Worth A Read

I have spent quite a bit of time on this blog writing tirades about the poor coverage cricket gets in Kenya's media. It is only fair that when a good article comes along, it gets the credit it deserves. Today's Kenya Times has just such an article, written by Mutwiri Mutuota. For those who have not kept up with what has happened to Kenyan cricket over the last three years, it gives a fairly accurate summary of what has gone on. It is well written, well balanced and unlike so many articles we see, does not look to criticise, but instead takes a frank look at what Cricket Kenya and those connected with the game need to do to improve the situation. There are some good quotes from Hossain Ayob, and Roger Harper, some we haven't seen before and some old ones. It also calls for CK to do more to publicise the game and their efforts. This is something I heartily agree with. Whatever their shortfalls, the KCA were good at telling people what they had done and blowing their own trumpet. CK actually have done a lot more than KCA did in their last couple of years, but we have heard less about it. Modesty will not do in this situation. CK need to cry it from the rooftops that they are resuccitating the game. Enough from me though, read Mutuota's article. Hopefully it will be the first of many like it!

Weekend Preview

As far as I know, this weekend's cricket involving Kenyans is as follows:

In Nakuru's Akshar League, Naivasha finally get to play their second match of the tournament against a VOC side that will be desparate to turn around their fortunes so far. VOC are currently in 6th spot on the table having played three games, one spot above last placed Naivasha. If they do not want to end up with the wooden spoon, VOC will need to beat the lake-men on Sunday. For their part, Naivasha will be looking to erase memories of thier only outing so far which resulted in a thrashing from Akshar A. Both teams have so far looked to be stronger with the ball than with the bat, but every time I make a prediction for this tournament I ensure that the opposite happens, so this weekend we shall just wait and see!

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In Denmark, Amit Bhudia will be hoping that his shoulder is better for Herning's Division 1 league match against Koge. Last week, he was hampered by damaged ligaments and was advised to take the week off training to allow for recovery. Hopefully he will not only be better, but will get amoungst the runs as well.

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In England, Hitesh Modi will still be out of action after his operation, so will miss Chesham's league match against Marlow.

James Clegg will be hoping the weather gods are kinder than last weekend and that Fairburn's hectic schedule over the next four days is not hampered by rain. They have a league match at home today, a home Hepworth Cup match on Sunday, then an away Senior's Cup match on Tuesday. Let's hope they can come away with 3 wins from those outings.

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No news from any other venues, though I am assuming that both the Kenya A side and the CCA XI for the Atul Shah Memorial Tournament are working hard at training. The event is only just over a week away now, so one would think they will be trying to get in a couple of practice matches against local competition in the lead up.

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If anyone does have some more information on the NPCA or CCA goings on, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Gymkhana Coast Twenty-20 Champions

Written by Stewart Kayne, this report has been forwarded to me by the organisers, so I am assuming it is for general release:

"The Coast Cricket Association 20 0ver Final was played on Sunday 21st May. It saw the Coast League Champions for the second year running, Coast Gymkhana taking on Mombasa Sports Club at the Coast Gymkhana Club. Gymkhana Captain Sanjay Patel won the toss and decided to set the pace of the game by electing to bat first. After a steady start by openers Mohamed Sawjani and Harish, the innings took shape in the 4th over, and they never looked back. They brought up their side's 50 runs in the 7th over, thanks to two dropped catches by the Mombasa Sports club boys. Thabith kept the score down with figures of 3 overs for 18 runs, but Zaheer Abbass went for 44 runs in his 4 overs, without a wicket. Harish, who scored 26, was finally caught by Neal off the bowling of Nikhil, who went for 28 runs in his 4 overs with just the one wicket. That saw the rest of the batsmen, Stewart Kayne (7 runs) and Sanjay Patel (7* not out) pushing the singles so Sawjani could free his arms and work his magic with his bat. He smashed eight 4s and seven 6s and finished up with 100 not out by the 20th over. It was his second ton in the 20 -20 competition this year to go with his 80 runs in the semi final. Some big hitting from Irfan, who hit 18 runs in 8 balls, along with Sawjani and Sanjay, saw the home side to 168 for 3 wickets in their 20 overs. Brothers Neal and Sagar along with Mombasa Sports Club captain Nikhil each picked up a wicket for their side. Mohamed Sawjani left the field to applause from both the crowd and the fielding side for his knock.

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Mombasa Sports Club's chase was put on hold as Irfan knocked opener Thabith's stump out of the ground in the early overs of their run chase. Mohamed and Nikhil rallied to put on a good partnership, scoring at above the rate required. They brought up their sides 50 runs in the 7th over. But with good captaincy by Sanjay, the introduction of spinners Pradeep and Rashmi saw the game slipping away from Mombasa Sports Club. Mohamed topped scored with 37 runs and Nikhil scored 30. Coast Gymkhana's spinners ripped through the batting line up with Radeep picking up 1 wicket for 18 runs in 4 overs, Rashmi taking up two wickets for 20 runs in 4 overs and Kayne also picked up 2 wickets for 19 runs in his 3 overs. Some good fielding by the Coast Gymkhana boys saw the game through for the home side. Stewart snatched 2 catches, along with great wicket keeping by the centurion, Mohamed Sawjani, with 3 stumpings. Irfan took a good catch on the boundary as well to dismiss Sagar on 10 runs, the only other player to get into double figures. Harish bowled great left arm pace at the start only going for 14 runs, picking up 1 wicket in 4 overs, and Irfan picked up 2 early wickets but went for 43 runs in his 4 overs. Mombasa Sports Club were bowled out with one ball of their innings left, with Hemal picking up the last two wickets in the final over and only going for 2 runs. MSC finished on 124 all out in 19.5 overs thus giving the Coast Cricket Champions the victory by 44 runs."

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Great to finally get some news out of Mombasa. Mohamed Sawjani certainly sounds like a player to watch out for with 2 centuries and an 80 in the competition! It is good to see there being another wicketkeeper who can open. Hopefully, we will continue to see more from the coast, and I look forward to them putting up a good showing in the Atul Shah Memorial coming up in early June.

Odumbe's Ban Upheld

Sad news for Maurice Odumbe and his fans. His appeal against the five year ban imposed in August 2004 for taking payments from a bookmaker and to quote Justice Ebrahim, who initially pushed for the five year length of the ban, behaving in a "outrageously reprehensible" manner in relation to cricket has been rejected.

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It should be noted here that Ebrahim said after the initial sentence was passed that Odumbe was not found guilty of actual match fixing, that he had already had a brush with Odumbe previously banning him for 2 matches, and that the chief witnesses in the case were an estranged formed wife and an ex-girlfriend. Odumbe also got little support from the then KCA and it was hinted that this was due to his outspoken resistance to their policies.

Odumbe was however found guilty on 12 counts in August 2004, and the five year ban confirmed in October of the same year, effectively ending his career.

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Yesterday High court judge, Roseline Wendoh rejected Odumbe's appeal, though it seems that the ruling was made on technical grounds regarding the appeal, rather on the original case. Effectively, her ruling seems to be that as Odumbe had "submitted to the code of conduct and rules of the cricket council, the rules were sufficient to determine his case." To me, this sounds like an official way of saying "sorry mate, the umpires decision is final" irrespective of whether his appeal actually had merit or not.

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This is a sad ending for a player who gave an awful lot to Kenyan cricket. Whether he really was involved with bookmakers, is something I still am not sure of. There was obviously evidence, and as they say 'there is no smoke without fire'. It was however, to my mind at least, questionable. He also stood to lose more than he gained, and as well as a fantastic cricketer, Odume always came across to me as being an intelligent man. Even if he was involved, there are plenty of players around the World who have done as bad, if not worse and got away with a much more lenient punishment. I wonder really, if this had happened to a top player of a Test playing country whether the result would have been the same. As with so many things to do with this case, I guess we will never really know.

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Some will no doubt remember Odumbe as a match fixer and cheat. I will remember him differently. I will remember a man that was always there when Kenya had a great success. I will remember the way he stood up for his country against the big boys, the way he took on whatever bowler they threw at him. Most of all, I will remember the passion that he always showed when he played the game. I refuse to believe this was an act. Maybe I am naive, but the Odumbe I choose to remember is the one that recived man-of-the match awards in three consecutive World Cups. Whatever the reason, his absence is a loss to cricket.

Close Finish to 1st Girl's Match

According to this report from Oscar Pilipili in the Standard, the first match of the Girls Secondary Schools Cricket Challenge ended in a tie between Moi Girls and St Georges.

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Moi Girls batted first, and scored 42 runs for the loss of five wickets in their allotted 10 overs. In reply, St Georges managed the same total but for the loss of 7 wickets. Highest scorer with the bat was Dorine Mwende of Moi with 8 runs, and best bowler was Carol Kamau, also of Moi, who took 2 wickets and conceded six runs.

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While it is great to see women's cricket being played in Nairobi, it is concerning that the matches used to select the national team are so short. 10 overs an innings means that it is effectively a hit-and-run situation, and not one conducive to producing players who will compete at fifty overs per innings. I also find it hard to see how the selectors can choose a team when players hardly get more than a sniff of action to show what they can do. Let's hope that they choose a large squad, then whittle it down once the girls have had a few longer games to show their real potential.

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At least it is a start to the season for them however, and I don't wish to take away from the girls who I'm sure put their best efforts in. With such short games, there should at least be some close matches, and hopefully with the tournament being covered by the Standard it will help raise the profile of the sport. All the best to the girls taking part, and kudos to the Standard for keeping us informed.

16 Teams Confirmed For Nakuru 6-a-side

The Jagir Singh Memorial six-a-side cricket festival 2006 draw has been released with 16 teams confirmed participating. The event will be held in Nakuru at the Rift Valley Sports Club on the weekend of June 3rd and 4th. As well as the regular teams from Nairobi, several upcountry teams are listed to play that we have not had the opportunity to hear about recently, so great to see such a fantastic turn out for this event. Structured as a knockout tournament, the first two rounds will be played on the Saturday, then the semis and final on the Sunday. Tournament favourites would probably be Kanbis A and Swamibapa A who are on opposite sides of the draw, so one would expect these two to meet in the final. Of the two, Kanbis have arguably the tougher route to the final with possible matches against Nairobi Jaffery in the semis if they get past Gymkhana or Kongonis in the Quarters. Swamibapa will have some unknowns to face when they come up against the winners of the all-school clash between Greensteds and St. Andrew's Turi in the second round.

Full Draw:

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Kanbis A.

vs.

Swamibapa B.

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Kongonis.

vs.

Nairobi Gymkhana.

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Simba Union.

vs.

Team ASL.

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Kanbis B.

vs.

Nairobi Jafferys.

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Swamibapa A.

vs.

Rift Valley Sports Club.

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Greensteds.

vs.

Turi.

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Diamond.

vs.

Ruaraka.

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Crater.

Vs.

Sir Ali.

Chappell New Holder Of Mbuni Award

Well, I had toyed with the idea of awarding The Mbuni Award to John Davidson of Canada for this prediction when he talked to Cricket Europe before the tri-nation tournament in Trinidad:

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"I think if we can put our game together we can really challenge Zimbabwe for the title,"

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Infact Canada not only got thrashed by Zimbabwe, they then went on to lose to Bermuda as well. Oops. Still, the moment passed and he escaped, but it was a close call. Maybe he should be classed as an 'Honourable Mention'.

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Then a couple of days ago after India won the first one-dayer against the Windies, Greg Chappell came out with this on the West Indies side:

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"They have just forgotten how to win at the moment...".

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Two matches later, and the Windies have proven that this was not the case at all. True, Chappell's comments were laced with a number of mitigating statements, but coming so soon after the Windies whitewashed Zimbabwe, I felt it was a particularly stupid thing to say. Mitigating statements merely serve as the same purpose as a small, single-ply tissue in removing the Ostrich egg from the face. Therefore, I am awarding the Mbuni Award to Greg Chappell until another person proves their suitability. He takes over from Ricky Ponting, who was the inaugral holder of the award. If you have any suggestions on this accolade, and who the next holder should be, please let me know via the related post on the forum.

Girls Secondary Schools Cricket Challenge Starts Today

According to this report by Oscar Pilipili in today's Standard, this will be one of the events used by selectors to choose the squad that will represent Kenya in the upcoming 2007 International Cricket Council (ICC) Women World Cup Qualifiers. The other event will be the Nairobi Province Cricket Association Girls Schools League set for June 10 to July 15.

Four teams will take part in the GSSCC: Kenya High, Moi Girls, Peponi School and St Georges. For the NPCA League, they will be joined by Cutch Leva, Huruma and Nairobi Pentecostal Church Buru Buru.

Amidst the interest in the men's team, it is great to see the women also being given coverage. So far, they are yet to set the World alight, but should we be able to qualify for both the Women's and Men's World Cups, then that should make more people in Kenya sit up and take notice of cricket as a sport at which Kenya can excel. This can only be a good thing. All the best to the girls over the next couple of months - I will do my best to get results from the matches.

More News From NPCA Awards Night

Finally, the Nation has got on the ball with this, and provides some different insights to the earlier articles from Cricinfo and the Standard. They lead with the call made by Roger Harper to improve the state of the pitches in order to improve Kenya's fielding. He has also, according to Richard Mwangi's article, stated that Kenya needs to set up a zonal competition in both forms of the game. Again, these are not new thoughts, but it is good to see those in the spotlight talking about them. Hopefully Harper will have his way, and we shall see this set up soon - it is the only way that Kenya will be able to start competing with the Test playing countries that already have strong domestic competitions.

Another good point highlighted by the article was NPCA chairman Salim Dhanji confirming that the NPCA are now intending to embark on a development programme at clubs and schools in and around Nairobi. Asking for clubs support for this effort, he also notes that the NPCA will need assistance in terms of coaches and equipment.

For those who missed them earlier in the year, there is also a roundup of the NPCA 2005-2006 season results at the bottom of the article. Go to the Nation Sports Page and read the article headlined: 'Improve All Grounds, Harper Advises CK'.

Frustrating Weekend Overseas

Kenya's overseas connections had a frustrating weekend with injuries and rain taking a heavy toll on their involvement in cricket.

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Hitesh Modi, as reported yesterday, had to go under the knife to sort out his broken finger, so will be unavailable for Chesham for several weeks.

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Amit Bhudia also has injury worries, though he was able to help Herning secure their second and third consecutve victories in the Danish 1st Division. He scored 14 as Herning chased Albertslund's score of 101 on Saturday, then made 4 as Herning were bowled out for 98 against KB on a seriously rain affected pitch on Sunday. Not the best of weekends for Amit as both times he was out LBW, but worse was that his play was affected by damaged ligaments in his shoulder (an injury sustained last week). While he hopes to be back in action again next weekend, doctors have advised him to sit out the week's training in an effort to recouperate. Herning are now joint top of the league with 3 wins from 3 games.

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James Clegg's side Fairburn saw no action over the weekend as both the scheduled matches were cancelled. Their next outing will be against the so-far unbeaten Barnsley side, Redfearns CC.

Akshar League Standings After 9 Games

TEAM............Played.....Won.....Lost.....Bat.....Bowl.....Win.....Total
ELDORET.........3............3...........0..........5.........12.........36.........53
KERICHO.........3............2............1..........9.........11.........24.........44
AKSHAR.B.......3............1............2..........7..........7..........12.........26
AKSHAR.A.......2............1............1..........5..........8..........12.........25
DIAMOND.......3............1............2..........3.........10.........12.........25
VOC..................3.............1............2..........1..........8..........12.........21
NAIVASHA......1.............0............1..........0..........3..........0...........3

Next week's fixture is due to be Naivasha vs. VOC.

Eldoret Go Top in Nakuru

Shailesh reports on the 9th game in the Akshar League in Nakuru. Note that yours truly predicted a win for Akshar A over Eldoret...

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Though it was a bright sunny day, the game commenced 1 hour late to allow as much as possible for the overnight moisture to evaporate. Eldoret won the toss and had no hesitation to bat first. Dilip and Ghanshyam, usually the line and length bowlers, found the going tough bowling with the wet ball, and conceded many extras as they were unable to grip the ball properly. Eldoret took full advantage of this and attacked from the word go; their first wicket fell at 61. It was Ghanshyam's third spell burst that saw him take 3 wickets and ensured that Eldoret didn't go pass 200 runs.
Rakesh of Eldoret bowling left arm orthodox spin bowled brilliantly to break off any resistance from the Akshar A team, and Eldoret ended up winners by 59 runs.
Thanks to Shailesh for the match report. (Yes, I know, it will teach me to make predictions…)

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Scorecard:

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Eldoret Innings:

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Tejash..............................Run Out........................................21
Chetan.............................Ct Deval...............Jogesh.............20
Dharmesh........................LBW....................Ghansyam.......00
Sapnesh...........................Ct Deval...............Jogesh.............27
Vishal..............................Bowled.................Ghanshyam.....40
Bhavin............................CtPpragnesh........Deval................06
Rakesh............................Ct Pragnesh.........Deval................01
Snehal.............................Bowled.................Ghanshyam.....01
Dadu...............................Run Out........................................04
Nikunj............................Not out..........................................00
Viral...............................Bowled..................Ghanshyam.....00
Extras....................................................................................51
Total All Out.........................................................................171

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Akshar A Innings:

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Harshil............................LBW......................Rakesh............18
Divyang...........................Ct & B...................Tejash.............02
Sachin.............................Ct Vishal...............Rakesh............05
Jines................................Ct Dharmesh........Rakesh............00
Pragnesh........................Bowled...................Snehal.............25
Jogesh............................Bowled...................Rakesh.............03
Dilip................................Ct Bhavin..............Rakesh.............01
Deval..............................Bowled....................Bhavin.............05
Chintu............................Bowled...................Rakesh..............17
Ketan..............................Not Out...........................................01
Ghanshyam...................Bowled....................Rakesh.............00
Extras......................................................................................35
Total.All.Out...........................................................................112

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Eldoret Win by 59 Runs.

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Points:

Akshar A:

Batting - 1 point, Bowling - 4 points. Total - 5 points.

Eldoret:

Batting - 3 points, Bowling - 4 points, Win - 12 points. Total - 19 points.

Modi Undergoes Operation to Fix Finger

Hitesh Modi, one of Kenya's stalwarts in the batting department is another three to four weeks from being able to return to the crease after undergoing surgery on his finger. His left index finger was broken during Kenya's Intercontinental Cup match with Holland in March, and was not healing properly by itself. Hitesh reports that the surgery went well as there was no need to wire or re-align the bone. What was done to was to remove the volar plate, a ligament that was preventing the finger from bending. Hitesh will learn more about his recovery time when he sees the specialist again on Wednesday. While it is unfortunate for him to have had to undergo this surgery, he is in the good hands of Dr. Ian Winspur, who has plenty of experience fixing cricketers and was the man who put Alec Stewart's finger right.

All the best to Hitesh recovering from the surgery, and we look forward to seeing him back on the park. His side Chesham would also certainly welcome his return, as they had an indifferent weekend in his abscence.

NPCA Awards Night

Well this one certainly came out of left field. Quite a few people involved must have known it was on as it was attended by Samir Inamdar, Roger Harper and ICC Development Officer for Africa, Hossain Ayob. The first that this little mushroom heard of it was this report by Oscar Pilipili in the Standard today, which reveals some positive thoughts from some of the people just mentioned. There were also some good ideas on how Kenya are going to take that next step. There is also an article on cricinfo which concentrates more on Roger Harper's views.

Both Ayob and Harper have stated that Kenya's cricketers must have more exposure to the longer version of the game if we are going to remain the top Associate. This is not something that we didn't already know, but it is good to see it being stated publicly. Harper was blunt in his wording of this saying

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"unless the players get used to playing longer cricket, it will be difficult to compete at the international level."

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It may not have made him any friends, as Kenyans do not seem to take criticism too well, but it was spot on. One day games are fine, but there has to be a domestic structure that allows players to get a decent amount of 2-innings-a-side matches played over 3 or 4 days. Only this way will our batsmen learn the concentration required to build big innings, and our bowlers learn how to winkle players out. The reasons the Test nations are better than the Associates are many, but one of them is certainly that the players in those countries all play the longer version of the game at a domestic level.

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Regarding other statements to come from those present, it is fantastic to see government support for cricket voiced by Commissioner for Sports, Gordon Oluoch. Harper noted that cricket needed government support to improve the facilities, so we will wait and see what actually comes cricket's way from the government other than words, but it is a good start.

Ayob's suggestion that clubs look into sponsoring school cricket was also a good one, and hopefully one that will find fertile soil in the minds of club administrators. Under the KCA, many clubs continued to try and grow the game without any central support. Now that Cricket Kenya are working hard to grow the game, there should be a perfect atmosphere in which to really expand it within Kenya. His most important point for me though was that all stakeholders, including the Government, Cricket Kenya (CK) and players need to work as a team. I would add to this list the clubs, provincial bodies, schools, media and public. For cricket to even get close to reaching its potential, and I strongly believe it can, all of these entities must be involved. Leave out even one, and we will find ourselves falling short once again. Involve all, and cricket could reach even higher ground than we did during the 2003 World Cup. Wouldn't it be great to be able to look back in ten tears time and say "I was part of that."