Cricket Kenya organise Media Challenge

Well after so much sniping from the media it seems that Cricket Kenya have finally decided that it is time to make a more concerted effort to get them to understand the game. Most of reporters on cricket in Kenya do not and have not played themselves so Cricket Kenya has organised an Inter Media Challenge for November 7th 2009.

They have invited teams from the following media groups to participate:

i) Standard Media Group,
ii) The Nation Media Group,
iii) The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation,
iv) The People Daily,
v) Africa One Media (Kiss FM, Jambo Fm, Classic FM, East FM etc)

Format will be eight a-side 10-overs per innings matches and will give the players a good insight into what playing the game really entails. Not only will they get the opportunity to play on the day but Cricket Kenya will also organise training sessions for each of the teams so that they can gear up and actually get the most out of the experience.

Given that they will be given sufficient training that they will not embarrass themselves and that there is plenty of time to prepare and the size of the organisations invited, THERE SHOULD BE NO REASON WHY ALL THE ABOVE CANNOT RAISE A TEAM. Those that don't are plain and simply cowards.

Now the time for loose talk is over. Members of the press who have been so critical of the game and its players will have to put their money where their mouth is. Or their bats where their pens are perhaps would be a better turn of phrase. Who will actually stand up and prove that they have the mettle to learn the game. I hope and expect that most of those who do take part in this will thouroughly enjoy it and if they do, I offer a further challenge:

Submit a joint Media Team to future NPCA competitions. There would be no better way that to further grow an understanding of the more complex parts of the game such as building an innings, scoring centuries, bowling as a partnership etc, all things which can only be guessed at in 10-overs a-side matches.

Failing that, given that all correspondents for Kenya Cricket.com play the game, next time I am in Kenya, we will challenge the winners or a joint team to a match.

Game on and all credit to whoever in Cricket Kenya came up with this idea!

Zimbabwe's loss, Associates half-gain

The ICC Cricket committee's recommendation that Zimbabwe be held back from Test status until they can prove their ability against the top associates is almost a really good step for World cricket. Almost, but not quite.

It preserves the sanctity of Test cricket by ensuring that only teams good enough get to play it, and in the structure of the International game, this is necessary to keep the purists and traditional cricket lovers happy. It gives the top associates a chance to prove themselves against Zimbabwe - a side with Test experience and a longer history in multi-day cricket that any of the Associates.

It also allows countries like England, Australia and New Zealand the opportunity to sidestep the political ramifications of playing Zimbabwe and handing that moral dilemma down to teams such as Scotland and Ireland, but that is an argument to be left for another day.

At a pure cricketing level, this measure (if adopted by the executive) will mean that once they prove themselves good enough, Zimbabwe can step back up to Test cricket. What it does not do is provide a similar chance for an Associate team to make that same step. This should have been the perfect opportunity for the ICC to put in place a system whereby the most deserving team could earn itself a Test spot, instead they let the ball slip through their fingers.

Had they wanted to show they are serious about expanding the game, the ICC should have said that the winner of the 2007/8 Intercontinental Cup will be promoted to Test cricket for a period of 2 years - the period of the next Intercontinental Cup. At the end of that time, the lowest ranked Test side would then host a series against the new winner of the Intercontinental Cup with the winner retaining Test status for another two years, and so on.

This would in effect mean that the top 11 cricket playing nations would always be the ones playing Test cricket. No dilution would occur to the records and the high standards of Test cricket would have been safeguarded. For Associates, it would provide that final bridge to top flight cricket. It would provide an incentive for players from the Associates to stay with their countries rather than defecting to England and would significantly raise the stakes of the Intercontinental Cup making it more attractive to sponsors and hence providing increased funds for cricket growth on a global scale. In an ideal follow on, there would then be a third division introduced for the next tier of nations with a similar a promotion/relegation system. It is high time that performances on the pitch were allowed to determine who gets to play Test cricket rather than old-fashioned prejudice and politics. The ICC say they want to continue expanding the game. This is the perfect opportunity for them to actually deliver on that rather than offering empty promises.