Sports Bill Set To Ring The Changes

There has been a fair bit of talk recently in the press about the new Draft Sports Bill to be tabled in parliament. At first glance it seems that it will improve the general administration of Sport in Kenya - hardly saying much, but well needed none the less. Part of the bill sets out provisions for a National Sports Lottery that will be used to fund sports in Kenya. I have commented on this before, and my stance remains unchanged: If this is genuinely where the money will go, then fantastic. I believe that the economy would greatly benefit from a stronger and better managed sporting community. One only has to look at the success of sports ventures across the World to see that Kenya, with the talent we have available, should be able to do the same. A vibrant sporting culture can provide a lot of related jobs for all sorts of people as well as just the sportsmen and women involved. My worry is that the money raised by the lottery to fund development will mysteriously evaporate and find its way into bank accounts belonging to those connected with the new Kenya National Sports Board. After all, this sort of thing would not exactly be new to Kenya. Raising extra funds for sport is a great incentive, but for Kenyans to benefit, there must be a regular and transparent public auditing of the KNSB accounts.

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The Standard also points out that the new bill does not have a provision for limiting the tenure of club officials, and in a separate article notes that the new body will "also monitor the transfer of athletes and keep a record of all existing agents. It will also have the sole powers of accrediting foreign journalists covering local sports events." They then go on to mention that there are no provisions for preventing people who know next to nothing about sports administration from being appointed to run it. In other words, the bill could turn out to be yet another vehicle for power hungry men to hijack, and could turn out to do more harm than good.

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The Nation, who broke the story yesterday, tell us that the Bill intends KNSB - the statutory body that will take over the running of sport in Kenya from the Kenya National Sports Council, to have the "powers to approve the registration or deregistration of sports any organisation". Again, this could be a cause for concern. Not least is the fact, already noted in the cricket and soccer disputes, that sport governing bodies around the World take a pretty dim view of government intervention. There is again the possibility that these powers could be abused. Likewise the clause that lays down provision for the imprisonment and fining of sportspeople convicted of certain crimes. I can see where all of these changes could make a difference for the better, and I am not opposing the Bill. What I do want to point out is that it will need to be very seriously looked at, and amendments introduced to prevent things getting out of hand, and the new body simply turning into a more powerful, condensed version of the problem it is proposing to fix.

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On the bright side, there are several positives to the Bill. Perhaps first and foremost is the fact that the government ostrich has taken its head out of the sand and acknowleged there is a problem. What needs to happen now is for safeguards to be put in place so that once the problems are fixed, they are not allowed to pop up again. Also positive is the stated intention for the government to aid in preparation Kenyan teams for international events, and in promotion of grassroots and national infastructure. This has been wanting for some time, especially in some of the team sports. It would certainly make a big difference in Kenya's preparations for next year's Cricket World Cup. The new bill includes proposals for recognition of achievements and tax exemptions for athletes. It aims to aid in development of facilities and in funding training and in encouraging ordinary Kenyans to get involved in sports. These are all fantastic goals, and will make a huge difference in taking Kenyan sport forward, and also raising the general standard of living.

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Taking the optimistic attitude that the neccessary amendments are made and the KNSB has a positive effect, Cricket Kenya needs to be in a position to take advantage once the changes are implimented. Our position in the World Cup is a powerful bargaining tool, as is the fact that Cricket Kenya seem to have sorted out many of the problems the sport had before they took over. Of all sports save possibly athletics, cricket is probably the best placed to make use of available funds at the moment and channel them into development. The 2006 Sports Draft Bill could have a really positive impact on Kenyan cricket, but this will only happen if things are done right.

M.S.C Lose to Visiting Veterans.

A visiting Over-50's side from Devon have registered a convincing win over a Mombasa Sports Club Select XI in a limited-over game last week. Mombasa batted first posting a total of 7-186 from their 40 overs, largely due to 111 from David Waters. The visitors never really looked in trouble, and chased down the target with 2 overs and 8 wickets in hand. Great to see the oldies out and keeping playing. Great effort by David Waters on the century, and also Eames from Devon who finished on 80 not out. I don't know the rest of the Devon team's schedule, but hopefully, they will get to play some other teams around the country as well, though I don't know how many veteran teams can be scraped up in Kenya! The full story can be found here on Coastweek.

Kenya To Tour Uganda

Official confirmation of this is still pending, but it looks as though Kenya will be sending a side to play Uganda in a 3 match One Day series, and a 4-day match at the end of May, beginning of June. According to The People's Daily, the One Dayers will be played on May 27, 28 and 30 and the 4-day game will be from June 2 to 5. BTTW have a list of the 22 man Ugandan squad .

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I have yet to find out what strength team Kenya will be sending, but with a gap in the calendar at this point before the A team travel to Denmark, there is no reason why an almost full side cannot be sent for the 4-day game, unless it will be used to give some of the younger players some match experience. With little four day cricket played in Kenya, it would make sense for the team for this match to include those considered in the running for a place in the Intercontinental Cup squad to face Canada at the end of July. The One Day matches are a different story. As Uganda are not one of the top 6 Associates, there are no points up for grabs that will help Kenya on the ICC rankings table. Kenya's best side should have little trouble disposing of the Ugandans, even taking into account their improvements which by all acounts have been huge. Kenya would get more out of sending a mixed side comprising a couple of players from the National team such as Collins Obuya who need match time to find their form, and young players on the fringes of the National team. It is a great opportunity for these young players such as Moses Otieno, Hafeez Manji and Alex Obanda to show they have what it takes to move up to the next level. Uganda being close, costs for the tour should also mean that a decent sized squad can be sent. It will give the selectors a really good chance to see how players stack up before the A team tour to Denmark.

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As soon as I get official confirmation of the tour, I will update the fixtures list, and nearer the time will open a thread on the Forum. This is exactly the type of tour I was advocating yesterday for Kenya's A side, and is is good to see that the administrators have the same goals in mind. The more tours of this nature, the better the standard of cricket will be once the players taking part step up to play for the National team.

Dalrymple Left Out of England A

The career of Jamie Dalrymple is a something that Kenyan selectors may want to keep abreast of. After all, Jamie was born in Nairobi and so is eligible to play for Kenya until he recieves a full England call-up. He is also only 25, so has plenty of years playing cricket ahead of him. He is currently contracted to Middlesex, for whom he took 3-33 during Kent's first innings of their ongoing Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division One match. He also scored 17 in the first innings. He has however been omitted from the England A squad to play Sri Lanka.

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According to this article on cricinfo, it will be difficult for even those selected for the curent England A squad to get a call-up for full national duty in the near future. Dalrymple who missed out due to an indifferent tour of the West Indies, would therefore be considered even more unlikely to be selected. Should the Kenyan selectors approach him, this would leave him with a bit of a dilemma. If he agreed to play for Kenya, he will no doubt miss out on some matches for his county and a slight chance at playing for England. He will however, almost certainly provide a huge boost for the Kenya side and one would think be an almost certain starter for Kenya in the World Cup. It will probably be his only chance to play in the top one day event in the cricketing calendar, and that alone should make him seriously consider it. At 25 he may be running out of time to play for England, and even Kenya will be looking to the future with their team selection.

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To my mind, he has far more to offer Kenya than he does England. England already have plenty of match winning players. Kenya are thin on the ground, and his skill and experience would make a huge difference, especially in strengthening the batting. With Kenya, he would have somewhere in the region of 10 years international cricket ahead of him. With England's depth, he may never even get a game, and if he does, he will have a much shorter international career. From next year, the Intercontinental Cup is a full round robin event, so he will get the opportunity to play plenty of first class cricket. He would also play in at least one World Cup, something that looks unlikely for him if he opts to wait on an England call up.

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As a player, he is a quality batsman, and tidy off spinner. He may not be as electric as Steve Tikolo with the bat, but would go a long way towards filling the gap that will be left when Kenya's skipper finally calls it a day. He has also played 52 First class matches and averages over 37 with 5 centuries to his name. Kenya need batting like that if we are to have a chance of winning the Intercontinental Cup. The fact that he can bowl and take wickets is an added bonus. Dalrymple may not be that interested in playing for Kenya at this stage, but both he and Cricket Kenya would be crazy if they didn't at least sit down and talk about it. There could be an aweful lot of benefit in it for both sides.

Sexual Offences Bill

This has nothing to do with cricket, but some things cannot be allowed to go by without comment. I have been reading with growing anger the reports on the response of many of our male politicians towards the Sexual Offences Bill. For the first time ever, this prompted me to write a letter to the Nation on a matter unrelated to cricket. In case it does not get published, this is what I wrote:

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I cannot believe that some of our male politicians are failing to take seriously the Sexual Offences Bill. It begs the question - do any of them have daughters, wives or young sons? I assume at the very least some of them have mothers? The way they are behaving one would seriously doubt it. Rape is one of the most dispicable and heinous acts that can be committed. If our politicians cannot see this, and address the problem in a sensible and mature manner, they should not be there. Then again, they are so good at looking after themselves that they may already feel safe without the bill. After all, the existing act criminilises the defilement of 'idiots and imbeciles'. No wonder they see no threat to themselves, they are already protected.

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If these sentiments offend someone who voted for one of these clowns, I make no apology. There is an election coming up before too long, I suggest we use it to put in power some people who actually care for the welfare of our country and our people.

Cricket Kenya Look For Funds at ACA Meeting

According to the Nation, top Cricket Kenya officials are today jetting off to South Africa for the Africa Cricket Association AGM which takes place on Friday. Kenya is expected to use the meeting as a platform to launch a bid to host more tournaments, and further their position in regards to developing the game. We are also expected to be one of the nations to benefit from the surplus earned by the ACA from the Afro-Asian Cup. Samir Inamdar, and Tom Tikolo will stay on in Johanessburg for the Africa Development Seminar to be held on Saturday. All 36 of the member countries are expected to be represented at the meetings, and this would be a perfect chance for Cricket Kenya to secure more fixtures for Kenya's A team, and the junior sides. Kenya have never had a full calendar for the National team, let alone it's development sides, but with the current atmosphere of growth in World Cricket, this should now be a primary aim. Not only would it give our up and coming players valuable experience, but would help our neighbouring countries improve as well. Accompanying the Cricket Kenya officials will be a representative from Ogilvy One who have been contracted to find sponsors for Cricket Kenya both for the National Team and for cricket development. Indeed by the sound of it, it is the latter that Samir Inamdar seems to have his eye on as the next issue to be tackled. With Uganda recently getting a boost to their development from the ICC coffers (see Will's article on BTTW), Kenya do not want to be left behind in the development race. In fact after the efforts by Uganda over the last year, we now have to work extra hard to catch up. Tomorrow's meeting is a perfect opportunity for Kenya to not only look for income to fund its development, but also to take a leading role in expanding the growth of cricket in the region. If the Africa continues to strengthen as a cricketing force, the nations at the top are going to benefit hugely as their younger players get more and more exposure to an improving standard of cricket. Coupled with the expansion of the International Cup program next year, this should be mirrored by a rise in standards of the National Team as well. The next two days offer a huge opportunity for Cricket Kenya. Let's hope it is grasped with both hands, and our men come back with good news from South Africa.

Affiliates do Battle in South Africa

8 African teams are doing battle over the next few days in Benoni, South Africa as they contest the 2011 World Cup Qualifiers Africa Division 2 Tournament. Results for this are fairly hard to find, but the lads at Big Cricket are doing a good job so far on their forum. Day 1 winners were Malawi over Ghana, Gambia over Lesotho, Morrocco over Rwanda and Sierra Leone beating Mozambique. This is an important tournament for the teams, as the winner goes through to play in the next round, The Associate World Cricket League.

Good Response to 6-a-side Curtain Opener

Early reports indicate that there has so far been a strong response to the Shree Cuthci Lewa Youth League 6-a-side competition scheduled for this long weekend in Nairobi. I hear sixteen teams have confirmed entry so far, and that the invites have also gone out to provincial teams. It would be really great to see a couple of teams from outside Nairobi able to make the trip. More on this as details are confirmed.

Kenyan Connections in England

Not too long ago I posted an article about Jamie Dalrymple who recently toured with England A. Unfortunately, this means he is unlikely to want to play for Kenya, despite being born in Nairobi. However, we shall watch his progress with interest, as well as those of others with a Kenyan connection who are playing overseas.

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Two players that I know of who have ties to Kenya and are also playing in England are both captains of their respective sides. Hitesh Modi is 1st XI Captain at Chesham CC in Buckshire this year, where he also runs specialist coaching sessions for the club juniors. Hitesh is currently still recovering from his broken finger, sustained during Kenya's Intercontinental Cup draw with the Netherlands, but will hopefully lead the club to great things in the Thames Valley League once he has recovered. I only hope that he is also able to get away for International duty for Kenya as well - his experience, determination and batting skills could be crucial to Kenya's success over the next year.

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James Clegg, one of our contributors in the forum and who has a Kenyan mother, captains Fairburn CC in Leeds who play in the Leeds West Riding League. James writes about his first game as captain of the side:

"First game as captain and a victory against the current Leeds League Champions, Garforth PC. It was a great day, winning the toss and putting them in on a wettish wicket. We managed to bowl them out for 155. In reply unfortunately I played all round a straight one, and was dismissed for 5. We were in great danger at 82-6, until BIG Ian Raynor on his return to the club, scored a mammoth 72*, including 7 6s, to win the game by 2 wickets, with just an over to spare...A thrilling start to the season. Now all I need is some runs."

Congratulations to James on his team's victory against the defending champions, and all the best with getting those runs too!

I shall do my best to keep updated with the performance of both clubs over the English summer, and if anyone knows of any other Kenyan connections in action around the World, let me know. In the meantime, Go Fairburn and Chesham!

Nakuru Akshar League Standings after 6 matches

TEAM...........Played...Won...Lost...Bat...Bowl...Win...Total
ELDORET.......2.............2........0........2.......8........24.......34
KERICHO.......2..............1........1.........5.......7........12........24
AKSHAR.B.....2..............1........1.........4.......5........12........21
VOC................2..............1........1..........1.......8.......12.........21
AKSHAR.A.....1..............1........0.........4.......4.......12.........20
DIAMOND.....2.............0........2.........3.......6........0..........9
NAIVASHA....1..............0........1.........0.......3........0..........3

Next weekends scheduled match between Akshar A and Naivasha has been postoponed due to the pitch being used for a rugby festival. Akshar A will have to wait until later for their chance to go top of the league. Once each team has played twice, I will also have a roundup of the top wicket takers and highest scoring batsmen. Currently, the highest wicket taker is Eldoret's Tejash on 9, but Akshar A's Ghanshayam will need just 3 to equal his total. With the bat, the leader in terms of runs scored so far is Akshar B's Sunil, who is also the only player so far to have scored a half century.

Eldoret Win Low Scoring Encounter in Nakuru

The sixth game of Nakuru's Akshar League saw Eldoret struggle to chase down what should have been an easily achievable total against Kericho. Having won the toss, Kericho elected to bat, as seems to be the generally accepted rule among the league's captains. Virag, returning after a year out started in great style with a lofted six and a four off the second over, but fell immediately after - caught by Vishal off Tajesh. After that, it was a steady flow of batsmen back to the pavilion. Only Jignesh and Dilpesh joined Virag in double figures, but it was a far cry from their efforts in the first match when they scored over 200. Eldoret's bowlers shared the wickets around, all making their mark. Kericho would likely have been skittled out for less had not Bhavin got carried away with trying to bowl too fast. Of the 45 extras scored, 30 came off his bowling. Speed is all very well, but as we so often see in cricket, it is nothing without accuracy to back it up.
Eldoret's reply continued the dominance of the bowlers in this match. Again no batsman was really able to get a start, and the match went right down to the wire. In the end, it was probably Vishal's 21, and a late flurry from Bhavin that just got Eldoret home with a wicket to spare. As with the first innings, all of the bowlers chipped in with one or two.
Eldoret now go top of the table having taken not only the 12 points for the win, but also 1 batting point, and 4 bowling points. Kericho also take a batting point and 3 for their bowling. An updated table will follow.

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SCORECARD:

Kericho Innings:
Virag.......................Ct Vishall....................Tejash.........10
Rashmi...................LBW............................Snehal.........03
Jignesh...................Ct Yogesh....................Snehal.........13
Akshay....................LBW............................Rakesh........03
Tulsi........................Bowled........................Snehal.........02
Dilpesh....................LBW...........................Vishall.........16
Yatish......................Ct Dharmesh.............Bhavin.........04
Nilesh.....................Bowled........................Bhavin.........00
Vipul......................Bowled.........................Tejash.........01
Dipu.......................Bowled.........................Tejash........05
Dipesh....................Not out...........................................01
Extras.............................................................................45
Total all out ..................................................................104
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Eldoret Innings:
Chetan..................Ct Dilpesh....................Nilesh..........05
Dadu.....................LBW.............................Virag............02
Dharmesh............LBW..............................Nilesh..........01
Sapnesh................Ct Dilpesh...................Jignesh.........14
Jogesh..................Bowled..........................Dipesh.........06
Tejash..................Bowled..........................Dipesh..........05
Vishall..................Bowled..........................Virag............21
Snehal .................Ct Virag........................Jignesh........06
Rakesh.................Not Out..............................................09
Bhavin.................Bowled..........................Virag............12
Monti..................Not Out..............................................00
Extras..............................................................................24
Total for 9 wickets .......................................................105

Eldoret win by 1 wicket.