Cricket: Former Kenyan international says he was not making any difference

INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL Coach HongKong Cricket Team's Simon Cook (left) and Thomas Odoyo of team Kenya Cricket during a press conference to launch the 4th Round of International Cricket Council World Cricket League Championship in Nairobi on Wednesday, Nov 16, 2016. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Why coach Odoyo had to quit national team

Tikolo says there is no reason to panic after latest developments in Cricket Kenya.

The national cricket team coach has explained that he resigned because he felt he was not making any difference.

Thomas Odoyo said he quit his position a week ago after the team’s dismal show at the International Cricket Council Division Two World Cricket League played in Namibia that saw Kenya relegated to Division Three. Winless Kenya finished at the bottom of the six-team event and were relegated to the lower division.

Odoyo said he stepped aside because he felt he was not changing anything and that being in charge was not adding any value to the team.

Not making any difference

“I chose to resign and give someone else a chance because I was not making any difference. The team had not improved in any way and the results of our last assignment were disastrous.

“There was no need to continue holding on to the position as it was clear that my way of coaching had failed,” Odoyo said.

Odoyo was one of the people said to have resigned on Monday together with Cricket Kenya (CK) boss Jackie Janmohammed.

The former Kenyan international Odoyo was appointed the national team's interim coach after Tom Tikolo and his assistant, Martin Suji, were relieved of their duties following a standoff with players in 2016.

He led Kenya to a fifth place finish in the ICC World Cricket League Championship, where they missed a qualification to next month’s 2019 World Cup qualifiers. 

The fifth place finish also saw Kenya demoted to Division Two and given another chance to fight their way up the ladder and qualify for World Cup qualifiers, but they performed poorly.

They lost all their matches to Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Canada, and hosts Namibia to finish without a point.

National team captain Rakep Patel also resigned.

Odoyo said that his stepping aside was a well-thought-out personal decision and had nothing to do with the resignation of Janmohammed. 

The Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association chairman, Tom Tikolo, who represents Nairobi on the CK board, urged cricket enthusiasts not to panic following the resignation of the chairperson.

“Both the chairman and the development director, Raja Sarkar, handed in their resignation letters in our last board meeting, but there is no need to panic because all is not lost. They are still working with us to ensure that we have another team in office soon,” Tikolo said. 

He said the team would have another meeting soon.