More Cricket in Kenyan Press

The last few days have seen an upsurge in the amount of cricket being covered by the Kenyan on-line media. Both the Standard and Nation yesterday carried stories about cricket, and Kenya's fixtures in the year ahead. Today, the nation ran a good article on the Terry Jenner Spin Clinic, while the Standard focussed attention on Kenya's matches in the build up to next year's World Cup.

It is heartening to see this interest in the media, even if it has only come about because of a press release from Cricket Kenya detailing the schedule for the upcoming year. What would be nice to see now is the provincial bodies following suit to promote the game, and journalists actively pursuing stories rather than having to be fed.

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Promoting cricket has to work both ways. The authorities will need to keep the media informed of developments as they occur, but in turn the media need to do their part in this as well. Take reporting on the domestic game. The provincial body, say NPCA for example, need to put out an official press release giving the complete results after a day's/weekend's play. A good reporter will have been to at least a couple of the matches and will be able to write an interesting article based around what he/she saw, and complement it with the press release. A not-so-good reporter will simply sit at home, wait for the press release and write his report around that alone. I am a not-so-good reporter. I have no opportunity to go to the ground as I am on the other side of the World. There are no such excuses for those reporting on the game in Kenya.

All the facilities for good coverage of Kenyan cricket are there. We may be a Third World country, but everyone has access to a phone/fax/email. There is no good reason why results cannot be made public and interest in the game cultivated. This week has definitely seen some progress in the right direction, but we must continue to work hard to ensure that the ball keeps rolling. There is a long way to go yet.