Thursday, June 11, 2009

Looking for a new coach

With Kenya scheduled to open their 2009 Intercontinental Cup campaign with an away match versus Ireland on July 3rd, Cricket Kenya appear to be on the lookout for a new coach. Kenya's previous coach, Andy Kirsten was charged with qualifying for the next World Cup, a mission that was accomplished, albeit only just and in unconvincing fashion.

In an advert that was run on the ICC's recruitment page, Cricket Kenya stated they were looking for "a National Coach to drive forward the Kenyan National Team’s preparation for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup". The duration of the contract would be 'up to June 30th 2011 and would be open to extension thereafter' with the new coach ideally able to step into the role in time for Kenya's July commitments.

Now that the application date (5th June) has passed, the advert has been withdrawn and Cricket Kenya have yet to announce if any decision has been made on a short-list of candidates. It is not known if Kirsten is looking to extend his contract for a further term or if Roger Harper (right) who steered Kenya to WCL glory could be lured back.

Whoever gets the position does not have an easy task ahead. Not only must they prepare Kenya's senior team adequately to face increasingly tough Associate competition, but they must also prevail upon the administration the need for Kenya's top players to play more often against each other. They are also likely to face a hostile press who are apt to jump on any slip up by Cricket Kenya and those affiliated with them while ignoring any positives. It may well seem a thankless task, but whoever does take the reigns should also be aware that there is a large latent support base that will get behind them should they be able to produce the results they crave.

We will endeavour to keep you up to dates on developments as they become available.

2 comments:

Andruid said...

You also missing Roger Harper.

His crcinfo profile indicates that he's got a juicy youth director post with the WICB, as well as having coached one of the teams in the ill fated Stanford T20 competitions.

Otherwise here's hoping some big names apply.

Chemosit said...

he has been the one coach who seems to have really made a difference to the team. TBH can't see him returning, but would be nice...