NATIONAL women's cricket team captain Emily Ruto and wicket keeper Sarah Bhakita have been selected to train at the Africa Cricket Association Cricket Academy in South Africa.

The two, who also double up as the team's all rounders, landed the invite to participate in a week-long training programme after excelling in the just concluded Cricket Kenya (CK) women's league.

The academy's objective is to prepare African teams for the Twenty20 format and the women's inaugural training has attracted 20 cricketers from 10 African countries. Ruto and Bakhita are expected to leave today. "This is an opportunity any aspiring cricketer would love to have. For me, this is an excellent chance to showcase my talent.

Initially, representing Kenya on the international scene was my biggest achievement dream, but this development is icing on the cake of my career," said Bhakita, who started playing cricket in 2000 while at Dr. Livingstone Primary School. She made her national team debut two years later in Uganda where she was voted the Most Promising Player.

In 2008, she set a 186-run record not out as Kenya beat Rwanda by 234 runs in Nairobi. Juggling between her engineering course and cricket has been Ruto's way of life since finishing her form four at Kenya High five years ago. "I am very delighted to have landed this opportunity. I will pass over the knowledge I will gain there to my team and I confident the training will be of good help to the cricket family in Kenya," said Ruto.