Peter Kirsten named new national cricket coach

Aug 22, 2014

IN a bid to reverse the luck lacklustre performance in international cricket, Uganda Cricket Association has reshuffled its technical set-up with sweeping changes across the board

By Samson Opus

IN a bid to reverse the luck lacklustre performance in international cricket, Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) has reshuffled its technical set-up with sweeping changes across the board.  

Among the bold changes announced on Friday, former South African international Peter Kirsten has been appointed as the new Technical Director.

Kirsten will also be in charge as coach of the national men’s team, replacing Namibian Johan Rudoph.

The new coach, who UCA Chief Executive Officer Justin Ligyalingi said brings a lot of experience to the set-up, will be assisted by Micheal Ndiko as the team trainer while Andrew Meya is team manager.

The bold changes come long after Uganda’s dismal show at the ICC World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand in January. The dismal performance that saw Uganda losing all six matches deprived UCA of the High Performance Programme (HPP) funding of $360,000 (aboutsh890m).

The new changes that cut across board in all team structures could be geared at reversing the declining trend that saw the country lose its World Division Two status.

Veteran Frank Nsubuga replaces Davis Karashani captain of the men’s team. He will have Brian Masaba as his assistant.

In the changes, Davis Turinawe has been moved back to the national U19 boys’ team from the national team.

Martin Ondeko has been re-appointed as Team Manager for the National U19 Boys team.

Former women national team manager Rebecca Akwenyu is the new team tanager fir the National U19 Girls team. Habibu Mugalula was re –appointed as team Coach for the National U19 Girls team.

When contacted former captain Karashani welcomed the changes.

“Let’s hope the changes work for the better and we move forward. As players we shall work for better results. This is the best we can hope for,” he said.

Ugandan national cricket teams are currently preparing for a series of international engagements. The new assignments facing the teams include World Cricket League Division 3 tournament due in November in Kampala.

The teams will also be involved in the Africa Sixes Challenge in Pretoria, South Africa next month

The women’s national team is also entered for the Africa Women’s World Cup qualifiers in Kampala in December.

The Under-19 girls and boys will also compete in Africa championship in Tanzania and south Africa in December and January respectively.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});