Uganda’s drop from the World Cricket division two in 2014 meant an absence from international games, for the once dominating force in associate cricket. The corridor of uncertainty had sent cricket in the country a couple of steps back.
“Certainly…without the participation in international tournaments has come with short backs in keeping the morale of the national team… keeping the team active… obviously when you have the teams without focus of what is the next target… there is a problem of trying to keep people focused,” said Justin Ligyalingi, CEO, Uganda Cricket Association.
But the two and a half year wait comes to an end next month when Uganda hosts the world cricket league division three championships. With Canada, Malaysia, Oman, Singapore and the United States to face, there is an opportunity to make up for the lost time.
“Our fans have craved so much…they need to see some international cricket..so for international cricket to finally come to Uganda is very good…for us as players the pressure is on..we want to do well in front of our own crowd,” said Davis Karashani, captain, Uganda Cricket team.
Pleasing the crowd could have come a bit too early with a victory over Kenya in a buildup match ahead of the championship. Uganda has often been let down by several technical elements. There will however be much more to do when the real tournament starts.
“The post mortem from past tournaments has actually been done… we have crumbled with our batting in the wrong times… we have lost games when we should not have lost them… we have been in confortable positions and lost games… so for us one of the things we needed to do was to identify roles… get individuals do their roles,” said said Davis Karashani, captain, Uganda Cricket team.
Former Kenya cricket star Steven Tikolo has been charged with resurrecting Uganda’s cricket. It has not been an easy task this far. But he is under no illusions of what his and team expectations are.
“Obviously… win the trophy… and the incentives are you become one of the two teams to move to the next level… so we are looking at those two goals,” Steve Tikolo, coach, Uganda Cricket Team.
Uganda opens against Canada in a few weeks’ time. Reaching division two will be the main focus. The rebuilding process already seems to suggest that the team is on the right path and could be in good length to yet again realign its cricket credentials.
