Kenya must learn from Bangladesh cricket

What a topsy-turvy week for Kenyan football!

By Sean cardovillis

Supersport commentator Herbert Mwachiro is also the local football analyst on my radio show on Easy FM and has the latest:

The coaches continued to be fired. James Nandwa is now history at AFC Leopards, their midweek loss against newcomers Kenya Revenue Authority proving the last straw in a turbulent season; with and former national goalkeeper Washington Muhanji taking on the hot seat in an interim role.

With the fans rapidly losing patience with the club, Leopards may need to consider shifting to Mumias on a permanent basis.

Meanwhile City Stars also joined the coaches’ ‘musical chairs’ circus, with Nigerian Robinson Ndubuisi Ofuokwo exiting the technical bench and Briton Tim Bryett adding the job to his CV. The Brazilian trained coach began his tenure with a point against second placed Chemelil.

In other news, Gor Mahia came back to winning ways in the Kenya Premier League (KPL) with a 3 -2 win over KCB in an otherwise entertaining match marred by crowd trouble after the game. Gor should be aware that potential sponsors are watching and shaking their heads.

International scene

On the international scene, the national under-20 team drew 0-0 in Machakos last week with Tanzania, and this weekend in Dar they need a big win.

This weekend sees several key games in the KPL as Sofapaka take on leaders Tusker in Machakos.

The two met last weekend with Tusker dumping Sofapaka in the TOP 8, so the latter will be out for revenge. Troubled AFC face Nairobi City Stars whilst Gor Mahia make the short trip to Nakuru where they will be guests of Ulinzi, a match in which Robert Matano will be waiting for earnestly.

KRA versus Top Fry is another exciting peer contest as will be Sony Sugar vs Thika United.

One other note, Kenya rose to 106th in FIFA rankings despite not playing a game.

Lessons

I was one of the thousands of Kenyans keenly following the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

Known as ‘fast food’ cricket, this format combines explosive batting, spectacular fielding and unpredictable bowling, which combined with American sports style razzmatazz, provides for roughly four hours of pulsating cricket that has drawn the crowds to what was a once fading sport.

So why am I talking about Twenty20 cricket you may ask? Well the tournament was held in Bangladesh, the same country that was on the same level as Kenya in the late 1990s.

While Kenya’s highlight after that was reaching the semifinals of the 2003 World Cup in the limited overs format before embarking on a spectacular fall from grace, culminating in the country losing its one day status recently, Bangladesh’s national cricket teams have thrived, with the team not only competing with the best in all formats of the men’s game, but the cricket association has ensured that the grassroots programme has flourished, and the infrastructure developed is world class.

The three venues in Bangladesh that hosted the World Cup matches looked nothing short of spectacular; with the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, capacity 26,000, being the venue of the final.

Needless to say the tournament was a roaring success in general –– with stadiums almost filled to capacity for most matches in this cricket-mad country.

So what does this mean for Kenya? Sports associations and the government have to pull up their socks significantly if they want to generate significant revenue from the sports industry. I have said it before and I’ll say it again: a sports ministry needs to be created to deal solely with sports!

Counties have started to realise the benefits of hosting sports events.

Machakos, led by its forward-thinking governor Alfred Mutua, has redeveloped the Kenyatta Stadium and is now hosting different sporting disciplines including Kenya Premier League side Sofapaka, the Masaku 7s, and this weekend’s CAR Women’s 7s Championship.

These events and teams will not only bring in revenue to the local economy, but also go a long way towards enhancing the reputation of a county already zooming ahead in the counties race for development.  

Bangladesh has taught Cricket Kenya a harsh lesson in how to manage a sport properly, and after sinking to the lowest point possible on the global stage, the only way can only be up for the beleagued officials struggling to run the local sport.

Good luck!

What a remarkable woman the First Lady Margaret Kenyatta is. After participating in the inaugural half marathon for her ‘Beyond Zero’ campaign, the Kianda School alumnus will be on the start line of tomorrow’s London marathon, competing in the full distance for charity.

Which other country can boast of their First Lady competing in one of the world’s most famous marathons?                      

I for one will be following her run closely, along with cheering on the Kenyan elite runners who’ll be facing stiff competition from their Ethiopian counterparts, along with a certain British world and Olympic track champion and a Ugandan world and Olympic marathon winner in the men’s category.  

— The writer is a sport journalist and runs a consulting firm.