NAIROBI, Kenya, April 14 – Kenya needs to work extra hard if it is to uplift the standards of women’s cricket in the country and catch up with its regional neighbours Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The director of women’s cricket at Cricket Kenya (CK), Pearlyne Omamo, said the many years of squabbles bedevilling the federation had slown down the development of the sport in the country as its neighbours made huge strides.
“Our girls haven’t had much exposure to cricket in the past four years due to the squabbles that were affecting the game. Our opponents in the region are four years ahead and for us, it is up to us to catch up to them and make up the lost time. We need to see what formula works and expand our talent pool,” Omamo said.
Omamo admitted there is need to provide the national women’s team with opportunities for regular competition on the international front and to ensure their performances improve with each game.
“What we need is to get them regular competitions and to build a culture of consistency. We have realised that the team has a tendency to capitulate in the finals like in the last two tournaments where we finished second. This shows there is definitely a lot of potential within the team but now there is need to nurture these talents,” she said.
The team is expected to compete in the Victoria Series, which bowls off at the Lugogo Oval Club in Kampala, Uganda on Tuesday next week.
The ladies will face Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the round-robin tournament, which goes on until April 23.
Omamo said the tournament offers Kenya the chance to test themselves ahead of the Women’s Cricket World Cup regional qualifiers set for South Africa in September this year.
“The purpose of the series is to prepare for the qualifiers and to ensure that the team is ready to compete with the rest of the regional teams. The girls will be expected to depart for Uganda either tomorrow (Saturday) or on Sunday. They have had five or six days to train,” she added.
This will be Kenya’s first international competition since the Quadrangular Tri-Nation Series in Kenya in December last year where they lost to Uganda in the final by six wickets.
It followed on from another second-place finish at the Kwibuka Series in Rwanda in June after a 44-run loss to Tanzania in the final.
Omamo lamented the fact that their efforts to provide the team with as many competition opportunities as possible have been hindered by insufficient funds.
“We have been waiting for funding from International Cricket Council (ICC) but it has not been forthcoming. They keep promising but they haven’t fulfilled it,” she said.
The team of 14 players will be tutored by coach Francis Ndege and begin their campaign against UAE on Tuesday morning, next week.
