Kenya's new coach: Roger Harper

It has been a long time coming, but the Kenya Cricket Association have finally named a coach to take Kenya through to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. The 42 year old West Indian is expected to take up the reins later this month having resigned as coach of the West Indies U19 team earlier this week. Born in Georgetown, Guyana, Harper will bring home ground knowlege to Kenya's World Cup campaign, as well as experience at both Test and One Day International level as both player and coach.
Renowned as one of the best fielders of his generation (possibly one of the reasons he was chosen as Kenya's new coach), he made his international debut against India in 1983. In his ten years as a Test cricketer, he took 46 wickets with his off-spin, and hit over 500 runs. In One Dayers, he took 100 wickets and had a batting strike rate of 73%, though only averaging just over 16.
Harper has had coaching experience with the West Indies at senior level, so knows what it takes to compete at the top level in both One Day Internationals, and in the longer forms of the game. He may have the experience and credentials as a coach, but this assignment will not be an easy one. Almost six months after the removal of the old KCA administration, Kenya are still without any fixtures against Test nations. Even the proposed ODI series in Bangladesh in February now seems in jeopardy. Harper could be the best coach in the World, but unless Kenya get more matches against both the other 5 Associate members and the Test nations, it will mean little. A lack of experience will result in a poor World Cup, and no ODI's will mean that Kenya will remain off the bottom of the One Day table.
Maybe Harper's connections with the West Indies could yield some matches, maybe the ICC will persuade the Test Nations to play some matches against us. In the meantime, the KCA need to arrange as many fixtures against the other 5 Associates as possible to give Harper the chance to show what he can do.
Good luck Roger Harper - we will watch the developments with interest, and still a little hope!