Isabirye left bitter after snub ends his World Cup hopes
Mar 11, 2009
PICKING the best squad from a pool of players who have put in bags of time and effort remains one of the shortest routes to sporting controversy and heartbreak - as the aftermath of the national cricket team selection two days ago shows.
Charles Mutebi
PICKING the best squad from a pool of players who have put in bags of time and effort remains one of the shortest routes to sporting controversy and heartbreak - as the aftermath of the national cricket team selection two days ago shows.
Admittedly, the choice of players named in the 15-man squad to represent Uganda at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Qualifier sparked next-to no controversy yet there was no way to avoid disappointing those players who were left out.
Coach Ebrahim Mohammed might have said, “this is the best squad I could have chosen but if you know of any better players show them to meâ€, yet if it were left to Emmanuel Nakaana, Raymond Otim and Fred Isabirye, they would tell the South African we are those better players.
The nascent 18-year-old Nakaana was dropped after failing to impress at January’s ICC Division 3 World Cricket League in Argentina while Otim and Isabirye, who were similarly left out for Argentina, were deemed incapable of adding anything which the team doesn’t already possess. However, Isabirye begs to differ.
Isabirye was bitterly disappointed by his exclusion and felt it wasn’t justified. Initially referring to the decision as “normalâ€, the former U-19 national player said he deserved to be in the squad because he had given “100%†in practice.
“Maybe it doesn’t matter if you have put in 100% and other players put in 1%, they’ll get selected because they are considered to be among the best 15 players,†Isabirye said.
“I have given everything in practice and yet there are players who have not made it to 10% of the training sessions but that was their best 15 and you can’t question that.â€
The team leaves March 23 for South Africa.
PICKING the best squad from a pool of players who have put in bags of time and effort remains one of the shortest routes to sporting controversy and heartbreak - as the aftermath of the national cricket team selection two days ago shows.
Admittedly, the choice of players named in the 15-man squad to represent Uganda at the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Qualifier sparked next-to no controversy yet there was no way to avoid disappointing those players who were left out.
Coach Ebrahim Mohammed might have said, “this is the best squad I could have chosen but if you know of any better players show them to meâ€, yet if it were left to Emmanuel Nakaana, Raymond Otim and Fred Isabirye, they would tell the South African we are those better players.
The nascent 18-year-old Nakaana was dropped after failing to impress at January’s ICC Division 3 World Cricket League in Argentina while Otim and Isabirye, who were similarly left out for Argentina, were deemed incapable of adding anything which the team doesn’t already possess. However, Isabirye begs to differ.
Isabirye was bitterly disappointed by his exclusion and felt it wasn’t justified. Initially referring to the decision as “normalâ€, the former U-19 national player said he deserved to be in the squad because he had given “100%†in practice.
“Maybe it doesn’t matter if you have put in 100% and other players put in 1%, they’ll get selected because they are considered to be among the best 15 players,†Isabirye said.
“I have given everything in practice and yet there are players who have not made it to 10% of the training sessions but that was their best 15 and you can’t question that.â€
The team leaves March 23 for South Africa.