Depleted and struggling Kenya squad hits the nets
Kenya’s batting coach Maurice Odumbe (second, left) with the team’s top order batsmen, from left, Alex Obanda, Irfan Karim and Rushabh Patel during training at Simba Union, Nairobi, on February 1, 2017. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- Under-achieving team regroups
- Coach Odoyo under pressure to turn around fortunes after embarrassing whitewash against Uganda in one day series
- Kenya is preparing for friendly matches against Malaysia, Singapore and Oman that start on Sunday, May 14, in Nairobi.
The under-performing Kenya national cricket team resumed training Tuesday without two of its key players, skipper Rakep Patel and opening batsman Irfan Karim.
Kenya is preparing for friendly matches against Malaysia, Singapore and Oman that start on Sunday, May 14, in Nairobi.
The team’s coach, former paceman Thomas Odoyo, said that Rakep is nursing a knee injury he suffered in Nepal which will keep him out of action for two months while Karim is playing club cricket in England and will be back in September.
Malaysia and Oman teams will arrive in Nairobi on May 12 while Singapore is expected to jet in four days later, according to Cricket Kenya general manager, Josephat Muriithi.
The visiting sides will be on a stop-over in Nairobi on their way to Kampala to play in the ICC World Cricket League Division Three that will run from May 23 to 30. Other teams taking part in the Championship are Canada, USA and hosts Uganda.
NEW FACES
Odoyo said Kenya will raise two teams for the friendlies to give chance to fringe players who are fighting hard to wear national colours.
He said that there could be one or two new faces in the main team.
“The boys were humbled by Ugandan players who whitewashed them 4-0 during their tour of the country, early in the month,” said Odoyo.
“The team is going through a bad patch. We have boys who could win games for us, but they are all struggling with the bat.”
The two finalists in the Ugandan tournament will have a chance to play in the qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales as they will be promoted to ICC World Cricket League Division Two where they will join the last four teams in the ICC World Cricket League Championship as at December 2017.
The Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Hong Kong, Kenya, Nepal, UAE and Namibia are featuring in the World Championship League.
The six ICC World Cricket League Division Two teams will fight it out among themselves and the finalists will join the top four teams from the ICC World Cricket League Championship, and four others from the ODI tournament.
The 10 teams will assemble in Bangladesh next year in the qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup from where the top two teams will make it to England and Wales.
