Friday, May 17, 2019

World Beyond the Cup - Tete-a-Tete with Cricket Uganda

Image result for cricket ugandaThe Uganda national cricket team is nicknamed the Cricket Cranes - What does it stand for?

CU - Our national bird is the crested cranes so we borrow from that to have the Cricket Cranes!

Uganda has been shuttling between Division 2 and Division 3 for a while. How does it plan to conquer it?

CU - We are improving our cricket from amateur to semi pro and we know a more professional set up will help us improve. 

The Cricket Cranes are coached by arguably the greatest Kenyan cricketer, Steve Tikolo. 

Not many people know but Uganda has participated in World Cup under the East African team in the earliest edition. With Kenya no more a regional dominant team, is there a possibility of such a coalition, similar to West Indies?

CU - We came out of the East and Central African alliance over 20 years ago, we got associate membership in 1998 and since then each member has developed on their own. Maybe the thought crosses peoples' minds some times but for now we each compete on our own. 

What is the domestic cricket structure like in Uganda?

CU- Our structure is completely amateur, we have 3 divisions separated in 8/8/6 a total of 24 clubs for men and 2 divisions for women with 12 clubs. These clubs compete in a league with the men playing on Sunday and women on Saturday.

The league can be followed on http://www.ugcricket.com/


How popular is the sport in Uganda?

CU-  would say among top 5 popular sports but below football

What measures are being taken to improve the standard of cricket in Uganda?

CU- We have improved our visibility which should translate into more money in the game. More money means more programs as well as finances for our players.

Do players participate in overseas leagues for getting exposure specially the T20 leagues given many associate players have made it big with these leagues?

CU - Right now non of our players has been lucky but we hope we can get some guys into those leagues.

After April 2019, Uganda will play in the 2019–21 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League. Uganda are scheduled to play their first T20I against Kenya on 19 May 2019.

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