New Kenya cricket captain to be named on Sunday

The the Kenya team for the International Cricket Council Inter-continental Cup match away to Ireland on July 3 to 6 will be named on Sunday.

The team is scheduled to leave next Sunday for Ireland where they will also play two one day international games against their hosts on July 8 and 10.

Cricket Kenya (CK) selectors are also expected to name the new captain on Sunday.

CK chief executive officer, Tom Tikolo said five players been interviewed for the position which was left vacant when Steve Tikolo announced his retirement after leading Kenya to their fifth World Cup during the qualifying rounds in South Africa in May.

This is the first time the selectors are interviewing different players for the position of Kenya captain. Previously, the vice captain was just appointed to take over.

Thomas Odoyo has been vice-captain ever since Steve took over fromMaurice Odumbe. This makes Odoyo the front runner for the position.

Although the CK boss Tikolo declined to release the names of the candidates for the position, it is likely that opening bat and wicket keeper and Maurice Ouma, Jimmy Kamande, Collins may be considered for the position.

The new captain is expected to lead Kenya to the 2011 World Cup in Asia.

The other teams playing in the Intercontinental Cup are Canada, Scotland, the Netherlands, and newcomers Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

Afghanistan replaced Bermuda who failed to finish among the top six teams in the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa in May. Zimbabwe’s Test status was suspended due to the political situation in the country and the poor standards of the Test team.

They will enter an ‘A’ side in the Cup.

However, Bermuda will play in the newly introduced ICC Intercontinental Shield along with Namibia, Uganda and United Arab Emirates.

There is more motivation for the players with prize money being introduced for the first time this season since the tournament started in 2004.

The winner of the Intercontinental Cup will take home Sh7.7 million (US$ 100,000) while the losing finalists will get Sh3 million (US$ 40,000).

The Intercontinental Shield champion will get Sh 1.9 million (US$ 25,000) and losing finalist take home Sh 770,000 (US$ 10,000). Besides the prizes for the winners, there will be Sh 231,000 (US$ 3,000) for any a win in a match.

Cricket Kenya chairman, Samir Inamdar has said that all the monies will go directly to the respective cricket boards and that it will be for each board to decide what they want to do with it.