Thursday, September 13, 2007

How much more will it take?

After Kenya were humiliated by the Kiwis yesterday, the question again arises: How much more do we have to take before Cricket Kenya set up a national competition at all levels to bring our best 60 or so cricketers together to compete regularly at all forms of the game?

Watching yesterday's loss, it was painful in the extreme to see some of the shots played and the trouble that we got into when facing genuine pace. Kenya are never going to produce genuine fast bowlers capable of both playing for our country and giving our best batsmen the practice they need to cope with opposing quicks unless there is a First Class competition for them to learn their trade.

Similarly, there is no point having the best players in Kenya spread over several division where they do not get to play each other regularly and also cultivate complacency by playing against much weaker players. CK need to bring the top players together in a competition so they feed off each other and improve their skills. We have been promised such a competition now for two years, but have not seen it. If Kenya continued to do well internationally, this would continue to slip past, but we are not. We have some very talented players and it is a dis-service to them and to the fans of the sport that there is not a system that helps them reach their full potential.

Patience is beginning to run thin.

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