ICC happy with Kenya’s U-19 World Cup preps

The International Cricket Council is happy with Kenya’s progress so far towards preparations for the Under-19 World Cup to be held in the country early next year.

Andy Atkinson, the ICC pitch consultant, said a lot of renovation work has been done at the Coast Gymkhana and the Mombasa Sports Club since he last visited the venues on April 7th.

He however fell short of revealing whether he was confident Kenya would meet the deadline, saying ICC by-laws do not allow him to do so.

“I can only tell you why I am here and what I intend to do but cannot go further than that because I have to report back to my employer, who will then give the report,” Atkinson said.

During the inspection tour of the Gymkhana ground, the ICC official was accompanied by Cricket Kenya chairman Samir Inamdar, Coast Cricket Association chairman Pankaj Desai and Coast Gymkhana chairman Bimal Chaker, among others.

Major event

Saying the Under-19 World Cup was a major event since a majority of the players from the championships will graduate to senior clubs for Test matches, Atkinson said he was happy Kenya had taken preparations for the event a notch higher.

“We have 16 countries drawn from all over the world converging in Kenya for this event which will see all the sixteen teams play against each other in the first round, thus the need to have as many playing venues and training venues as possible,” Atkinson, who will be in Nairobi and Nakuru on Tuesday and Wednesday to inspect facilities, said.

The consultant said he was on a similar mission last week in South Africa where preparations are in top gear ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy to be hosted by the country in September.

Inamdar said 11 venues that will be used as practice venues for the teams had been identified for upgrading. Mombasa, which is expected to host the Plate events, have three training venues – Mombasa Sports Club, Aryans Club and Vipingo Ridge.

Coast Gymkhana club is already undergoing a major facelift in an effort to attain international standards ahead of the U-19 World Cup.

The ICC official and his entourage joined workers in planting the Bermuda grass imported from South Africa at the green which has already been levelled and manure applied on it.

Angered a committee

In Pakistan, the nation’s suspended pace bowler Mohammad Asif has angered a committee investigating his brief detention in Dubai last year by leaving for the United Kingdom before the panel had completed its findings.

Asif, serving a 12-month ban for testing positive for a banned substance during last year’s Indian Premier League, spent 19 days behind bars last June for the possession of a small quantity of opium.

The Pakistan Cricket Board formed a three-member inquiry committee to determine if Asif had committed a doping offence or violated the player’s code of conduct through his detention in the Emirates.

Additional reporting by Reuters