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Ray Mali, the International Cricket Council (ICC) president, believes Zimbabwe will be at the top of the ICC One-day International (ODI) championship table if the current team is allowed to remain intact for the next three years.

Mali told the Zimbabwean Herald on Tuesday: “The programmes that they (ZC) have will, I believe, take cricket far and it has been demonstrated by what we saw over the last three one-day games, especially on Sunday when Zimbabwe was almost there. And I believe these boys — if they are given a chance to play for the next three years as one unit — they will be at the top of world rankings”.

“It is not a dream; I believe it can be done. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will have to continue exposing these boys to higher class, intensive cricket all the time. Zimbabwe Cricket will have my support, they will have the support of ICC with this type of cricket that has been demonstrated over the last few days,” he added.

Mali, the former head of the South Africa board, heaped praised on the current ZC leadership, saying they have managed to have a sustained developmental programme that will ensure a constant supply of talent.

Mali was in Zimbabwe for a six-day working visit to familiarise himself with the happenings inside Zimbabwean cricket. He returned home on Monday afternoon along with the South African team.

Source:Cricket News