Ugandan cricket on the rise as youngsters promise bright future

At 24 years of age, Davis Arinaitwe Karashani was asked to captain the Ugandan senior team in 2011, taking over from previous captain Akbar Baig, who spent most of his time under the needle.

That was the same year when Uganda travelled to UAE, vying for a Division II stay. Unfortunately, the sole consolation from that trip was a win against Bermuda which came with the baggage of relegation to Division III.

Uganda was matched against Bermuda for the opening fixture of WCL, Division III. The hosts could only manage 108/10 in reply to Uganda’s 222/7.

Arthur Kyobe hit 53 runs off 112 balls; Frank Nsubuga top-scored with 51 off 29 balls, and was assisted by a good knock of 42 from 80 by Lawrence Sematimba.

The visitors defended their total with a seam and off-spin attack of Roger Mukasa and Henry Ssenyondo, who managed 2/15 and 4/24 in 18.3 overs.

The tumble for the hosts was confirmed after the 26th over when their skipper Stephen Outbridge was run out for six, with David Hemp (16) caught at mid-off.

Janeiro Tucker (13) and Lionel Cann (22) were the other outstanding performers, whose displays were overshadowed by the spin attack and fielding.

Bermuda could not see the light of day thereafter, resulting in a 114-run win for the visitors in Hamilton on day one.

Against Nepal, Uganda were asked to chase a paltry 117 runs after the Nepalese succumbed to a off-spin and seam attack that comprised a man-of-the-match performance from Davis Karashani, who took 3/12 in 9.2 overs.

Frank Nsubuga claimed a credible 3/25 in his 10 overs, while the trio of Henry Ssenyondo, Brian Masaba and Charles Waiswa took one each.

Later, Roger Mukasa smashed a good innings of 49 not out, while the trio Benjamin Musoke, Lawrence Sematimba and Arthur Kyobe added 22, 16, and 18, respectively.

That collective contribution by the bat ensured that Uganda overhauled Nepal by six wickets with 138 balls remaining at the Somerset Oval.

Speaking on Friday’s weekly NTV show, Sports Bar, Uganda Cricket Association;s CEO, Mr Justine Ligyalingi attributed much of the team’s success to rigorous preparations that go as far back as eighteen months, in the shape of build-up games played in Kenya, UAE and Bermuda.

Greg Maybury claimed figures of 1-27 after four overs in his debut game on Sunday. In 2007, Greg, 13 years of age at the time, was on the road to receiving a Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) and Bank of Bermuda Foundation scholarship to study at Oakham School in the UK (they probably have more grass wickets than the entire country of Uganda).

That same year, Bermuda participated in the ICC Cricket World Cup in West Indies, as Kenya went as far as the semifinals, losing to India in that game.

Elsewhere, in 2006, Uganda sent a national side to Sri Lanka for the U-19 cricket World Cup. The East Africans were pooled against defending champions Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh; let’s call it the equivalent of throwing a bunch of post-pubescents shackled by hydrophobia into the deep end of the pool with the hope that they will learn to swim.

In that lot was the present skipper Arthur Kyobe, Charles Waiswa, and Roger Mukasa among others.

The point is that ten years from now, it won’t matter whether we were batting practice in the pool or not (of course we were).

As long as the competitive spirit is maintained amid the development of the game, youngsters like Tre Manders, Delray Rawlins could be the next brigade for the island country.