Can’t blame players, says cricket official

Cricket Kenya’s Director of Women’s Cricket, Pearlyne Omamo, has absolved the national women’s team of blame for their exceptionally poor performance in the Victoria series that ended in Kampala at the weekend.

This continues to raise questions over the long delay by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in releasing funds to Cricket Kenya (CK), even though the Manoj Patel-led body has met all the requirements set by the world body.

Kenya finished last in the women’s Twenty20 International (T20I) Victoria series, which also featured hosts Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates at the Lugogo Oval. In the tournament that ended at the Lugogo Cricket Oval on Sunday, Kenya picked up just one point after their match against Uganda was called off due to rain.

They lost to UAE, Rwanda and Tanzania by 15 runs, 47 runs and 101 runs respectively.
Uganda was crowned champions with a seven-point lead.

And in what was shocking news to many, skipper Sharon Juma announced her retirement from international cricket after wearing the national team colors for over 10 years.

Omamo said that due to the lack of funds, the girls did not have the necessary resources to train at a sufficient level.

The team only practiced for a week at the Sir Ali Muslim Club Grounds in Nairobi, with most practices interrupted by rain.

Although Otieno had on April 15 ruled out Kenya’s chances of lifting the trophy, he was confident the team would make it to the finals.

Omamo said that while they expect to have proper preparations for the ICC regional qualifiers scheduled for September in Africa, there is little they can do until the world cricket body releases funds for CK.

We don’t have the resources but we are trying to see what can be done to facilitate the practice,” the former cricketer said.

He said as in the past, the annual Kwibuka Womens T20 Tournament and the Nairobi County Cricket Association league are part of the preparation for the national teams.

CK chairman Patel did not respond to Nation Sport’s queries on why the ICC has delayed the release of funds to Kenya and how he plans to turn things around for the national women’s cricket team.

Nation Sport was also unable to get a response from Patricia Kambaram, ICC Development’s Regional Director for Africa.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Development Officer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) were the positions ICC had directed CK to fill before handing over funds to it. They were filled last December with Ronald Bukus as CEO, Thomas Odoyo as Development Director and Nathan Okaka as CFO.

Odoyo also did not know why the ICC has been delayed in releasing the funds to CK. He was hopeful that the world body would do the needful soon.

Due to the delay, the national team players do not have a contract, while the CK staff have been without pay for several months.

While Nation Sport could not immediately determine how much Kenya is entitled to from the ICC, it noted that last year the country was entitled to about $460,000. The money is paid quarterly.

After seven months, Odoyo said he expects to create structures to develop the sport in the country. This includes introducing the sport in schools, establishing age group teams and establishing a strong women’s cricket league. He urged other companies to join the initiative, because the ICC’s funds are not enough.