Hats off to Kenyan cricket team, but….
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Omulo Okoth I want to be among the first Kenyans to pay tribute to the Kenyan cricket team for qualifying for the fifth straight ICC World Cup. Even though the qualification was a bit of a struggle, after a hard-fought win over Ireland on Friday, it was deserved, and is significant in many ways. First, it will restore hope in Kenyan cricket. All is not lost despite the apparent uninspiring leadership by Cricket Kenya (CK) and dwindling standards of the sport. Secondly, playing at the World Cup will open up opportunities for our players again. They could claim a scalp, like they did in the sub-continent in their World Cup debut in 1996 when the world woke up to appreciate Kenya’s huge potential, after humbling the mighty West Indies. They did it again in 2003 World Cup when they became the first non-test nation to reach the semi-finals, leaving major bruises in their wake. Collins Obuya was the revelation of that World Cup after shredding Sri Lanka’s batting order. He has since risen to land lucrative contracts abroad, including cricket-man Australia. Trickle-down effect Thirdly, the trickle-down effects could open another chapter of cricket in Kenya and its neighbours, depending on how we manage the pre and post-World Cup era. Having been a keen observer of the local scene since our first qualification for the World Cup in 1996, after we finished second to United Arab Emirates in the 1994 ICC Trophy, a few matters will be central to this build-up period. CK will shed off its exclusive nature and be more inclusive and accommodating. The elections are long gone and it is time to build consensus even with those who did not support their re-election (or was it selection?). The group of disgruntled people plotting a coup had better hold their guns, join CK in preparing for a renaissance of Kenya cricket at the fifth World Cup appearance. Financial Benefits The bigger picture here is returning cricket where it was in the 1990s. This was a big employer. Players were comfortable and many young Kenyans ventured into the game to reap its financial benefits as coaches, scorers, and umpires, name it. We were the best outside non-Test circuit. But vested interests, conflict of interest, business rivalry, jealousy in its rawest form and religious differences all conspired to plunge the only team sport for which Kenya had been to the World Cup more than any other to its lowest levels ever. For all its successes in raising standards and marketing Kenya as a cricket destination of choice, Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) did not bequeath a sustainable foundation, preferring to concentrate on the cash cows that were the national team, tours and the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association League. Much talked-about mini cricket, a euphemism for spreading the game to the underprivileged neighbourhood, became very much a platitude for the ears of guests at receptions and dinners for visiting teams. KCA did not build a public cricket ground even when the Government was ready to donate a piece of land at Kasarani. The sport was held hostage by rich individuals who used it for personal gain, rather than a sport whose benefits would boost the national economy. The present administration took over a shell, which had to change its name to legally circumvent crippling debts. But they were so pre-occupied with feathering their own nests, protecting its turf, and were desirous to settle scores, forgetting that there were quite a few good, honest, industrious and resourceful people among the old folks whose expertise should have been brought to bear on the new administration’s agenda for the sport. Like guerrilla fighters, the old folk went underground and are almost unleashing a coup against CK. I submit that this effort had better be channelled towards consolidating reconstruction of cricket to help our players and posterity. —The writer is The Standard’s Sports Editor iomulo@eastandard.net