This Weekend's Domestic Cricket

NAKURU:

Sunday April 9th: Game 5 of the Nakuru Akshar League sees DIAMOND CLUB take on AKSHAR B with both teams looking for their first win of the tournament. Akshar B lost the first match of the competition to V.O.C while Diamond club went down to Eldoret.

Akshar B will be looking to a better performance from their batsmen who only managed 111 in the last match due to some lusty hitting at the end of the innings from Marvin. Sunil looked the most promising top order batsman for them last time managing a start, an example his fellow specialist batsmen will be hoping they can emulate on Sunday. Akshar's best bowler last match was Ravi who took 4 out of their 6 wickets. He will again be asked to do the damage, though will need support from the rest of the bowlers.

Diamond Club will be looking for the firepower of their bowlers to carry them through. Both Raju and Kakul looked dangerous last match taking 4 wickets each, and they were ably backed up by Vimal. Diamond's batting is not their strong point - other than an unbeaten 17 by Vimal, no one even got a start last match. For most of their batsmen even double figures will be an improvement, but if they can get a half decent total, their bowlers will almost certainly give them a chance to take the game.

Prediction: Diamond to win in a tight match.

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COAST:

There are two days of cricket for Coast fans to look forward to in the Mulji Devraj & Bros sponsored Twenty-20 tournament. On Saturday, Mombasa Sports Club host CCA select in the last of their preliminary matches. Expect MSC to win this one fairly easily, as they have done the last three pool games. Coast Gymkhana B also take on Shree Cutchi Leva in a must-win game for them if they want to progress to Sunday's semi finals and a meeting with their 'A' team.

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Sunday's scheduled Semi-Final matches are:

Winners Group A (Coast Gymkhana A) vs Runners up Group B(C.Gymkhana B or Burhani SC)

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Winners Group B (MSC) vs Runners up Group A (Jaffery/Coast Development).

Favourites to meet in the final would be MSC and Gymkhana A, both having convincingly topped their groups by winning all matches so far.

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NAIROBI:

Who knows? It is not reported on in the online versions of the Kenyan papers, and there is no communication from the NPCA. I'm sure there must be cricket going on somewhere in Nairobi, but I'm afraid unless someone there is able to fill me in, I can't say much about it. If anyone in Nairobi would like to enlighten us, my email address can be found in profiles.

The Task Ahead Of Cricket Kenya

It is always easy for people to sit back and criticise others. I have read a couple of comments and articles recently having a stab at the new administrators of Kenyan Cricket. I thought I would make a check list of the things that faced Cricket Kenya when they took over, so that people could see what was actually being done. Without further ado, this are how I saw their to do list:

• Find sponsorship. So far, they have managed to get on board Ihsan Sports of Pakistan as a kit sponsor. A great effort which has really helped get things off the ground.They still need to bring on board more sponsors, and I'm sure this will come about.
• Get more games for the National side. With the help of the ICC, Kenya have already played more ODIs this year than in the last three. It would be great to have a home series against a Test nation, so plenty yet to be done, but so far the efforts have borne fruit.
• Get a Coach. Done: Roger Harper has been signed, very probably with a view to his home knowlege of the Windies in mind as well as his coaching expertise. I believe Kenya would also benefit from specialist bowling and batting coaches, should finances allow - one of the reasons CK need more sponsorship.
• Set up a Youth feeder program. No news on this as yet. I have my ideas about how this can be helped along, and will be blogging on it in due course. I do know it is something that Samir Inamdar is very keen to see happen, so expect something to be announced soon.
• Set up a National Youth League. part of above, but in itself a huge challenge. Will be a huge stepping stone on the road to success for Kenyan cricket.
• Set up a National One Day League. Again, no news on this as yet. This is going to be the only way to get players from all regions feeding into the national squad and getting a fair chance.
• Introduce a domestic 4-day competition. One thing illustrated by the draw with Holland was that to compete at this standard of the game, Kenya's best players must be playing the longer game more regularly. This means a domestic comp. It will be costly, and will be tough to organise, but must happen if we are going to maintain credibility on the international stage.
• Make use of Kenya 'A' to introduce players to the national team. Something that in the past Kenya have been very poor at is finding a way of taking players from performing well at domestic level to performing well in international matches. The 'A' side is the obvious way to do this, and with the upcoming tour of Denmark, it looks as though Cricket Kenya recognise this. Again, a great start, but it would give the game a huge boost if we could play more 'A' matches against the other Associates.
• Raise popularity of the game. Very hard to judge how this is progressing. I believe an official website would go a long way towards helping this, but there also needs to be a concerted effort to get the print, tv and radio media on side. No small ask. Maybe CK could look at employing a promotions officer to raise the profile of the game.

These are a few of the more obvious tasks that faced Cricket Kenya when they took over. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that some of them are going to be very hard to achieve, and will take time to put in place. Neither should it be difficult to see how much work has already been done. Of course there is a lot to do - that is generally the case when you inherit a mess, but the important thing is that progress is being made. Critics would do better to ask 'how can I help' and then get off their backsides and do something positive rather than sitting whinging about what they think is not being done. It will take a collective effort to get Kenyan cricket back to what it should be, but a start has been made. With a collective effort, there is no reason this progress cannot be built on to take us all the way.

Kenya Soccer

Having only recently set up this site to support Kenyan cricket, I know some of the factors involved in making it a success. Many others I am still learning, but one thing that has helped me immensly is support from other bloggers. In this spirit, take a look at Kenyasoccer. Their page description says it all really:

All about Kenyan soccer: this site is meant to culture the Kenyan soccer passion; to fill our stadiums; to love our game.

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While I am looking to do exactly the same for cricket, so on some levels am competing, Kenyasoccer has my full support:

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I firmly believe that sport is a way out of poverty for many Kenyans. Certainly we are a nation that has talent at plenty of sports other than long distance running. If this talent is nurtured, we will see Kenyans more and more successful in a wide variety of sports. One of the ways people like me to help this happen is to blog about it and raise awareness. If my blog gets just one more player involved in the game, or one more spectator to a match, it has not been a waste of time. I have a dream that gradually Kenya's sports culture will grow into a dominant force. There is a huge amount of money to be made by sportsmen and women around the World and the greater our sporting culture and support of our talent, the more of this will make it back to Kenya. My site is to help this happen through cricket, but if Valedon helps do this for soccer, then Good Luck to him.

Summary of Kenya vs Holland on Cricket Europe

Rod Lyall, who brought us the over by over updates from Nairobi Gymkhana during the match looks back on the draw between the two teams. Not surprisingly, the main focus is on the European side. It is a well balanced article however, and he makes some good points about the performance and future of both sides. Well worth a read.

Results From Coast Twenty-20 Tournament

Mombasa Sports Club are through to the semi finals of the Coast Twenty-20 tournament sponsored by Mulji Devraj & Bros Ltd. Their win against Burhani SC on 25th of March confirms them as easy winners of Group B. MSC batted first, and set a total of 151, losing 9 of their wickets in the process. BSC in reply finished their overs only having lost 2 wickets, but still 34 runs short. I imagine some of the lower middle order batsmen would have had something to say about that. BSC are now looking as though they may miss out on a semi final's berth having also gone down heavily to Coast Gymkhana B this weekend. Batting first, they only managed 81 runs all out. Gymkhana B strolled to victory with no loss of wickets. Gymkhana B had one match against the CCA Select team washed out, so will need to beat Shree Cutchi Leva in their final group match on Saturday to go through to the semis.

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Group A should also have seen some action, but neither of the scheduled matches was able to go ahead. Coast Development were awarded a walkover against Jaffery on the 25th, while their match against Siri Guru Singh Sabha was washed out over the weekend. Coast Gymkhana A were already confirmed as topping the group having previously beaten each of the other sides, but it will be interesting to see who goes through in second place. Jaffery have beaten SGSS, but by dint of the walkover concede a loss to the Development side. If any points are awarded for an abandoned match, it may well be that the development side will get through despite not actually having won a game on the pitch. Cue the complaints from Jaffery supporters…

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With the top two teams from each group decided, the semi finals set for Sunday should be as follows, with the least likely qualifier in brackets:
Mombasa SC vs. Coast Development/(Jaffery)
Coast Gymkhana A vs. Coast Gymkhana B/(Burhani SC)

The most likely outcome from this is a MSC - Gymkhana A final, but we shall await the results with interest.

Thanks to Hervinder Singh Sohal for the update.

Tikolo First To 1000 runs in Intercontinental Cup

After Steve Tikolo's fantastic effort to stave off the Dutch in Nairobi last week, he is now averaging exactly 125 in the Intercontinental cup. His unbeaten 212 also makes him the first batsman to reach 1000 runs in the competition. He does it comfortably too, the next closest is JP Bray on 578. Tikolo went into the match against Holland with the following figures:

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Matches: 5 Innings: 9 Not outs:1 Runs: 788 High Score: 220 Avg:98.50

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His updated figures will read:

Matches: 6 Innings: 10 Not Outs:2 Runs: 1000 High Score: 220 Avg: 125

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This is a fantastic achievement, especially considering the last innings was made under immense pressure. It further underlines his quality as a batsman, and shows that he still has plenty left in the tank for Kenya. Unfortunately, little or no mention has been made of Steve's efforts in the Kenyan press. How a self respecting sports editor can let this slip by with barely a comment is beyond me. It should have been put up in lights, not let slide by. It shows how much work Cricket Kenya face in not only righting the ship after the last administration, but in regaining and growing the public interest. Those who know about cricket in Kenya can do their bit by telling their friends, and encouraging them to learn about the game. There are other Steve Tikolo's out there waiting to be found. The administration by themselves do not have the means, but if everyone got just 1 person down to watch the next game, or even better to start playing, it would be a huge step in the right direction.

Ghanshyam Bowls Akshar A To Big Victory in Nakuru

Thanks to Shailesh in Nakuru for the update.

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Tournament favourites Akshar A registered their first victory from their very first outing in the Akshar League in Nakuru when they took on VOC in the 4th game of the competition. VOC had already accounted for Akshar B in the first game, so the result was important to Akshar if they wanted their title credentials to be taken seriously. Winning the toss, Akshar A surprisingly decided to bat on a slightly damp wicket, and VOC bowlers straight away took advantage of the morning mist and dew by bowling full and allowing the ball to swing. Akshar A lost their first wicket to the very first ball when Divyang was bowled by Ketan by a ball that swung prodigiuosly. VOC struck again in the second over and kept on applying pressure. In return, the Aksar A batsmen counter attacked by playing shots in an attempt to spread the tight field.
Pardip and Mandip added 20 runs in 2 overs, until they both fell victims to some good bowling. Again Batuk finding himself among the wickets. Akshar A were reeling at 5-82 when the captain, Jogesh was joined at the crease by Dilip. In an effort to consolidate, they saw off the first ten overs, and then started to attack the bowlers. They put on a 77 run partnership for the 6th wicket and steered the innings away from any further collapse.
As the day progressed and the sun dried the pitch, it became easier to bat, and the lower order chipped in with some lofty hitting in the final overs. Akshar A finished with 7-248, a sizeable score from their 45 overs.

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In reply, VOC were never in the hunt as wickets fell at regular intervals and the batsman had no answer to Ghanshaym's pace bowling. He took 6 wickets for the match, 3 of which were clean bowled. A fantastic effort from him, and ensured that Akshar A earned maximum points, while restricting VOC to bowling points only. Akshar will have left the pitch full of confidence for the rest of the season. VOC have been brought back down to earth after their early win, and will be looking to improve in the remaining matches, especially their batting.

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Akshar A Innings
Divyang.......................Bowled.............Ketan...........00
Pragnesh.....................Ct Dipak..........Batuk...........02
Pardip.........................Ct Khilan..........Naren..........17
Mandeep.....................Bowled.............Batuk...........08
HArshil.......................Ct Naren...........Manish........27
Dilip............................Ct Sagar...........Jayesh..........33

Jogesh........................Ct Sagar............Shanti..........25
Drruv..........................Bowled..............Shanti..........06
Deval..........................Not out...................................34
Ketan..........................LBW..................Batuk...........11
Ghanshyam...............Ct Batuk.............Manish........15
Extras........................................................................70
Total All Out.............................................................248
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VOC Innings
Naren......................Ct Mandeep......Ghanshyam....03
Ketan......................Ct Pardip...........Ghanshyam....00
Jayesh Snr.............Ct Mandeep........Dilip...............08
Dipak......................LBW..................Ghamshyam....00
Batuk......................Bowled...............Ghanshyam....04
Shanti.....................Bowled...............Ketan..............03
Jayesh Jnr..............Bowled...............Ghanshyam....03
Sagar......................Bowled...............Ghanshyam....04
Vishal.....................Ct & B................Jogesh.............02
Kavit......................Ct Pardip............Ketan..............00
Khilan....................Not out.......................................00
Extras.........................................................................21
Total..........................................................................48

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Points Standings after 4 games:

TEAM............Plyd....Won....Lost....Bat....Bowl....Win....Total
VOC................2.........1..........1..........1........8..........12..........21
KERICHO.......1.........1..........0.........4........4..........12.........20
AKSHAR.A.....1.........1..........0.........4........4..........12.........20
ELDORET.......1.........1..........0.........1........4..........12..........17
DIAMOND.....1.........0..........1.........0........4..........0...........4
NAIVASHA....1.........0..........1.........0........3..........0...........3
AKSHAR.B.....1.........0..........1.........1.........2..........0...........3

Voting Closed For Bangladesh Series

Voting has now closed for your choice of the best player for Kenya in the final ODI vs Bangladesh.

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Results were:

Steve Tikolo - 56%, Tanmay Mishra - 18%, Collins Obuya & Tony Suji 9%, Peter Ongondo & Alfred Luseno 2%.

Mishra's polling surprised me somewhat for this match, but those were the results, so the primart points awarded are:

Steve Tikolo - 3, Tanmay Mishra - 2, Peter Ongondo - 1, Tony Suji - 1.

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Thanks to those who voted, and remember to vote for your best players against Holland in the Intercontinental Match.

Kenya Secure Draw In Nairobi

After Holland's huge first inning total, Kenya were never going to be able to win this match. Looking at the score at the lunch on day three one would have been forgiven on putting money not only on Holland taking the 6 points for the first innings, but the 14 on offer for the win as well. Kenya were not going to take home any points for the match, but had to aim to restrict how many the Dutch could take. The heroics on the third afternoon from Tikolo, Ongondo and Modi did exactly that. By passing 325, they forced holland to have to bat again, and thus effectively saved the match, and the Dutch from gaining the extra 14 points. It was not the result that we were hoping for at the beginning of this match, and it leaves us with a huge amount to do in the next two fixtures against Canada and Bermuda, but it is a fantastic effort in the circumstances. Well done again to Tikolo and his support acts for their defiance.

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Sadly, none of the online daily papers chose to recognise what was one of the best ever innings by a Kenyan, certainly that I have had the pleasure to follow. Batsmen making huge scores, and fighting hard to defend their countries from similar fates in Test matches earn huge accolades. The Intercontinental Cup is at the moment the closest Kenya can get to this level, and the effort to avoid the follow on deserved to be seen and praised for the superb achievement it was. I don't think there is another non-Test playing batsman out there that could have achieved what Tikolo did, and even many of those that do would find it a task beyond them. Steve Tikolo is one of the greatest sportsmen our country has seen and his effort deserves the respect of those who write about Kenyan sport.

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Holland chose to bat out day four rather than go for a declaration and attempt for a win. Steve Tikolo used the opportunity to give his young bowlers a good run. Ashish Karia and Rajesh Bhudia were the pick. Karia bowled 12 overs, 5 maidens, 27 runs and added 1 wicket to his two from the first innings. Bhudia bowled 8 overs, 6 maidens, 5 runs and 1 wicket. Great stuff from the two youngsters, they have both firmly underlined their claims for a permanent place in the side this match. Brijal Patel, Tanmay Mishra, and Tony Suji also all took a wicket as Holland were restricted to 5-202 by the close of play.

The full scorecard can be found on Cricket Europe who covered the match live and also cricinfo.

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While the last day was a bit of a quiet one after the first three, Kenya can come away feeling that they did well to avoid defeat. For some, it will have been a huge learning experience, and coach Roger Harper now knows how much he has to get the team to improve before they take on Canada away, starting on July 29th. Hopefully, Cricket Kenya will be able to organise some sort of domestic competition in the interim to give any potential players a better feel for the 4 day game. Credit to Holland, who played well above expectations. They can look forward to their next matches against Canada and Bermuda with confidence. For Kenya, it needs to be a rebuilding phase over the next few months and beyond. Kenya has the latent talent to become a great cricketing nation, we now know how far away that dream is, and what we have to do to achieve it. There are some good youngsters coming through already without a proper structure to nurture them. It is imperative that a feeder system is set up to coach youngsters from an early age, give players from all regions a fair opportunity and keep good players involved in the game, and help them step up to the senior level. For the administration, there is hard work ahead to put this in place, and also keep up the momentum with the senior squad. For the players in, and on the edge of the national team, they must work harder than ever before to refine their skills and prepare for their next assignment. It will be tough, but we can, must, prevail.