Schedule for Atul Shah Tournament

The schedule for the Atul Shah Memorial Tournament has been released, and sees Kenya A opening their campaign against Uganda at the Mombasa Sports Club. With a round robin format, the event ensures that each team gets three matches followed by either a final or playoff for the plate. Played in whites and using a red Kookaburra ball, this will be a great opportunity for the teams to notch up some competetive experience at a level higher than they are used to in their respective domestic competitions.

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Active duty is something that never really happened for the Kenya A squad under the KCA, and it is heartening to see that Cricket Kenya realise the need to give the players on the fringes of the national team the chance to both improve their level and show their worth. Too often have we seen promising young players thrust too early into the national team, where they have suffered due to lack of exposure. With this event and the upcoming tour to Denmark, hopefully this will now become a thing of the past.

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Squads for the event have not yet been released, but with only a week to go until the first match, one would expect them to be hard at training. I am looking forward especially to see the relative make up of the two Kenya teams. There are definitely some Coast players who deserve to be in the Kenya A squad, so it will be interesting to see whether they are called up, or left to bolster the CCA XI. If so, the match between Kenya A and the CCA XI will pit the best of the upcoming Nairobi players against the best from the Coast. Both sides will no doubt feel they have a lot to prove to each other and the selectors. This tournament will also no doubt feature heavily in determining the final squad to travel to Denmark. For the Kenyan players, there is certainly plenty to play for. For Uganda and Tanzania, it will be a chance to gain experience and also to guage where they are relative to the other Associates.

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Tournament Schedule:

Wed 7th June:

Kenya A vs. Uganda at MSC

CCA vs. Tanzania at Coast Gymkhana.

Thurs 8th June:

Kenya A vs. Tanzania at MSC

CCA vs. Uganda at CG.

Sat 10th June:

Uganda vs. Tanzania at MSC

Kenya A vs. CCA at CG

Sun 11th June:

Final at MSC

Plate at CK.

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I will also include these in the fixtures list.

Kenya's Unsung Cricket Heroes

The title refers of course to the people who make up the Kenya Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association.
Founded in 1958, this largely voluntary organisation provides the officials necessary for actual cricket to go ahead. Often criticised or ignored, the umpires and scorers do a largely thankless job, but one that is absolutely vital to the continued success of the game within Kenya. Over the last couple of years, there has been little for Kenya's umpires and scorers to do, especially on an international stage, but with the internal wrangles now a thing of the past and increased action in all spheres of the game, it will be a busy time ahead.
Currently, the board comprises Abdul Moughal Sattar, one of the oldest serving members of the Association as chairman, Ebhrahim Fidahusein (V.C), Rockie D'Mello (Sec), Ashraf Chaudry (Tres), Mosses Owesi, Lalji Bhudia and Naran Hirani. With Kenya's increased international schedule, and hopefully the introduction of a national league, it will be their job to ensure the rising standards of cricket are met with a similar rise in the levels of umpiring. Kenya's umpires are not without experience, indeed several have represented Kenya at international level in the past. It will be the task of the administrative body to ensure that these umpires are kept up to date with the latest methods and are given the opportunity to keep up with the best. They must also try to bring new umpires through to continue the tradition of good service. It would certainly be fantastic to see one day a Kenya umpire on the ICC elite panel. At present, the closet umpire to this level from Kenya would probably be Subhash Modi, father of Hitesh. This pair in fact share a unique record in that they are the only father-son pair to have umpired and played in the same ODI match (Kenya vs. West Indies in Nairobi 2001).

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Kenyan umpires to have represented the country on the international stage so far:
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ICC Trophy:
Anil Sarkar in Holland (1990)
Subhash Modi in Kenya (1994)
Makbul Jaffer in Malaysia (1997).
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Commonwealth Games:
Subhash Modi in Malaysia (1998).
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ICC World Cup:
Anil Sarkar in 1996 - Pakistan (Third Umpire)
Subhash Modi in 1999 - England (Fourth Umpire)
Rockie D'Mello in 2003 - South Africa (Fourth Umpire)
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One Day International Series, Kenya Vs. West Indies, 2001 in Kenya:
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On field Umpires:
Subhash Modi
Narendra Dave
Rockie Demello
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Third Umpires:
Narendra Dave
Lalji Bhudia
Subhash Modi.
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2006 and 2007 should see more added to this list, so all the best to those umpires involved.

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Thanks to Subhash Modi for the information.

Kanbis A and Swamibapa Through To Final

Today's Standard carries a report of the weekend's matches in Nairobi. After a delay due to the rains and the six-a-side tournament, the semi-finals of the NPCA 45-over league were finally able to be played. In the first semi, Kanbis A easily brushed aside their B team by 139 runs, thanks to 90 from Arvind Halai. In the other semi, Swamibapa cruised past Sir Ali's 153 all-out to win by 5 wickets.

No surprises really from either of these matches, both Swamis and Kanbis have proved very strong in this tournament so far, and it should be a good match for the final come the 11th of June.

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The second match of the Girls Secondary Schools Cricket Challenge is also reported to be taking place today with Kenya High hosting Peponi.

Akshar League Standings And Leading Averages After 10 matches

League Standings:
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TEAM..........Played...Won...Lost...Bat...Bowl...Win...Total
ELDORET......3...........3..........0.......5.......12.......36......53
KERICHO......3...........2..........1........9.......11.......24......44
AKSHAR.B....3...........1...........2.......7........7........12......26
VOC...............4...........1...........3.......2.......12.......12......26
AKSHAR.A....2...........1...........1.......5........8........12......25
DIAMOND....3...........1...........2.......3.......10.......12......25
NAIVASHA....2...........1...........1........2........7.......12......21
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Leading Wicket Takers:
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BOWLER.............Club..............Matches......Wickets....4wkts...5wkts
Raju.....................Diamond.............3...............11...............1...........1
Ghanshyam.........Akshar.A..............2..............10..............1...........1
Shanti..................V.O.C...................4...............10..............0..........1
Tejash..................Eldoret................3...............10...............0..........1
Batuk...................V.O.C...................4...............9.................1..........0
Rakesh.................Eldoret.................3...............8................0..........1
Akshay.................Kericho................3...............7................1...........0
Ravi.....................Akshar.B...............3...............7................1..........0
Ketan...................V.O.C....................4..............6.................1..........0
Snehal..................Eldoret.................3..............6.................0..........0
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Leading Runscorers:
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Batsman...........Club..........Innings....Not.Out..Runs....Average.....50s
Sunil.................Akshar.B.....3................0...........81..........27.00.......1
Jignesh............Kericho........3................0...........74..........24.67.......1
Swapnesh.........Eldoret........3................0...........67..........22.33......0
Vishal...............Eldoret........3................0............66.........22.00......0
Lalji.................Kericho........2................2............60.........60*..........0
Dilpesh............Kericho........3................0............59.........19.67........0
Tejash..............Eldoret........3.................0............49........16.33........0
Harshil............Akshar.A......2.................0...........45........22.50.........0
Minesh............Diamond......3................1.............45.......22.50.........0
Indravadan.....Diamond......3................1.............44........22.00........0
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Note that these figures are affected by the teams having played a differing number of matches due to the postponement of the match between Akshar A and Naivasha.

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So far, the competition definitely seems to have favoured the bowlers with 9 of them taking 4 or more wickets at least once. Only 2 batsmen have got past the magical 50 mark. Not surprisingly Sunil (H.S: 57) and Jignesh (H.S:61) lead the pack in terms of runs scored. There are no complete scorecards available to me, so I cannot include strike rates or complete bowling averages. No surprises either to see Eldoret players featuring strongly in both lists.

Naivasha Add To VOC's Woes

Thanks as always to Shailesh for the following match report from Nakuru:

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It was the clash of the minnows this weekend with Naivasha taking on VOC in Nakuru's Akshar League. Naivasha won the toss and decided to bat.
Prabdeep and Sarat gave them a reasonable start with the first wicket falling on 22. However both openers fell within one over, and it was left for Amardeep and Jayesh to stabilise the innings. VOC dropped a couple of catches and Naivasha took full advantage of it. At the 20 over stage they were 85 /2, and it looked as though they would easily surpass 200.
Immediately after the drinks break however, Shanti switched bowling ends and ripped through the middle order claiming 6 wickets with his off spin. A late effort by Santosh took Naivasha to 136, but VOC would have been feeling confident at the break.
This feeling did not last long as wickets fell at regular intervals from the start of the reply and VOC were never really in the hunt. Only an excessive number of extras and a 30 run last wicket partnership thanks to Khilan's 15 not out brought them within shouting distance. Naivasha will be very happy with the result as it gives them some much-needed points for a win. All teams in the tournament have now won a match, so the competition for the minor placings is looking good. Next week sees second placed Kericho taking on a Diamond team desperate for a win to stay above the resurgent Naivasha.
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SCORECARD:

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Naivasha Innings:

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Pradeep.............................Bowled.......................Batuk..........08
Sarat..................................Bowled......................Jayesh..........10
Amardeep..........................Ct Kirti.....................Shanti..........26
Jayesh................................Ct Jayesh..................Shanti..........37
Bhavya...............................Bowled......................Shanti..........00
Indraj................................Bowled.......................Shanti..........02
Dharam.............................St Batuk....................Shanti..........00
Jasraj................................Bowled.......................Jayesh..........03
Kunal................................Bowled.......................Shanti..........00
Himanshu........................Not Out...........................................04
Santosh............................Bowled........................Batuk............13
Extras........................................................................................33
Total All Out............................................................................136

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V.O.C Innings:

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Naren...............................Run Out..........................................00
Manish.............................Bowled.....................Indraj.............05
Batuk................................Ct Amardeep...........Sarat..............05
Ketan................................Bowled....................Dharam...........10
Jayesh..............................Ct Santosh...............Sarat...............06
Kirti..................................C & B.......................Sarat................04
Minesh.............................Bowled.....................Indraj..............08
Shanti..............................Bowled.....................Prabdeep.........00
Kavit................................Bowled......................Indraj..............04
Khilan..............................Not Out.............................................15
Yuvraj..............................Bowled......................Indraj..............08
Extras.........................................................................................58
Total All Out..............................................................................120

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Naivasha win by 16 runs.

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Points:

Naivasha: 2 Bat, 4 Bowling, 12 Win. Total: 18

V.O.C: 1 Bat, 4 Bowling. Total: 5