Africa: Under-19 Side to Represent Kenya in Africa Show

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Dun Okinyo

29 June 2011

Kenya will be represented at the this week’s inaugural Africa Cricket Premier League in Kampala, Uganda by the under 19 squad. Kenya opted for the youthful side after most players in the senior national team refused to sign the contracts issued to them by Cricket Kenya (CK) last Friday.

CK chief executive officer Tom Sears said the squad will use the event that has attracted five countries to prepare for the U19 World Cup qualifiers in Ireland next month. “We want them to be exposed as much as they can ahead of the qualifiers. We have a bunch of good players who need this kind build-up to prove their capability,” said Sears before leaving for Hong Kong for the ICC Annual Conference. The squad has been training at Ruaraka Sports Club under the tutelage of Joseph Angara assisted by acting national team coach Lameck Onyango.

Kenya will open their campaign against Ghana on July 9 at Entebbe before taking on Nigeria and Namibia the following day at the same venue. They finish their Twenty20 campaign with a match against hosts Uganda on the third day. The winner of the event will book a ticket to the ICC Twenty20 Qualifiers later in the year. Angara said the event will give the youngsters an opportunity to prove their mettle ahead of the qualifiers and the East Africa Premier League.

“We have to thank CK for this gesture as it is a great opportunity for the youngsters to do well and we have a good team and all of them have done well in domestic cricket,” Angara. The team depart on Friday for Kampala. Angara said the young team under him is a balanced side and expressed confidence that they will do well.

“It’s going to be an exciting tournament. We have a well-balanced team and some of our batsmen who have done well on league front. We have a good medium pace attack and good set of all-rounders. We will win the series if we work hard,” he said.

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