Somebody give players a bat on the backside

• Performance has plummeted, as manifested by loss of early wickets, paltry runs and lack of early wicket haul, as players shun club duty

The national cricket team players might have signed contracts with Cricket Kenya but the woes bedevilling the country’s sport seem not over yet.

It’s no secret that Kenyan cricket has sunk to its lowest ebb since the historic appearance of the national team in the 2003 Cricket World Cup semi-finals.

Precisely, everything is in a shambles, right from the sport’s administration. What of the story state of the national team playing unit and its technical bench.

Last month the team slumped to a 4-0 thrashing by Indian provincial sides Baroda and Gujarat in the one-day Tri-Nations series and were tossed aside in a three-day contest by Baroda by an innings and 43 runs and Gujarat by an innings.

The awful performance came in the heels of a disappointing display at the ICC World Cricket League Division One in the Netherlands in June where their bid to reclaim the title they last won in 2008 was vapourised as they lost all their five matches.

The ‘shadow boxing’ that had existed for more than two months reached its climax when the players boycotted training in June, leading to a last-minute cancellation of a warm-up tour to England ahead of the Netherlands contest.

The players were disgruntled over poor terms and the cancellation of the trip to England.

Following a series of meetings with CK officials and their representatives though, the players signed new one-year contracts which run until May 31 next year.

The contracts expired in May and had been expected to be renewed without difficulty, CK offering a 10 per cent pay rise despite continuing poor on-field performances from the the 16-man national squad.

But are the players ready for the task that awaits them at next year’s World Cup? Are they well-conditioned to face Pakistan, New Zealand, Canada, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, whose preparations are so far way ahead?

The Super League (Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association League) that has been a yardstick in selecting the national team has, of late, lacked quality in terms of competition.

But lack of incentives and poor organisation have seen most of the national team players not giving their best for the clubs.

A directive by CK that the contracted national players be distributed among Super League teams seemed to have rubbed the clubs the wrong way as they questioned who would foot the salary bill.

Shunning club duty

Some players have had issues with clubs over salaries with those in the national team shunning club duty in the Super League. Swamipaba were hit hard by this.

National skipper Maurice Ouma has not been seen at Swamibapa while Nehemiah Odhiambo ditched the club over payment having only turned out for Nairobi Gymkhana, with nine league matches played.

Elijah Otieno also moved from Swamibapa to join league leaders Kanbis.

The performance of upcoming and established players has plummeted of late, as manifested by loss of early wickets, paltry runs and lack of early wicket haul.

Kenya’s opening batsman Alex Obanda, considered the future Steve Tikolo, ought to be at his peak but the youngster has nothing to show for the few matches he has played for Nairobi Gymkhana. The golden touches that Jimmy Kamande, Hiren Varaiya and David Obuya produced with the ball and bat have simply gone.

At least Thomas Odoyo and Collins Obuya have been consistent with Nairobi Gymhana and Nookers clubs, respectively.

Steve Tikolo’s showing in the Zimbabwe Premier League and his local side Stray Lions needs no playing up. Last season, he was among the top Test batsmen in the Zimbabwean League and his return to the team is timely. Tony Suji and Alfred Luseno have managed a standout performance for Nookers but are still below par.

The players’ relationship between the coach, former West Indies all-rounder Eldine Baptiste, has not been good. Besides, players have not been happy with a ‘high-handed’ official in the selector committee.

It’s these frustrations that saw one of Kenya’s prolific bowlers, Peter Ongondo and Lameck Onyango, quit the team.