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Now that the application date (5th June) has passed, the advert has been withdrawn and Cricket Kenya have yet to announce if any decision has been made on a short-list of candidates.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.

U13 selected results

I had hoped to post full scorecards, but the formatting ability has eluded, so here are the summaries of Kenya's matches in the U13 regional tournament:

Match 1:
Kenya beat Tanzania by 11 runs
Toss - Tza, elected to field.
MOM Joseph Owino
Kenya 3/108 (Joseph Owino 30*, Tanzil Sheikh 20*, Joseph Mwanji 1/11)
Tanzania 5/97 (Abbas Zabahussin 19, Nassoro Zeharo 18, Kevan Dodhia 2/9)

Match 2:
Kenya lost to Uganda by 7 wickets
Toss - Ken, elected to bat
MOM Isaac Abdullahah (Uga)
Kenya 8/83 (Tanzil Sheikh 23, Krutarth Rao 19*, Deep Haria 2/6, Simon Ssesazi 2/22)
Uganda 3/85 (Lawrence Ssempija 32*, Isaac Abdullahah 33, Atharva Tembekhar 1/14)

Match 4:
Kenya v Tanzania - abandoned due to rain
Kenya 3/51 (Dhawal Modi 17, Abbas Zabeehussin 1/5)

Match 5:
Kenya lost to Uganda by 8 wickets
Toss: Ken - elected to bat
MOM Simon Ayella (Uga)
Kenya 6/62 (Dhawal Modi 29, Tanzil Sheikh 19, Simon Ayella 2/13)
Uganda 2/65 (Bid Jaineel 32*, Gordon Everard 1/10, Artharva Tembekhar 1/12)

Overall, Kenya's batting produced too many ducks, though there are some positives to be taken from the above, notably Joseph Owino's innings in the first match, Arthava Tembekhar chipping in with wickets each game and Dhawal Modi featuring in 2 good innings. The stand out player for Kenya however was the one player who really produced in every match: Tanzil Sheikh. Sad to see that the private schools produced little help despite their better facilities and training. Hopefully this will change in future squads and future years with this group of players.

Kisumu are Woolmatt Champs

Kisumu apparently walked away with the 2009 RVCA Woolmatt Cricket League after a thorough demolition of Rift Valley Sports Club in the final played last Saturday.

Batting first, Kisumu made 274 in their allotted 40 overs before bowling RVSC out for a mere 109.

More details to follow as they become available.

Result courtesy of RVCA

Uganda again better than our Juniors

Report courtesy of Colin Macbeth:

"Rwanda's failure to show up - for whatever reason - and some poor weather, put a dampener on the first two days of the cricinfo-touted Africa Cricket Association (ACA) East Africa Under-13 boys' competition in Nakuru, Kenya.
Rwanda had been flagged up as one of the successes of the African development programme/Cricket without borders enterprise; so their absence, if only to gauge the team's progress, was a disappointment.
Matches were being played at Rift Valley Sports Club and Greensteds School, south of Nakuru.
Results: Day One - Kenya 108 f 3, Tanzania 96 f 7; Kenya 93, Uganda 94 f 7. Day Two - Tanzania 92, Uganda 93 f 6; Tanzania v Kenya (rained off)."

Kenya Cricket.com Comment:

Once again Kenya have been outplayed by Uganda at development level. This cannot continue to be ignored as we cannot rely on our current seniors for ever. Cricket Kenya must act ASAP to return Kenya to the top of the pile at regional development level. If Uganda continue to get the wood over us as juniors, it is only a matter of time before that filters through to the full national side.

A shame that neith Rwanda or Burundi were able to make it. for the benefit of the game in the whole region, it is important that these smaller teams do get to play and gain experience at this level.

On a positive note, it is good to see the facilities in the Rift Valley being used and also that Kenya had all 3 cricketing regions represented in the squad. These are things CK must build on to get the development back on track so we win at all levels again.

Overseas players continue to impress

Seren Waters, Ragheb Aga and Abeed Janmohamed have continued on with their recent form in England.

Waters put in a good allround performance in Weybridge's drawn match against Malden Wanderers in the Surrey Premier League Competition. Waters chipped in with 2/27 off 6.5 overs with the ball, before backing it up with the bat, scoring a brisk 90 off just 95 balls.

In the previous week, Waters captain, Abeed Janmohamed pulled Weybridge out of a poor position of 83/6 against Wimbledon Cricket Club with a determined innings of 56. Earlier in the day, Waters had looked in good form, racing to 21 off just 20 balls, before falling to a misjudged run. Unfortunately their efforts werent enough as Weybridge went down by 6 wickets.

Finally, Ragheb Aga has continued his recent run of wicket taking for the Eastbourne Cricket Club in the Sussex Premier League Competition taking 3/47 off 14 overs in his teams loss to Cuckfield Cricket Club.

Once again, it is great to see these players performing well in overseas competitions, hopefully all three can maintain their recent good run of form.

Coast Cricket Association website up

finally some good news in terms of one of our Associations promoting themselves and cricket on the net. Coast Cricket Association have launched their website.

So far it looks great - the most recent tournament details are up and it is nice and easy to navigate around. Hopefully it lasts longer than the original CCA blog. Good to see the CCA are active and looking to do the right thing by promoting the game. They had a couple of representatives in the U13 squad and the grounds are looking like they will be ready for the U19 WC next year. Keep up the good work CCA.

Lins on the right hand menu will be updated soon, in the meanwhile you can go to http://www.ccakenya.com to check it out.