CCA Announce XI For Atul Shah Tournament

The following fourteen players have been selected by the CCA for the upcoming Atul Shah Tournament starting on Wednesday. Not knowing much about the coast players, I'll leave the summary exactly as it was sent. Thanks to Papu Sohal for the information.

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CCA Squad for Atul Shah Memorial Quadrangular:

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SANJAY PATEL (Patel)

CCA Captain to Seychelles winning the tri-nation Trophy.
Right Hand Middle order batsman
MOHAMED SAWJANI
Veteran
Good right hand opening batsman come keeper.
Scored 100 not out in the local twenty–20 final.
STEWART KAYNES (Shanny)
Good right hand opening batsman.
Right Arm Leg Spinner.
Good All Rounder.
MOHAMED FAZAL
Right hand batsman come keeper.
ZAHIR ABBAS (Zahiru)
Right hand batsman
Right arm medium pace bowler.
Good all rounder.
MOHAMED ARAZI (Jonty)
Right hand middle order batsman
Excellent fielder.
THABIT
Right arm medium pace bowler.
HARISH PINDORIA (Hairy)
Played Under 19 Kenya – Uganda Tour 2000.
Left arm opening pace bowler.
Right hand middle order batsman.
Good all rounder.
PRADEEP PATEL (Prada)
Left hand middle order batsman
Left arm spinner.
Played Kenya A three day game against Pakistan A
RASHMI GAMI (Rash)
Played under 19 India tour
Left arm spinner.
Left handed low order batsman
Called for training for Kenya.
IRFAN KHAN (Iru)
Right arm pace opening bowler
Right hand hard hitter batsman.
BHARAT HALAI (THAKUR)
Played under 19 World cup Sri-lanka 1999
Captained Under 19 Kenya – Uganda tour 2000
Awarded top scorer of league 2006 div (ii)
Right hand middle order batsman.
Right arm off spinner.
DINESH PATEL (Danny)
picked from under 19 CCA
Left arm spinner.
Good fielder.
HEMAL HIRANI (Hemmy)
Under 15 Kenya Team
Right arm off spinner.
Right arm batsman.

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It looks like a fairly balanced side from what I know of the players - anyone who knows anything more, let us know.

All Eyes On Nakuru

Cricketers from around Kenya converge on Nakuru today for what promises to be a fascinating weekend's cricket. As well as the usual Akshar League game that takes place at the NAC ground, there will be the Jagir Singh Memorial 6-a-side cricket festival at the Rift Valley Sports Club. As well as some of the Nairobi teams who have made the trip up for the event, there will be the local Nakuru sides, as well as some Rift Valley sides that we have not as yet seen in action this year. In all, there will be sixteen teams contesting the event - a great turnout for the organisers. Tournament favourites will be Kanbis A and Swamibapa A, who have been drawn at opposite ends of the draw, so should meet in tomorrow's final if all goes to plan for them. There will no doubt be stiff competition along the way for them though. First teams to take to the field this morning will be Greensteds and Turi at 9:00 am. Matches are scheduled to start every 45 minutes, with all of the first round and second round matches expected to be played today. Tomorrow will see the business end of the tournament with the semi-finals due to be played from 1:00pm. Umpires for the tournament will be the experienced trio of Subhash Modi, Lalji Bhudia and David Odhiambo.

For those that missed it before, here is the 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.

A War Of Letters

There are two letters in today's Sportbox in the Nation criticising me for my position on who should play cricket for Kenya. For those that don't know, a simplified version of my stance is that, so long as a player qualifies under the ICC rules on eligibility, he should be allowed to play for Kenya should he so choose. Apparently there are those that think different, which is fine - everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it annoys me no end that people who quote me by name are too cowardly to put their own name to their letter. It will be interesting to see how much of my reply, if any, is published next week.

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I find it concerning that the recent letters to the press are more concerned with criticising the administration and bigotry rather than putting forward sensible suggestions on how to grow the game. Anjum Asodia sums up my feelings very well in her excellent article in this week's Coastweek when she says:

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"Cricket Kenya needs our support to be able to promote cricket in the country to reach world class level again.
Constructive criticism is good, but over-criticism achieves nothing and only succeeds in demoralising those few that are working towards a greater goal."

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It does sometimes make me wonder whether those writing these letters genuinly have the good of the game in mind, or are they carrying on their own private agenda or feeding off sour grapes?

Kenyans in the Official ODI rankings

With the new ICC rankings website giving the option to look up exactly where any player is on the rankings at any given time, this allows us to see exactly where all of the Kenyan players rank, not just the top few. Obviously compared to the nations that get to play more matches, Kenyans are always going to be at a disadvantage on this, but it does give an indication of where our players are at. Hopefully, the ODI series against Bangladesh will be confirmed allowing the players a chance to improve their standings.

At the moment, this is how things stand for Kenya's current players:

(Ranking. Player. Rating)

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Batting Rankings:

78. S.Tikolo............423

98. K. Otieno..........342

100. H.Modi...........338

107. T.Odoyo..........330

112. T.Mishra.........321

129. C.Obuya..........287

132. T.Suji..............272

149. P.Ongondo.....248

167. J.Kamande.....220

171. B.Patel.............219

176. M.Suji.............208

186. D.Obuya.........192

245. A.Luseno........122

249. M.Ouma........114

298. J.Ababu.........48

305. K.Patel............25

306. N.Odhiambo...17

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Bowling Rankings:

57. T.odoyo.............462

71. P.Ongondo........425

75. C.Obuya............417

88. S.Tikolo............382

94. M.Suji...............358

136. T.Suji...............257

150. J.Kamande......224

185. B.Patel.............159

202. A.Luseno.........126

207. J.Ababu...........113

234. K.Patel.............32

236. N.Odhiambo....29

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All Rounder Rankings:

44. S.Tikolo...............161

50. T.Odoyo...............152

70. C.Obuya...............115

81. P.Ongondo...........105

115. M.Suji.................74

120. T.Suji.................69

146. J.Kamande........49

164. B.Patel...............34

228. J.Ababu.............5

Auditors Report Highlights KCA's Shortcomings

According to this report on Cricinfo, Shah Patel & Company - the auditors investigating the KCA accounts, have finally released their report to the ICC and clubs. The report confirms what many already knew - that there was gross financial mismanagement. Many transactions had no invoices or receipts to confirm them, The report sums it up when it says it fails "to understand how no supporting documents are available for large amounts spent". In some cases, these large amounts were over US $20 000!

While cricinfo says the report contained no reports of anything untoward, I wonder how the following statement from the report fits into this category:

"a number of cash payments to Media Plus Sports Ltd (owned by Sharad Ghai) for which no supporting documents were available. The payment voucher, which must be authorised by two signatories as per the Association's protocol has only one signature, that of Mr Ghai."

If that is not untoward, it must surely be considered at least a little dodgy?

What this report does show is that the critics of the old regime were spot on when they were asking for intervention from the ICC several years ago. I know the reason that the ICC didn't intervene was that they do not want to get involved in an individual country's affairs, but in the end this happened anyway - just way too late. When so many stakeholders in a country are making a fuss, the World body needs to take more notice.

Still, on the bright side, this should now give some closure to a very upsetting scenario. We have a new body running Kenyan cricket now, and so far they seem to be doing a good job. This report highlights how bad the situation was when they took over. I sincerely hope that we never see something like that again relating to Kenyan cricket.

Kenya A Squads Named

Kenya's selectors have named the squad for the Atul Shah quadrangular tournament featuring Uganda, Tanzania and a CCA XI, as well as the squad that will tour Denmark later in the month.

Captaining the side will be Brijal Patel (28), who continues in this role after the match against Holland in the lead up to the Intercontinental Cup. Constantly on the fringes of the national side, he is running out of time to cement a place there. He is however experienced, and should be able to set a good example to the youngsters in the side, especially when it comes to fielding.

Vice Captain Lameck Onyango (32), returns to representative cricket after an injury induced lay off and will be the voice of experience in the side. Also likely his last chance to claim a place in the the national team.

Other players included are:

Rajesh Bhudia (21), who bowled well against Holland in both the Kenya A game and the Intercontinental Cup match, will hopefully get more of a chance to show what he is made of. Under bowled against Holland, he has shown domestically that he is capable of taking wickets.

Alfred Luseno (24) has much expected of him. He is touted as being a genuine strike bowler for Kenya, but needs to prove himself. So far, he has not produced the goods against quality opposition, but there is still time if he can gain confidence from these tours.

Nemiah Odhiambo (22) is another bowler who has been briefly selected for the senior side this year, but been under-bowled. He is possibly one of the mainstays of our bowling in the future, so hopefully can realise his potential this tour.

Ashish Karia will just have turned 20 by the time the Atul Shah tournament starts. One of the picks from the bowling during Kenya's drawn match with Holland, he gets another chance to show what he can do. Expect this to be a brief platform for him before a call up to the national team.

Maurice Ouma (23) drops down to the A team to help him regain his form. After a solid 2005, this year has started badly for the young wicketkeeper, and he will be hoping for some big scores over the next month to restore his confidence.

Tanmay Mishra (19) has been one of the finds of the year so far. Despite being only 19, he has batted with maturity for Kenya's national team, often when others around him crumbled. His inclusion in the A side will be soley to give him more experience at the crease, and I fully expect to see him recalled to the national side for their next match.

Malhar Patel (22) will be hoping for a better showing than his efforts so far. His only ODI resulted in a first ball duck against Pakistan in 2004, and against Holland he scored 29 off 84 in Kenya A's loss. He is still young, and will be looking to reward the selector's faith in him.

Timothy Mwangi (22), I don't know much about other than that he played for the under 19s. We shall see what he has to offer.

Alex Obanda - Kongoni's wicketkeeper. I'm told he has potential, but he didn't show it in Kenya A's match against Holland when he made a duck. Let's hope he comes good this tournament.

"Malindi" Jadevji - A player I know nothing about. We shall see.

Hiren Variayi - ditto.

David Maina - ditto

Hafeez Manji , who is still at school, replaces David Maina for the tour of Denmark. Apparently Manji is a batsman of some potential. Still very young, he has plenty of time to prove himself, so will enjoy playing without that pressure.

Amit Bhudia (26) is also included in the squad for the Danish leg. Not only will he have the local knowlege, he also aquitted himself well in his 2 intercontinental matches for Kenya so far. A great chance for Amit to make a claim for a spot in the senior side.

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All in all a fairly balanced side, and mostly of younger players which is good to see. This is a strong side with plenty to prove that has been put forward by the selectors, so should come out of the tournament winners. No doubt Uganda will have something to say about that, especially as their side will I'm sure include several of the youngsters that kept Kenya out of the U19 World Cup. Less than a week to go and counting...

Happy Madaraka Day

Today being the day Kenyans celebrate internal self rule, I thought it might be appropriate to voice my opinions on who should qualify to play for Kenya's representative teams.

We are a young country - less than 50 years old. Before Independence, there were no Kenyans as such, just a collection of people from various backgrounds and cultures, all gathered in the one area that was to become Kenya. After Independence some within the borders automatically became Kenyan. Others who held different passports, my family for example, had a choice: They could stay and live in Kenya as expatriates, or they could give up their foreign citizenships and become Kenyans. My family and many more like them, from all sorts of backgrounds, chose to become Kenyans. Some had been born in what was then British East Africa, some had been born elsewhere, but ALL who chose to became Kenyans. Over the years, people who were born in Kenya and hold Kenyan passports have traveled abroad, and others who were not Kenyans have moved with their families to live and work in our wonderful country. With the increased ease of air travel in recent years, these migrations have increased. So we have people born in Kenya living overseas, but still calling themselves Kenyan. We have people living in Kenya with foreign passports but helping build our country and calling themselves Kenyan. So who are the actual Kenyans? MY answer is simple: Anyone who holds family ties to Kenya, or has lived in Kenya long enough to have helped build the country in some way and wants to be called a Kenyan should be. Colour should not matter, nor should creed, nor the way they dress. Obviously, there need to be some parameters to this to make sure these people are genuine, but these are already laid out. As this is a cricket blog, I will skip some of the wider issues, and concentrate on this from a purely cricket perspective:

According to the ICC regulations on player eligibility, there are quite a lot of criteria one needs to meet in order to qualify to play for a country. The rules are convoluted and lengthy, so I will not go into them here. Suffice to say that anyone wanting to play for Kenya and not already holding a Kenyan passport, must go through a lot in order to qualify. It is not something someone can just wake up one morning and do. He/she would need to live in Kenya and work towards cricket development in Kenya for quite some time to be able to qualify. Anyone that has met these criteria is obviously not in this for the short term. They have shown their commitment to the country through qualifying to play for us. If the selectors decide they are good enough, that should be all that matters. After all, we owe it to our country to field the best possible team that we can from those that qualify. Leaving them out is not only playing into the hands of our opponents, it is also cheating Kenyans of their right to play for their country.

Schedule for Atul Shah Tournament

The schedule for the Atul Shah Memorial Tournament has been released, and sees Kenya A opening their campaign against Uganda at the Mombasa Sports Club. With a round robin format, the event ensures that each team gets three matches followed by either a final or playoff for the plate. Played in whites and using a red Kookaburra ball, this will be a great opportunity for the teams to notch up some competetive experience at a level higher than they are used to in their respective domestic competitions.

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Active duty is something that never really happened for the Kenya A squad under the KCA, and it is heartening to see that Cricket Kenya realise the need to give the players on the fringes of the national team the chance to both improve their level and show their worth. Too often have we seen promising young players thrust too early into the national team, where they have suffered due to lack of exposure. With this event and the upcoming tour to Denmark, hopefully this will now become a thing of the past.

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Squads for the event have not yet been released, but with only a week to go until the first match, one would expect them to be hard at training. I am looking forward especially to see the relative make up of the two Kenya teams. There are definitely some Coast players who deserve to be in the Kenya A squad, so it will be interesting to see whether they are called up, or left to bolster the CCA XI. If so, the match between Kenya A and the CCA XI will pit the best of the upcoming Nairobi players against the best from the Coast. Both sides will no doubt feel they have a lot to prove to each other and the selectors. This tournament will also no doubt feature heavily in determining the final squad to travel to Denmark. For the Kenyan players, there is certainly plenty to play for. For Uganda and Tanzania, it will be a chance to gain experience and also to guage where they are relative to the other Associates.

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Tournament Schedule:

Wed 7th June:

Kenya A vs. Uganda at MSC

CCA vs. Tanzania at Coast Gymkhana.

Thurs 8th June:

Kenya A vs. Tanzania at MSC

CCA vs. Uganda at CG.

Sat 10th June:

Uganda vs. Tanzania at MSC

Kenya A vs. CCA at CG

Sun 11th June:

Final at MSC

Plate at CK.

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I will also include these in the fixtures list.

Kenya's Unsung Cricket Heroes

The title refers of course to the people who make up the Kenya Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association.
Founded in 1958, this largely voluntary organisation provides the officials necessary for actual cricket to go ahead. Often criticised or ignored, the umpires and scorers do a largely thankless job, but one that is absolutely vital to the continued success of the game within Kenya. Over the last couple of years, there has been little for Kenya's umpires and scorers to do, especially on an international stage, but with the internal wrangles now a thing of the past and increased action in all spheres of the game, it will be a busy time ahead.
Currently, the board comprises Abdul Moughal Sattar, one of the oldest serving members of the Association as chairman, Ebhrahim Fidahusein (V.C), Rockie D'Mello (Sec), Ashraf Chaudry (Tres), Mosses Owesi, Lalji Bhudia and Naran Hirani. With Kenya's increased international schedule, and hopefully the introduction of a national league, it will be their job to ensure the rising standards of cricket are met with a similar rise in the levels of umpiring. Kenya's umpires are not without experience, indeed several have represented Kenya at international level in the past. It will be the task of the administrative body to ensure that these umpires are kept up to date with the latest methods and are given the opportunity to keep up with the best. They must also try to bring new umpires through to continue the tradition of good service. It would certainly be fantastic to see one day a Kenya umpire on the ICC elite panel. At present, the closet umpire to this level from Kenya would probably be Subhash Modi, father of Hitesh. This pair in fact share a unique record in that they are the only father-son pair to have umpired and played in the same ODI match (Kenya vs. West Indies in Nairobi 2001).

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Kenyan umpires to have represented the country on the international stage so far:
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ICC Trophy:
Anil Sarkar in Holland (1990)
Subhash Modi in Kenya (1994)
Makbul Jaffer in Malaysia (1997).
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Commonwealth Games:
Subhash Modi in Malaysia (1998).
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ICC World Cup:
Anil Sarkar in 1996 - Pakistan (Third Umpire)
Subhash Modi in 1999 - England (Fourth Umpire)
Rockie D'Mello in 2003 - South Africa (Fourth Umpire)
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One Day International Series, Kenya Vs. West Indies, 2001 in Kenya:
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On field Umpires:
Subhash Modi
Narendra Dave
Rockie Demello
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Third Umpires:
Narendra Dave
Lalji Bhudia
Subhash Modi.
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2006 and 2007 should see more added to this list, so all the best to those umpires involved.

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Thanks to Subhash Modi for the information.

Kanbis A and Swamibapa Through To Final

Today's Standard carries a report of the weekend's matches in Nairobi. After a delay due to the rains and the six-a-side tournament, the semi-finals of the NPCA 45-over league were finally able to be played. In the first semi, Kanbis A easily brushed aside their B team by 139 runs, thanks to 90 from Arvind Halai. In the other semi, Swamibapa cruised past Sir Ali's 153 all-out to win by 5 wickets.

No surprises really from either of these matches, both Swamis and Kanbis have proved very strong in this tournament so far, and it should be a good match for the final come the 11th of June.

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The second match of the Girls Secondary Schools Cricket Challenge is also reported to be taking place today with Kenya High hosting Peponi.

Akshar League Standings And Leading Averages After 10 matches

League Standings:
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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
VOC...............4...........1...........3.......2.......12.......12......26
AKSHAR.A....2...........1...........1.......5........8........12......25
DIAMOND....3...........1...........2.......3.......10.......12......25
NAIVASHA....2...........1...........1........2........7.......12......21
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Leading Wicket Takers:
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BOWLER.............Club..............Matches......Wickets....4wkts...5wkts
Raju.....................Diamond.............3...............11...............1...........1
Ghanshyam.........Akshar.A..............2..............10..............1...........1
Shanti..................V.O.C...................4...............10..............0..........1
Tejash..................Eldoret................3...............10...............0..........1
Batuk...................V.O.C...................4...............9.................1..........0
Rakesh.................Eldoret.................3...............8................0..........1
Akshay.................Kericho................3...............7................1...........0
Ravi.....................Akshar.B...............3...............7................1..........0
Ketan...................V.O.C....................4..............6.................1..........0
Snehal..................Eldoret.................3..............6.................0..........0
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Leading Runscorers:
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Batsman...........Club..........Innings....Not.Out..Runs....Average.....50s
Sunil.................Akshar.B.....3................0...........81..........27.00.......1
Jignesh............Kericho........3................0...........74..........24.67.......1
Swapnesh.........Eldoret........3................0...........67..........22.33......0
Vishal...............Eldoret........3................0............66.........22.00......0
Lalji.................Kericho........2................2............60.........60*..........0
Dilpesh............Kericho........3................0............59.........19.67........0
Tejash..............Eldoret........3.................0............49........16.33........0
Harshil............Akshar.A......2.................0...........45........22.50.........0
Minesh............Diamond......3................1.............45.......22.50.........0
Indravadan.....Diamond......3................1.............44........22.00........0
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Note that these figures are affected by the teams having played a differing number of matches due to the postponement of the match between Akshar A and Naivasha.

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So far, the competition definitely seems to have favoured the bowlers with 9 of them taking 4 or more wickets at least once. Only 2 batsmen have got past the magical 50 mark. Not surprisingly Sunil (H.S: 57) and Jignesh (H.S:61) lead the pack in terms of runs scored. There are no complete scorecards available to me, so I cannot include strike rates or complete bowling averages. No surprises either to see Eldoret players featuring strongly in both lists.

Naivasha Add To VOC's Woes

Thanks as always to Shailesh for the following match report from Nakuru:

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It was the clash of the minnows this weekend with Naivasha taking on VOC in Nakuru's Akshar League. Naivasha won the toss and decided to bat.
Prabdeep and Sarat gave them a reasonable start with the first wicket falling on 22. However both openers fell within one over, and it was left for Amardeep and Jayesh to stabilise the innings. VOC dropped a couple of catches and Naivasha took full advantage of it. At the 20 over stage they were 85 /2, and it looked as though they would easily surpass 200.
Immediately after the drinks break however, Shanti switched bowling ends and ripped through the middle order claiming 6 wickets with his off spin. A late effort by Santosh took Naivasha to 136, but VOC would have been feeling confident at the break.
This feeling did not last long as wickets fell at regular intervals from the start of the reply and VOC were never really in the hunt. Only an excessive number of extras and a 30 run last wicket partnership thanks to Khilan's 15 not out brought them within shouting distance. Naivasha will be very happy with the result as it gives them some much-needed points for a win. All teams in the tournament have now won a match, so the competition for the minor placings is looking good. Next week sees second placed Kericho taking on a Diamond team desperate for a win to stay above the resurgent Naivasha.
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SCORECARD:

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Naivasha Innings:

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Pradeep.............................Bowled.......................Batuk..........08
Sarat..................................Bowled......................Jayesh..........10
Amardeep..........................Ct Kirti.....................Shanti..........26
Jayesh................................Ct Jayesh..................Shanti..........37
Bhavya...............................Bowled......................Shanti..........00
Indraj................................Bowled.......................Shanti..........02
Dharam.............................St Batuk....................Shanti..........00
Jasraj................................Bowled.......................Jayesh..........03
Kunal................................Bowled.......................Shanti..........00
Himanshu........................Not Out...........................................04
Santosh............................Bowled........................Batuk............13
Extras........................................................................................33
Total All Out............................................................................136

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V.O.C Innings:

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Naren...............................Run Out..........................................00
Manish.............................Bowled.....................Indraj.............05
Batuk................................Ct Amardeep...........Sarat..............05
Ketan................................Bowled....................Dharam...........10
Jayesh..............................Ct Santosh...............Sarat...............06
Kirti..................................C & B.......................Sarat................04
Minesh.............................Bowled.....................Indraj..............08
Shanti..............................Bowled.....................Prabdeep.........00
Kavit................................Bowled......................Indraj..............04
Khilan..............................Not Out.............................................15
Yuvraj..............................Bowled......................Indraj..............08
Extras.........................................................................................58
Total All Out..............................................................................120

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Naivasha win by 16 runs.

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Points:

Naivasha: 2 Bat, 4 Bowling, 12 Win. Total: 18

V.O.C: 1 Bat, 4 Bowling. Total: 5