have all agreed.”It will be a fly-in, fly-out plan and the government has promised to give full security to the players. We are convinced that the final will happen in Lahore.”On Wednesday, 414 players were placed in the draft for the second edition. The five franchises signed on 17 new players between them, including former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan. McCullum went to Lahore Qalandar, while Morgan was signed by Peshawar Zalmi.Earlier this year, the PCB bought four bulletproof buses as part of its effort to provide the “best possible arrangements” in terms of security for players visiting the country. The PCB relies heavily on the government for security arrangements for visiting teams and the bulletproof buses, first proposed during the chairmanship of Zaka Ashraf in 2012 and sanctioned last year, were bought as an additional safety measure for teams travelling within the city.Pakistan has been untenable as an international venue ever since terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Zimbabwe became the first Full-Member nation to visit Pakistan since that incident, but the ICC refused to send its match officials for the series in May 2015.Pakistan then appointed their own match officials, and hoped the Zimbabwe series would serve as a stepping stone to revive international cricket in the country. That ambition, however, suffered a setback when a suicide attack took place near the Gaddafi Stadium during the second ODI. Zimbabwe played the third and final ODI two days later and completed the tour, but the PCB failed to convince any other side to visit the country since.

Scorecard1:17

Mixed feelings about missing out on record – Gugale

An immense record – the highest partnership in all first-class cricket – could have been broken at the Wankhede Stadium if Swapnil Gugale, Maharashtra’s stand-in captain, had been aware of what he and Ankit Bawne were on the verge of achieving. Their third-wicket stand of 594 was just 30 short of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jaywardene’s record, when Gugale declared Maharashtra’s inningsMaharashtra had amassed 635 for 2 before the captain – Gugale was leading the team for the first time – decided to give his bowlers five overs at the Delhi batsmen before stumps. He had struck his maiden triple-century – his 351 was the seventh highest score in the Ranji Trophy – and Bawne’s 258 was his first double-century.Gugale said he was made aware of how close they were only after he switched on his phone after play. “I had nearly 100 missed calls and 200 messages,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “It was only as I went through them one by one did I realise we were 30-odd short of the world-record partnership in first-class cricket. So there’s a tinge of regret. Maybe I could have declared after the record, but the decision was mine alone so I can’t complain.”Maharashtra had begun the second morning on 290 for 2 with Gugale and Bawne – on 152 and 120 – having added 249 on the first day. By the end of the innings, Gugale had batted 521 minutes and struck 37 fours and five sixes, while Bawne batted 500 minutes, hitting 18 fours and two sixes. They had added 345 on the second day.” (The Delhi team asked us, ‘aren’t you bored? We are bored of bowling to you guys.’ I said, ‘who gets bored of batting?'”This is a batting beauty to be honest,” Gugale said of the surface. “If you can see off the new ball, batting is a lot easier. If we could bat 170 odd overs, I’m sure we have to be prepared to bowl at least 120 overs. That said, scorecard pressure is a different thing. As a batsman, noticing 600 runs on the scoreboard, it is always in the back of your mind. Even if you are playing, you obviously have to score at a proper rate and that’s not easy on this track. It is a third-day track, you never know when the ball might spin or bounce.”Gugale and Bawne batted together for close to nine hours and put on the highest partnership in the Ranji Trophy, surpassing Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad’s 577 for Baroda against Holkar in the 1946-47 final. They had begun with Maharashtra 41 for 2 in the first hour after opting to bat. Gugale also joined Hazare, BB Nimbhalkar and Kedar Jadhav to become only the fourth triple centurion for Maharashtra.It was a significant knock given the circumstances. Gugale had made 11 and 25 in a six-wicket loss to Jharkhand in their Ranji Trophy opener last week, and Maharashtra’s captain Jadhav was unavailable for the second round after being picked in India’s ODI squad for the series against New Zealand. Maharashtra didn’t have a ready replacement. Rohit Motwani, who led them to the final in 2013-14 and to the semi-final a season later, had fallen out of favour.”I was told of the captaincy on the eve of the game,” Gugale said. ” I have a good previous record as captain at Under-19 and Under-25 level. It was a proud feeling as I was not expecting this considering I’m still less than 20 matches old. It was very early. I’ve been a regular for just three seasons. I was surprised, but very happy. Maybe I’ll realise the pressures of captaining only when we are out on the field making things happen. For now it’s all too pleasant.”Frustration has been a common theme in Gugale and Bawne’s careers. From once being considered certainties for India U-19, both were surpassed by their contemporaries. Gugale missed selection in 2010 despite scorching the age-group circuit while Bawne, set to captain India at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup, was pulled out because of a discrepancy in his age, which he says was because of carelessness of the agent who got him his passport. Since then, while they have gone on to make careers with Maharashtra, they have not had any higher recognition.On Friday, Gugale said “everything changed.””I hope this knock pushed me onto the next level in the first-class scene,” he said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling. As cricketers, you want to be recognised. But it’s only when you are recognised that it sinks in. So I’m enjoying this attention. My family and friends have gone crazy. I heard our feat was talked about a lot on Twitter too. The phone hasn’t stopped buzzing. It feels like I’m celebrating Diwali one month early.”

Cricket Ireland has suffered another blow in its attempts to find a manager for their national academy after Toby Radford left after little more than a month in the role.Radford’s departure follows Chris Adams’ u-turn over the job after he was initially handed the position only to change his mind two days later for family reasons. Radford’s decision to leave is also down to his personal circumstances.Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said: “We are naturally very disappointed to be losing Toby so quickly. Fortunately it is a quieter period of the year where most players are resting after the season.”Clearly our experience in the few months of recruitment for this position has been a challenge, particularly in relocating. We shall look at the position again and have an in-depth review of our human resources around the Shapoorji Pallonji Academy in order to get to the right outcome.”Radford said: “It has been a very difficult decision for me to make. For family reasons, I feel I have no alternative but to move back to the UK to be with them. In my short time in this role with Cricket Ireland I have been very grateful for the positive attitudes, warm welcome and generosity of all the staff and players.”I have written a new Academy template and Programme for next year’s Cricket Ireland Shapoorji Pallonji Academy intake, and would have dearly loved to be here to implement it. I wish Cricket Ireland every success with its continued drive for attaining ICC Full Member and Test Match status.”

Hanif Mohammad, the original “Little Master” who played the longest innings in Test cricket, has died at the age of 81. He had been undergoing treatment for respiratory complications from his lung cancer in Karachi’s Aga Khan hospital. Late on August 8, he was shifted to the ICU and placed on a ventilator. Hanif was diagnosed with the cancer in 2013, for which he received treatment in London.Hanif played 55 Tests, including Pakistan’s first. Imtiaz Ahmed, 88, and Waqar Hasan, 83, are the only two survivors from that team. Hanif was renowned for his immaculate defensive technique. He scored 3915 runs at an average of 43.98. His best was an epic 337 as Pakistan saved the Barbados Test in 1958 while following on. It was the longest first-class innings then. At 970 minutes, it is still the longest Test innings.Hanif also held the record for the highest first-class score, 499 which he made for Karachi against Bahawalpur in 1959. The record stood for 35 years before Brian Lara surpassed the record by scoring 501 for Warwickshire against Durham.Hanif was born in Junagadh in the Indian state of Gujarat. He and his four brothers moved to Pakistan after partition; four of the five brothers played Tests while Raees, the fifth, was a 12th man once. At least one of the Mohammad brothers played in Pakistan’s first 101 Tests. Hanif’s son Shoaib played 45 Tests and grandson Shehzar 30 first-class matches. In 2010, a Cricinfo jury chose Hanif as the opener alongside Saeed Anwar in the all-time Pakistan Test XI.After retiring as an international cricketer, Hanif co-founded the magazine in 1972, which he edited for two decades. He also served as the manager of the formidable Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) team, which won the domestic one-day tournament, Wills Cup, three years in a row in the 1980s.ICC’s chief executive David Richardson paid tribute to Hanif, pointing to the impact that his triple-century against West Indies had. “It’s sad to hear of Hanif’s death and I’d like to extend my condolences and those of everyone here at the ICC to Hanif’s family, which counts so many cricketers in its number,” Richardson said in a press statement. “Hanif took batting to great heights and many batsmen drew inspiration from him.”His contribution to the game has been enormous and one can only imagine the kind of impact his batting had on others over the years. Hanif’s triple-century against the West Indies was a legendary innings and unsurprisingly he was one of the original inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.”

ScorecardPaul Stirling’s century eased Middlesex to victory•Getty Images

Paul Stirling and Eoin Morgan both scored attractive hundreds as Middlesex eased to a comfortable six-wicket victory against Kent in the Royal London One-day Cup at Lord’s.Stirling hit 112 and Morgan 103 not out as Middlesex chased down Kent’s 50-over total of 238 for 7 with 5.1 overs to spare, but also central to the home side’s success was the brilliant bowling of new-ball pair Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh.Finn, a fearsome prospect particularly in an intimidating opening spell, finished with 2 for 31 from his ten overs while Murtagh even bowled a maiden, his third, in the 46th over of Kent’s innings on his way to figures of 2 for 28.Irishmen Stirling and Morgan put on 214 in 39 overs for the third wicket after Ryan Higgins edged Matt Coles’s first ball to first slip in the second over and Middlesex were reduced to 16 for 2 when Nick Gubbins was caught behind off Mitch Claydon in the fifth over.When Stirling eventually fell, chipping Joe Denly’s leg spin to short extra cover, only nine more runs were needed for victory. Morgan saw Middlesex home at 239 for 4, despite the further loss of George Bailey to Coles. Both Stirling and Morgan struck a six and 13 fours.Both teams came into this South Group tie with two wins from four matches but, for such an important game in the eight-fixture group stage, both also had to do without two players chosen in the England Lions squad for their Tri-Series against the Pakistan and Sri Lanka A teams.Kent’s total, though below-par, was almost entirely due to a fighting third-wicket stand of 135 in 26 overs between Sean Dickson, whose 99 from 126 balls was a career-best in what was only the 24-year-old’s sixth List A appearance, and the veteran Darren Stevens, who scored 61 off 70 balls.Finn deserved more than just the scalp of Kent captain Sam Northeast in a blistering new ball spell of 6-2-13-1. Running in hard from the Pavilion End, he beat Dickson several times early on and almost had him caught at midwicket from a miscued clip off his pads.Northeast, on 2 and trying to work a fast, rising ball to leg, succeeded only in lobbing it back at Finn, who moved to his right and leapt high in his follow-through to take the return catch.Murtagh was also a handful in his own impressive and probing opening spell of 8-2-26-1, and the seamer had Denly lbw for 4 in the third over of Kent’s innings. At 12 for 2, when Finn sent back Northeast, it looked as if Kent – with the England Lions pair of Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam Billings missing from their top order – were in big trouble.It was a moot point, and one not lost on Kent supporters, whether Bell-Drummond and Billings, despite his magnificent 175 for the Lions against Pakistan A at Canterbury, would have learned more as prospective senior England batsmen had they instead been up against the fiery Finn and the wily Murtagh. Certainly, Kent could have done with Billings’ capacity for explosive run-making in a match central to both teams’ ambitions of earning quarter-final qualification.Middlesex followers, meanwhile, were wondering about the absence from their attack of Toby Roland-Jones, with the in-form fast bowler left out of the Lions team, led by Dawid Malan, chosen to face Pakistan A.Somehow, Dickson and Stevens managed to see off Finn and Murtagh and, against the change bowlers, they began to build their fine partnership. An extraordinary upper-cut six off a suffering James Fuller by Stevens, with a vertical bat, helped to change the momentum of the innings.Stevens also drove Ollie Rayner’s off spin straight for six while Dickson played some quality strokes including a classical off drive for four against left-arm seamer James Franklin and a reverse-slapped boundary against Rayner.When Stevens slog-swept Rayner straight into deep square leg’s hands in the 32nd over, the 40-year-old all-rounder slumped down on his bat in disappointment and Finn’s return, to bowl the 36th and 38th overs, brought Middlesex right back into the game.Dickson, having edged Finn through a vacant first slip to go to 99, chopped the next ball into his stumps and only Alex Blake, with 23, and Callum Jackson, who hit Fuller over long on for six in a 24-ball unbeaten 28, made much impression after that.

Sophie Ecclestone, the uncapped Lancashire left-arm spinner, has been named in England Women’s 15-member squad for the three-match T20 series at home against Pakistan. Her Lancashire team-mate, Kate Cross, however, was left out. Kent left-arm seamer Natasha Farrant, who was not picked for World T20 as well as the ODI series against Pakistan, replaced the injured Anya Shrubsole.Ecclestone and Farrant are the two changes to the squad that swept Pakistan 3-0 in the ODI series. Ecclestone, only 17, is the second left-arm spinner in the squad behind Alexandra Hartley, who made her international debut against Pakistan in the third ODI in Taunton. She is yet to play a T20 international.

England Women’s squad for Pakistan T20s

Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Natasha Farrant, Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Alexandra Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones (wk), Laura Marsh, Natalie Sciver, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt

“The T20 series brings a new set of challenges and further opportunities for the players, and I’m really pleased to call-up Sophie Ecclestone for the first time, and to welcome Tash Farrant back into the dressing room,” Mark Robinson, the head coach, said.”Sophie brings youth, vitality and another left-arm spin option alongside Alex Hartley into the squad. We have two world-class offspinners in Danielle Hazell and Laura Marsh, but we also need to be aware of the talent that we have underneath, and making sure that we are developing the likes of Alex and Sophie, by having them in the group and giving them international match-day experience.”Robinson said that it was a “real shame” that seamer Beth Langston missed on of selection again, because of injury. “She worked tremendously hard during the winter and had a great tour to Sri Lanka with the England Women’s Academy, but unfortunately hasn’t been able to get involved so far this summer because of her ankle,” he said.Robinson also said that Cross was still in the side’s plans, despite being overlooked for the Pakistan T20 series. “Kate Cross has been left out of this squad to face Pakistan, but we do see her as a Twenty20 bowler moving forwards,” he said. “There is no reason why she can’t be an outstanding bowler across all formats of the game, and we feel that there’s a window now where we can do some focused technical work with her away from match situations to help get her ready to perform at her best in the Kia Super League next month.”The T20 series begins with the first match at the Brightside Ground in Bristol on Sunday.

Whatever happens in the tri-series final, West Indies captain Jason Holder is proud of his men. He is proud that the No.8-ranked ODI side has reached the decider against the No.1-ranked Australia, knocking out the No.3-ranked South Africans. He is proud that his men beat Australia along the way, too, for the first time since 2012. He is proud that his players have fought through fitness concerns to get the job done.Holder himself tweaked a hamstring in the loss to Australia in Barbados on Tuesday, but three days later ploughed through 10 overs straight against South Africa to collect 1 for 33 and help propel his team into the final. Shannon Gabriel picked up a groin niggle against South Africa but claimed three key wickets and is expected to play in the final. Denesh Ramdin hurt his shoulder earlier in the tournament but fought on.Senior players have led from the front, Marlon Samuels with 92 and 125 against Australia, Darren Bravo with 102 against South Africa, Sunil Narine with eight wickets in the first two games, Kieron Pollard with a vital half-century in the knockout game against South Africa. And if West Indies can win on Sunday it will continue an excellent 2016 in which they lifted the World T20 trophy in India.Darren Sammy was in charge of that particular outfit, but Holder is very much considered the man who will lead West Indies for the foreseeable future, and a series win under his guidance would be a significant boost.It would also help strengthen their position on the ICC rankings. West Indies will not be part of the 2017 Champions Trophy as they missed qualification by slipping to ninth at the cut-off date. Qualification for the 2019 World Cup is the next big deadline, and to automatically qualify West Indies would need to still be inside the top eight on the ICC’s rankings on September 30 next year. If they were to slip outside the top eight, they would have to play for World Cup qualification at a tournament in Bangladesh.”I’m extremely proud,” Holder said. “A lot of the guys have been struggling with some niggles and it’s just good to see the guys fight through it. We know the importance of this series and the importance of moving up the rankings. We’ve been criticised in the past for being stuck at No.7 and No.8. It’s important we keep making strides forward.”All I can urge is that the guys stay together. If we can keep this core group of players together, maybe make one or two changes or additions as we go abroad on tours, but I think it’s important for West Indies cricket that we keep a core group of players together and move forward with these guys, identify who we want to take forward and hopefully get the backing of everybody around us and keep these guys together.”Holder hopes for a stronger top-order performance in the final at Kensington Oval, after his men slipped to 21 for 4 against South Africa on Friday and 31 for 3 against Australia three days earlier. However, the way West Indies fought back from both situations to post totals of 280-plus earned the respect of Australia’s captain Steven Smith, who knows Holder’s men will never give up.”I thought the West Indies scrapped really well,” Smith said. “We had them 3 for 30 in our game and they managed to get 280, and then yesterday 4 for 20 and they got 280. They scrapped incredibly well to get that score and it’s always going to be tough to chase.”The bowlers did the job again as well. [Shannon] Gabriel was very good, he started well, he bowled good pace consistently and put the batters under pressure and took early wickets. It looked like a pretty polished performance by the West Indies.”Australia will likely field six of the same XI who triumphed in the World Cup final at the MCG last year – Smith, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.”We have another final and I think Australians really step up in finals,” Smith said. “I think we haven’t played our best cricket so far throughout this series. Having said that, all you want to do is make it to the final and from there you want to be playing your best cricket. We haven’t had a polished performance yet, so it’d be nice to have that tomorrow.”One man the Australians will need to counter effectively is Samuels, who has struggled against them for a decade and a half but has been Man of the Match in his past two games against them in this series. After his 125 on Tuesday, Samuels observed that Australia’s verbal approach towards him inspired him to stay in the middle as long as possible.”He’s obviously been in pretty good nick this series, particularly against us scoring a 90 and a hundred,” Smith said. “We’re going to have to get him out early if we want to have success tomorrow […] Hopefully we can just let our actions do the talking.”

ScorecardBrad Wheal celebrates a wicket during what little play was possible•Getty Images

If you sit in the Ageas Bowl for a Championship match when the crowd is made up of a few hundred people you can hear the steady whir of the motorway just a few hundred metres down the road; a reminder that cricket or no cricket the rest of the world continues as it always has done. Things are happening, people are moving.At 3.46pm on this bleak September day, with the square and pitch under covers and the floodlights on, the dull drone of the motorway was interrupted by the tannoy system at the ground crackling into life to announce the other scores from around the country. The cricket in Southampton may have been halted by dank rain and miserable light but elsewhere life went on, and so too did cricket.Few things can have been more galling for Hampshire and Yorkshire, both sides desperate to play in search of crucial points at the top and bottom of the table, than to hear the scores from Chester-le-Street and Edgbaston called out as they looked out over thousands of empty seats and a pitch totally obscured by covers.As the PA completed his round-up, through Old Trafford, Derby, Wantage Road and Chelmsford, the scores echoing around the ground were replaced once more by the din of the motorway and the sound of rain on the covers. “That was about as frustrating as it has been all year today,” Yorkshire’s captain Andrew Gale said, after play was finally called off for the day at 5.36pm with just 19 overs of disjointed cricket possible in which Yorkshire added 74 to their overnight lead.It is strange really. Moments like Ryan Sidebottom’s wicket of Sean Ervine on day two of this match feel significant in the arc of the season. Yet days curtailed by rain and bad light such as this often do not. Perhaps that’s because this is sport and we look to moments that happen as opposed to don’t happen. Yet with Middlesex looking to force a result in Birmingham and Nottinghamshire and Durham collecting valuable points in their match, days like this in Southampton – when possible wins become likely draws, points appear to slip away and ground is lost – can shape entire seasons.Equally, a team’s ability to turn days such as these to their own advantage can be season-defining too. Whisper it quietly but it is an ability you would expect to find in champions.Heading into the final day Yorkshire lead by 202 runs with eight wickets remaining. Despite this truncated third day, all four results are still possible and both teams are aware of the possibilities that a Yorkshire declaration could present. It is that time of the season when disparate matches all around the country suddenly appear to intertwine; the season’s tapestry finally coming together.”It is in Yorkshire’s hands,” Hampshire’s director of cricket, Giles White, admitted. “They might view it that they’d like to force a result which might open the door for us but it is for them to make that call. They’ll have to weigh up what is happening with Middlesex at Edgbaston. They’ll have a think how long it’ll take them to bowl us out and make a call from there whether it is worth risking five points for sixteen.”Would Gale take that risk? “We will try and accelerate the game forward to get a result,” he said, “but we are not going to throw it away at this time of year.” How many runs did he feel they would want? “I’ll sleep on it,” he said, and with that he was gone, turning his back on a day of frustration.

Bharat Arun is the new bowling coach of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of IPL 2026, the franchise confirmed on Wednesday. Arun’s new role brings an end to his four-year tenure as a bowling consultant with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).Arun is likely to have an expanded role within the LSG set-up – responsible for scouting and overseeing the year-round development of their young quicks.”It’s an honour to join the Lucknow Super Giants, a franchise that reflects professionalism, ambition, and vision at every level,” Arun said in a statement. “My conversations with Dr. Sanjiv Goenka and the management were incredibly energizing – there is a clear intent to invest in young Indian talent and build a long-term legacy.”What excites me most is the vision for long-term development. LSG has invested in a young, talented, and dynamic group of Indian fast bowlers – Akash deep, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Akash Singh – and I see immense potential in each of them. My mission is to help shape them into a cohesive, fearless, and tactically sharp pace unit that can challenge the best batting line-ups in the world.”LSG are also set to bring in Carl Crowe as spin consultant. Crowe is credited to have helped Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine in their bowling reinvention during his time at KKR. LSG are likely to make a formal announcement soon.Arun’s role was previously managed by former India pacer Zaheer Khan, their team mentor in IPL 2025. LSG failed to make the playoffs and finished seventh.Related

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At KKR, Arun was originally contracted for three years, before he was offered an extension for another season that took him up to the end of IPL 2025, where KKR finished eighth.Arun’s exit is part of a wider support-staff overhaul at KKR. On Tuesday, the franchise had announced that head coach Chandrakant Pandit had chosen to part ways with the team. At the time, there was no formal announcement of Arun’s exit.Arun comes with a solid body of work, having had two fruitful stints with the Indian team, first from 2014-2015 and, more recently, from 2017 to 2021. In between, he was also part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) backroom between 2015 and 2017.

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) head Tavengwa Mukuhlani has been appointed chairman of the Africa Cricket Association (ACA) after serving in the same role in an interim capacity since November last year. Mukuhlani was unanimously appointed by the 23 ACA member associations at their annual general meeting in Singapore on Friday.”We stand today at the threshold of a new era for African cricket – an era defined by stronger governance, broader opportunity and renewed ambition,” Mukuhlani said in a statement issued by ZC. “Let us continue building on the progress we have made, united by a common purpose and driven by a shared love for the game.”The ACA, which includes two Full Members in South Africa and Zimbabwe, has recently been through an administrative overhaul, which has included the adoption of a new memorandum of incorporation to ensure better governance.Related

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Among the body’s next tasks is the establishment of an Africa T20 competition, which has been in the works for several years, the resumption of the Afro-Asia Cup, which was mooted last year, and the inclusion of cricket at the Africa Games in Egypt in 2027 after it debuted at the same competition in 2023.Cricket made its first appearance at the continental competition in Ghana, where Zimbabwe won both the men’s and women’s events (the men’s with an emerging side) as South Africa sent experimental sides instead of their full-strength teams.Mukuhlani is interested in extending cricket’s reach at the Africa Games, in part, with the hope of securing more funding for the ACA. “These engagements are crucial not only for visibility but also for opening new doors of investment, policy support and continental collaboration,” he said.Mukuhlani has been ZC’s chair since 2015 and has been re-elected three times. He also sits on the ICC’s finance and commercial affairs committee.In his tenure, ZC has worked its way out of debt, navigated an ICC suspension for government interference, and got the women’s team on the future tours programme.The men’s team, however, is not part of the World Test Championship and failed to qualify for the last two ODI World Cups and last T20 World Cup, but will play in the 2027 50-over World Cup, which Zimbabwe will co-host with South Africa and Namibia. Zimbabwe will also co-host the 2026 men’s Under-19 World Cup with Namibia.