Perspective on Kenya's tour to Zimbabwe

Today, Kenya return from Zimbabwe, having lost their Intercontinental Cup match against Zimbabwe 'A' by five wickets and the ODI series against Zimbabwe by one game to four.
But how different might it have been if the Kenyans had been able to build on the day when, in reply to Kenya's 333 all out, they had Zimbabwe 'A' at 178 for 7. But for Vusi Sibanda's double-century, which took his side to 352, how different might it have been?

A victory in the 'A' game would have provided just the impetus needed for the ODIs; yet it was only in the third game, won by Kenya by 20 runs, that the East Africans took the game by the scruff of the neck. It was then so utterly disappointing that in the fourth game Kenya, having scored a challenging-looking 270 for 8, allowed Zimbabwe to run away to a six-wicket victory with two overs to spare; and then, in the final match, to be hammered by an enormous number of runs.

The plus point of the tour, however, must be the regeneration of Zimbabwe. Sibanda 's splendid innings, Hamilton Masakadza's imposing batting, and the re-emergence of Stuart Matsikenyeri as a powerful lower-order player are all good for the game; and all credit must be given to Kenya for visiting that benighted land.

Kenya, not totally outplayed, will see this tour as a prospectus for the future, so that now, if Scotland is to come to Kenya for an Intercontinental Cup fixture and a series of ODIs in January, that will fill a very good gap in the schedules - as neither side is going to the Under-19 world cup finals in New Zealand -and is likely to prove useful to both sides in what should be a very exciting rubber.

The green shoots are there, and Eldine Baptiste's hand on the tiller can already be detected. Let's just hope that the 2010s will prove 'anni mirabiles' and will bring for Kenya a joyful restoration and return to the great days of the 1990s.

- Topspinner

CCA make it 3 from 3 against Danes

The Coast XI made it a lcean sweep for the local sides against visiting Danish side Dansk last week winning the final game which was reduced to a 20-20 by six wickets.

Dansk lost the toss and were put into bat with CCA restricting them to 100/5 in their allotted overs with the coast bowlers sharing the wickets between them.

CCA's reply got off to a shaly start when Bakir was bowled by Ian Osterg for a duck, but Mohammed Sawjani (49) and Bharat Chavda (40) did enough for to see the home side within striking distance of their target which was in the end reached comfortably with 4 overs to spare.

results courtesy CCA.

Nilay Thakar helps CCA U17s to win over Dansk

Nilay Thakar scored a half century for CCA U17s as they beat visiting Danish side Dansk by 60 runs yesterday at Mombasa Sports Club. Batting first, the coast youngsters set a target of 170 for the loss of 8 wickets. Other main contributors were Africa U17 finals man-of-the-tournament, Raj Shikotra (33*) pictured right in action v Ghana U17s, Jignesh Hirani (29) and Vishal shikotra (29).

Dansk could only manage 110 in reply with the coast bowlers sharing the wickets between them.

A CCA XI will take on the visitors in a final limited overs game on Saturday.

CCA triumph over visiting Danes

Good to see some action from the coast where a CCA XI recently defeated a visiting Danish side by 8 wickets in a 30 overs game.

Batting first, Dansk XI put on 115 with Perben top scoring with 36. Khan (3/17 off 4 overs) and the evergreen Mohammed Sawjani (2/23 off 6 overs) took the wickets for CCA.

Kamal Gohil (28 retired) and Jasmeer (24 retired) gave CCA a solid start to the run chase before the Danes struck back with the wickets of Mike Fernandes (12) and Khan (6) before Satpal Singh (17*) and Rajesh Shukla (20*) eased the hosts to a win with balls and wickets aplenty in hand.

Game 2 of the series was scheduled for yesterday between Dansk and a CCA U17 side. As yet, no details have emerged on the result.

We will endeavour to get details of the scores etc. Anyone from the coast who can help...

A final game is scheduled against the full CCA side on October 10th.

Details so far courtesy of CCA website

Waters out ...Aga in

Seren Waters makes way for Rageb Aga in the only change as Cricket Kenya name the squad to take on Zimbabwe in both the Intercontinental Cup and the series of ODIs to follow.

Given that Waters (pictured in action against Ireland earlier this year) has been in form for Surrey seconds and has recently signed an emerging players contract it is both interesting and worrying that he has been left out or opted to be left out. We are currently awaiting confirmation of the reason for his exclusion from Cricket Kenya. Hopefully he will be playing for Kenya again in the near future as he is too good a talent to be allowed to get away. Edit 4/10/09 - Cricket Kenya has confirmed that Seren's first week of University coincides with the Zimbabwe tour and he is required to attend for registration purposes. It is hoped he will be available for future tours once he has settled in. ND

Aga's inclusion is also interesting in that it means that both Darshit Shah and Runish Gudkha miss out despite their recent good showing in the practice matches. Though admittedly figures can sometimes flatter, they looked to be in with a chance and can consider themselves unlucky not tomake the cut. Aga has however been among the wickets since returning from injury and, like Waters, is too good a player for Kenya to lose. It is good to see him return to the fold.

Rakep Patel also keeps his place in the side, perhaps on the back of a timely century yesterday. One of the incumbent squad who had previously not stood up to expectation in the practice games so far, he has kept alive the promise of great things to come. If 2008 was the year the Obanda made a name for himself at an international level, this may well be Patel's year. Considering that he missed the Canada series due to the untimely loss of his father, it is nice that he gets a chance again vs Zimbabwe. So far he has been given only slivers of opportunity, perhaps this tour he will be given enough to prove his worth.

Without Waters in the team, it looks like Maurice Ouma will return to his opening role opening the batting with David Obuya at the other end. Tikolo in his preferred 4 and Ongondo and Varaiya as the main bowlers are the only other obvious starting choices.

3 has been Obanda's preferred spot since coming into the team, but he could face competition from both Patel and Collins Obuya who will also look to contest 5,6 and 7 with Jimmy Kamande and Thomas Odoyo, should he be fit enough to bowl. If he is not, he may be a high profile omission, especially with Nehemiah Odhiambo threatening to move up from the number 8 slot as he continues his exponential improvement as an all-rounder. If Odoyo is fully fit, expect him also to contend for the 7th or 8th position as well as opening the bowling with Ongondo.

Should Odoyo not be fit to bowl his place must be sacrificed and this leaves the door open for Aga to step in, though Luseno, Onyango and Elijah Otieno will also no doubt get a run at some point. Luseno with his extra pace may even be favourite for the Intercontinental Cup rather than the ODIs where he could prove expensive.

I have been asked to give my opinion on the final starting XI and assuming Odoyo is fit to bowl, I would guess for the Intercontinental Cup it will be:
Ouma, D Obuya, Patel, Tikolo, C Obuya, Kamande, Odoyo, Odhiambo, Aga, Ongondo, Varaiya with Obanda as 12th man.

Full Squad:

1. Ragheb Gul Aga

2. Thomas Odoyo Migai

3. Peter Jimmy Carter Ongondo

4. Hiren Ashok Varaiya

5. Nehemiah Odhiambo Ngoche

6. Lameck Onyango Ngoche

7. Collins Omondi Obuya

8. Alfred Luseno

9. Morris Ouma Amolo (Captain)

10. James Kabatha Kamande (Vice Captain)

11. Alex Obanda Auma

12. Rakep Rajendrabhai Patel

13. Elijah Otieno Asoyo

14. David Oluoch Obuya

15. Steve Ogonji Tikolo

The technical personnel consist of the following:

• Eldine Baptiste (National Coach)
• Martin Suji (Assistant Coach)
• Macdonald Suji (Team Manager)
• Thota Sreenivas (Match Analyst)
• Wycliffe Agola (Team Physiotherapist)
• Joseph Asichi (Fitness Trainer)

New Schedule for Zimbabwe Tour

DAY	DATE	MONTH	EVENT	VENUE
Monday	5	October	Kenya arrive in Zimbabwe and travel to Kwekwe	Harare
Tuesday	6	October	Rest/Practice	Kwekwe
Wednesday	7	October	I-Cup Game vs. Zimbabwe ‘A’- Day 1	Kwekwe Sports Club
Thursday	8	October	I-Cup Game vs. Zimbabwe ‘A’- Day 2	Kwekwe Sports Club
Friday	9	October	I-Cup Game vs. Zimbabwe ‘A’- Day 3	Kwekwe Sports Club
Saturday	10	October	I-Cup Game vs. Zimbabwe ‘A’- Day 4	Kwekwe Sports Club
Sunday	11	October	Travel to Harare (am) and Rest/Practice(pm)	Harare
Monday	12	October	1st ODI	Harare Sports Club
Tuesday	13	October	2nd ODI	Harare Sports Club
Wednesday	14	October	Rest/Practice	Harare
Thursday	15	October	3rd ODI	Harare Sports Club
Friday	16	October	Rest/Practice	Harare
Saturday	17	October	4th ODI	Harare Sports Club
Sunday	18	October	5th ODI	Harare Sports Club
Monday	19	October	Kenya Depart Zimbabwe	Harare

Courtesy Cricket Kenya

Individual performances in Zimbabwe

While the team results were not the best in Zimbabwe, there is still plenty of good to be found in the individual performances. I have been doing some number crunching and these are the summarised stats of all of the players on tour:

Batsman	Innings	not out	Runs	Balls	Avg	S.R	50s	100s
CO Obuya	10	1	383	891	42.56	42.99	1	2
T Mishra	10	1	352	858	39.11	41.03	3	0
A Obanda	10	0	358	949	35.80	37.72	2	1
MA Ouma	8	0	261	437	32.63	59.73	1	1
DO Obuya	10	0	247	537	24.70	46.00	0	1
AO Suji	8	0	186	510	23.25	36.47	1	0
N Odhiambo	9	1	87	127	10.88	68.50	0	0
HA Varaiya	9	1	83	381	10.38	21.78	0	0
JK Kamande	8	1	67	215	9.57	31.16	0	0
RL Bhudia	5	0	34	45	6.80	75.56	0	0
RR Patel	2	0	12	78	6.00	15.38	0	0
S Karia	2	0	11	98	5.50	11.22	0	0
AS Luseno	8	5	14	56	4.67	25.00	0	0
E Otieno	5	2	6	66	2.00	9.09	0	0

Bowler	OVERS	MAIDENS	RUNS	WICKETS
HA Varaiya	147.2	41	349	22
N Odhiambo	105	24	269	15
AS Luseno	100	20	310	11
CO Obuya	64.1	8	185	8
JK Kamande	86.2	15	229	5
RL Bhudia	25	6	55	1
AO Suji	4	3	4	1
E Otieno	60	20	124	1
T Mishra	1	0	13	0
RR Patel	4	0	13	0
S Karia	4.2	1	10	0

Note that i have not included averages or strike rate as full bowling details fromthe Northern match were not available, so only the wickets taken in that match were included.

Keeping ahead of the rest

Until Ireland's heroics at the World Cup, Kenya were able to count themselves as the top Associate cricketing nation. We had won the World Cricket League Division 1 in Nairobi and were the only Associate team on the rankings table.
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Ireland have now not only joined us on that table, but after getting through to the Super 8s have actually overtaken us. not only that, but they are currently in the process of dishing out a thrashing to Canada on their way to retaining the Intercontinental Cup. This is an event that Kenya should have intentions of winning ourselves, but we were knocked out after finishing third to Canada and The Netherlands in our group.
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A Kenya Select side have just returned from a month long tour of Zimbabwe, easily the weakest of the Test nations (and even that is a tenuous position). Having played 5 games, 4 against provincial sides in the Logan Cup, the team returned home winless. It is true that this was in essence a learning trip, one designed to give our younger players experience at First Class cricket (something which it seems to have succeeded at as the standards improved throughout the tour), but none the less, the results highlight the difference in standards between the two countries.
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Later this year, Kenya Under19s travel to South Africa to take part in the qualifiers for the Under 19 World Cup and in April 2009, the national team travel to the UAE to contest a place in the 2011 World Cup. Both these are events that Kenya needs to qualify from and both are events that will see other nations doing their utmost to knock us out.
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In the Under 19 qualifiers, Uganda have already knocked Kenya out in the past and with a stronger youth system than we have, will have their sights set on doing this a second time. Only one team is due to go through from the region, so qualification will be even harder this time around. Cricket Kenya and the NPCA have done well in starting preparations much earlier than last time, but it it high time a junior structure was put in place that enabled our best young players to play against each other on a regular basis. Only then will we be able to go into such tournaments with confidence.
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2009 is a much more serious threat. there are plenty of countries, like neighbors Uganda, who are rapidly developing better internal structures than Kenya to develop talent and bring it through. Kenya cannot afford to rest on our laurels and expect that our position is set in stone. It is not, and unless we do something to change it, we are going to find it harder and harder to stay ahead of the chasing pack. Here's hoping to hear some good news on this front soon!

A different game

There is a preview of Kenya A's Logan Cup campaign now up on cricket Europe. No more needs to be said here except to repeat the point I made about Cricket Kenya having to set up a local tournament to give our own players experience at the longer version of the game. I know it is something they are working on, and that there are difficulties. However, that is what they are in office to overcome and we need to see at least some dates soon.
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In the mean time, all the best to the boys for their tour to Zim. Here's hoping it is successful both in terms of results, but more importantly in terms of helping the players improve their games. That is after all what this tour is all about from a Kenyan perspective.
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I will do my best to keep up to date with the scores on cricketEurope Kenya, but zimcricketnews is also a good place to check for scores from the tournament.