Kenya: Let the Games Begin! Kenya, Qatar Lock Horns in Women's T20 Tournament

13 December 2022
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Omondi Onyatta

Nairobi — The national women's cricket team will be hoping for a perfect start when they bowl off the Dafabet-Kenya Women's T20 Tournament on Tuesday morning against Qatar at the Nairobi Gymkhana.

Coach Francis Ndege's charges will be returning to the pitch for the first time following their outing at the annual Kwibuka Tournament in Rwanda where they finished second after losing to Tanzania in the final.

Last week, Cricket Kenya (CK) unveiled a 16-woman team, which will be skippered by Queentor Abel and deputized by Sharon Juma.

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, the director of women's cricket at CK, Pearlyne Omamo, exuded confidence that the nine-day tournament - which also features East African neighbours Uganda and Tanzania - is another step towards returning women's cricket to the big leagues after many years of a freefall in the standards of the game owing to persistent wrangles within the federation.

"We understand that the more games we play, the better it is for us to get back on course and this is a good place to start since we hosted Uganda and Rwanda at Sir Ali Muslim Club in 2017. We are also in the process of hiring a Development Director who will spearhead an initiative to develop the game in schools, where most of us learnt the game from," Omamo said.

This is the first time the country is hosting an International Cricket Council (ICC) women's tournament since December 2010 when it staged the ICC Women's World Cup Africa Qualifier during which Kenya finished second behind South Africa.

That this tournament is ICC-approved bodes well for all the four teams who have a chance to improve their rankings through the iT20 ranking system.

Tanzania is the highest ranked at 16 with 124 points, Uganda at 21 with 94, Kenya 23 with 83 and Qatar at 45 with only 16 points.

Omamo said it is all systems go and expressed gratitude to all stkeholders who have come on board to support the preparations for the tournament in one way or another.

"We have been lucky to receive Government support in the past and we look to maintain this partnership in the future as we host more tournaments. Kunhe are also taking up the mantle of sponsoring Cricket Kenya's development programmes where the Women's Cricket falls under to ensure sustenance," the former national team player said.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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