Kenya’s Irfan Karim trains at the Ruaraka Sports Club on January 2, 2014. Kenyan and Ugandan national teams will be in New Zealand from January 13 to February 1, to compete in the 2015 Cricket World Cup qualifier. Photo/FILE
What you need to know:
Kenya aims to qualify for their sixth Cricket World Cup appearance and Uganda are hoping to make their debut.
Kenyan and Ugandan national teams will be in New Zealand from January 13 to February 1, to compete in the 2015 Cricket World Cup qualifier.
Kenya will be trying to rekindle their glory by qualifying for their sixth CWC appearance, while Uganda are hoping to make their debut.
Kenya failed to qualify during the first phase of qualification — the 2011-2013 World Cricket League; they finished sixth in the eight-team championships. Ireland and Afghanistan qualified at the league for the 2015 CWC.
The other teams, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia and Canada, were given a second chance to qualify through the New Zealand tournament.
The six teams have been joined by Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong, who finished third and fourth in the 2011 World Cricket League Division Two. Also in the qualifier are Nepal and Uganda, who finished first and second in the 2013 World Cricket league Division Three.
Kenya will be under pressure as they have to finish in the top four in order to uphold their Full One-Day International Status, a status they have held since 1996.
Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, The Netherlands and Papua New Guinea are in Group B while United Arab Emirates, Scotland, Canada, Hong Kong and Nepal are in Group A.
Only two teams from the qualifier will go to the CWC, where the 10 Test playing nations — India, Australia, England, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, West Indies and New Zealand — have direct entry.
Kenya has participated in all the CWCs since their historic debut in 1996, where they caused a major upset by crushing heavyweight West Indies in one of their matches.
The highlight of Kenya’s performance was during the 2003 World Cup, when they became the first team outside Test Playing nations to reach the semi-finals.
However, Kenya failed to capitalise on their historic run at the 2003 CWC with the team failing to get past the first round during the 2007 and 2011 CWCs.
The national team has had challenges over the past few years: There have been strikes by the players and senior players have left in the past four years, leaving the team with underexposed juniors.
Since 2005, Kenya has had five coaches — Mudassar Nazar (Pakistan), Roger Harper (West Indies), Eldine Baptiste (West Indies), Mike Hesson (New Zealand) and Robin Brown (Zimbabwe). In December, batting talisman Steve Tikolo came out from retirement to be named coach for the 2014 Twenty20 and the 2015 Cricket World Cup qualifiers.
Return of the seniors
Some senior players have now returned to the national team. They include all-rounder Thomas Odoyo, Jimmy Kamande and Lameck Onyango. The team also has former pace bowler Martin Suji as the technical advisor.
Suji, a former international all-round player, said the return of the senior players to the team will help instil maturity, discipline and confidence in the youngsters.
“We must return the value of the green shirt. We must value the national team colours; that jersey will not be given to just any player,” Suji said. “It will require quality and discipline and that is why we have been called to guide the team on and off the pitch.”
He oversaw the team’s last training session ahead of their departure to the World Cup qualifiers and said Kenya has talent, capacity and strength. Suji attributed the slump of the game in the past two years to players leaving too soon.
“Development is all about a smooth transition. The youngsters needed confidence,” the technical advisor explained.
Kenya captain Rakep Patel said Kenya must qualify in New Zealand.
“We failed to qualify for the 2014 Twenty20 World Cup last year, hence we must atone for that with a good show in New Zealand,” Patel said. “Our first target would be to qualify for the Super Six Stage and then plan afterwards. We shall play every match as if it is a final.”
Suji and Tikolo have been credited with the rise of cricket in Uganda since they took over in 2011. The team had been relegated from Division Two to Three in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings in April 2011.
Last May, Suji and Tikolo steered Uganda from Division Three to Two, following their second place finish in the ICC Division Three World Cricket League championship in Bermuda.
Uganda must now finish among the top eight at the qualifiers in New Zealand to confirm their status in Division Two. This will come with a high performance annual grant from the ICC of $350,000, and Kenya’s stay in top four and qualification for the World Cup finals will get them over $500,000 in grants.
Uganda national coaches Johan Rudolph and Henry Okecho exuded confidence of a great show in the qualifiers. “As long as we can get our top order clicking well and have a few partnerships, the team is guaranteed progress,” Rudolph told Uganda’s Daily Monitor.
Playing for the Ugandan team are regulars like captain Davis Karashani Arinatwe, Hamza Saleh Almuzahim, Richard Okia, Farouk Ochimi, Raymond Otim, Brian Masaba, Phiemon Mukobe, Patrick Ochan, Benjamin Musoke, Duesddedit Muhumuza, Lawrence Sematimba, Frank Nsubuga, Abram Mutyagaba, Roger Mukasa and Charles Waiswa.
