Otieno: We’re in Accra for cricket experience
National women's cricket team captain Esther Wachira during their training session at the Ruaraka Sports Club on December 5, 2023. The team is preparing for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Division One qualifiers at the Entebbe Cricket Oval in Uganda
What you need to know:
- It is the first time cricket has been included in the multi-sport championship held every four years
- Kenya, coached by ex-international Francis Otieno, was Thursday set to open their Group “B” campaign in the T20 competition against Uganda at Achitoma Senior Secondary School B field
- Compared with the other teams gracing the African Games, the Kenyan squad is the least experienced
Gaining valuable experience is the objective for Kenya's national women’s cricket team at the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.
It is the first time cricket has been included in the multi-sport championship held every four years.
Kenya, coached by ex-international Francis Otieno, was Thursday set to open their Group “B” campaign in the T20 competition against Uganda at Achitoma Senior Secondary School B field.
The match was set to bowl off at 1:30pm local time (4:30pm in Kenya). Zimbabwe and Rwanda are the other Group “B” members, while Pool “A” has South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania and Nigeria.
Speaking to Nation Sport ahead of their match against Uganda, Otieno said: “We are still rebuilding the team, so we just want to learn something from these games and to improve our performance.”
Compared with the other teams gracing the African Games, the Kenyan squad is the least experienced.
Further, out of the eight teams in the competition, Kenya is only ranked above Rwanda and Nigeria.
South Africa leads at position five globally, while Zimbabwe (13), Namibia (17), Uganda (18), Tanzania (19), Kenya (25), Rwanda (26) and Nigeria (29)follow in that order.
Kenya registered just one victory in the Africa Region Qualifiers for the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup held last December at Entebbe Cricket Oval. The qualifiers were graced by most teams competing in the African Games.
Zimbabwe and Uganda finished first and second to progress to the Global Qualifier – the last qualifying round of the upcoming World Cup.
The Global Qualifiers will be held in April in Dubai, while the World Cup will be in Bangladesh between September and October.
“We just want to be realistic going by our last performance against these teams. But we want to play better than we did in Uganda,” said Otieno.
After arriving in Accra Tuesday evening, the Kenyan team held a training session at the match’s venue on Wednesday.
On Friday, Kenya will clash with Rwanda, and Otieno hopes for a good outing. “We do accept that Rwanda has improved but we are backing ourselves against them. We are hoping that we can pull something out of the games,” said the coach.
In the 2023 Kwibuka Women’s T20 tournament, hosts Rwanda beat Kenya by seven wickets (69 balls remaining) and eight wickets (25 balls remaining) in their two meetings.
Kenya's squad for African Games
Esther Wangare (Captain), Veronica Anyango, Venasa Adhiambo, Charity Tiara, Kreeshna Vivek, Ann Wanjira, Lavendah Alivitsa, Jemimah Ndanu, Flavia Atieno, Melvin Khagoitsa, Mercy Ahono, Kelvin Achieno, Judith Ajiambo, Edith Wanjiru
Kenya’s fixture (all matches bowl off at 4:30pm EAT)
Thursday: Uganda v Kenya
Friday: Kenya v Rwanda
Sunday: Kenya v Zimbabwe
