Cricketers intensify training

By Norman Katende

National cricket coach Martin Suji has asked his charges to focus and concentrate on keeping their wickets and scoring runs, if they are to make an impact on the international scene.

Suji, a former batsman for the Kenya national team, noted with concern that his players needed to first realise that they have weaknesses, understand them and then work on solving them.

He observed that Uganda’s biggest problem was lack of a batsman who can stay on the crease and score runs. He said if they overcome this, good results will also come by.

“This has been Uganda’s biggest weakness and we always tell them that I and Steve (Tikolo) cannot go inside there and bat for them. It is up to them to realise what they have to do and work towards achieving it. For us, we will keep on giving those winning tips,” said Suji, who stressed that they will work on all the different avenues to ensure that the players are fit and ready for action.

The team has gym sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays. They train on how to perfect their batting and fielding on the other week days and have games over the weekend.

“We are also having psychological lessons and watching videos to learn from those who do it better and how we can improve on our side. From all this I believe we will be able to put up a good show,” Suji explained.

The Uganda team is preparing for a series of events that include a training camp in the United Arab Emirates, the Africa T-20 Championships in February and another training camp in India with Kolkata Knight Riders in March as they prepare for the Pepsi ICC Division II World Cricket league due in Bermuda in May.

The team flies out to Dubai on January 14.