Kenya to play three friendly matches in Australia

The national cricket team is set to play three friendly matches against Northern Territory Xl in Australia. 

The team will jet out of the country on May 16 for Australia where they play the build-up matches in Darwin. 

It will be the team’s final stopover on their way to Papua New Guinea for the ICC World Cricket League Championship matches on May 28 and 30. 

Interim national team head coach, Thomas Odoyo, on Wednesday said that the Australian tour will be of immense benefit to the boys as it will offer his charges the chance to acclimatise before they go for the World Cup qualifiers.

“Our batting and bowling practices (nets), have been distracted by prevailing poor weather condition as we do not have indoor facilities in the country. We, therefore, spend much of the time doing gym work, fitness training and fielding,” Odoyo told Daily Nation Sport.

Odoyo also said that in Darwin, the team will have more time to practice as they will have a free day after each game.

The team is set to arrive in Papua New Guinea two days prior to the tournament which will see eight teams battle it out in the pre-2019 World Cup qualifiers. 

The hosts will be joined by Kenya, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Scotland, Nepal, Namibia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the qualifiers. 

England will host the 2019 World Cup. 

Booking a place in the forthcoming World Cup is a herculean task for the ICC associate and affiliate members as there are no slots reserved for them in England.

The top four teams in the league championship as at December 2017 will join the last four sides in the ICC ODI tournament that involves Ireland, Afghanistan and the 10 Test playing countries as at September 30, 2017 and two teams from the World Cricket League Division Two. 

The selected 10 teams will fight it out in Bangladesh in 2018 for the two World Cup slots. Hosts England have already qualified for the World Cup.