Uganda must rectify familiar weaknesses
Feb 01, 2009
UGANDA’S national cricketers averted what would have been a sure catastrophe by beating Argentina to qualify for the ICC World Cup Qualifier but familiar failings must be addressed for the team to harbour any ambitions of progressing to the World Cup pr
PAUL MBUGA
UGANDA’S national cricketers averted what would have been a sure catastrophe by beating Argentina to qualify for the ICC World Cup Qualifier but familiar failings must be addressed for the team to harbour any ambitions of progressing to the World Cup proper.
Statistically, Uganda offered a mixed bag.
The team’s last outing at this level –– at the 2007 ICC World Cricket League in Darwin, Australia –– was notable for strong batting and bowling performances.
Then, Uganda’s decision to bat in matches against Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Argentina resulted in par-220 scores –– give or take a few runs –– and the bowlers possessed the wits to defend potentially meagre totals.
Batting blues
In Argentina over the past week, the team’s batting revealed a fragility that has unnerved the nation several times before.
The confusion over the composition of the middle order was clearly translated in the performances as Joel Olweny and Junior Kwebiiha, arguably Uganda’s most fluent batsmen, could only manage 66 runs between them.
Benjamin Musoke, yet another lynchpin, Nehal Bibodi and Baig Akbar returned similarly pitiful figures while the enterprising youngster Emmanuel Nakana –– who can either open or bat at first-drop –– was not given a proper chance to stake his claim. The highly-rated Davis Arinaitwe remained virtually anonymous. The shambolic collapse in the defeat to Papua New Guinea –– from 67-3 to 85-7 –– tells the story eloquently enough.
A specialist batting coach is the only feasible solution (see Opinion on Page 67) because South Africa’s fast and bouncy pitches lurk in ambush in the April Qualifier. There, technique and temperament will be tested to a degree Argentina’s fairly lifeless pitches could not muster.
Solid opening pair
As it is, the resolution of one batting quandary only served to unravel another.
If the middle order is not the beacon of reliability it once was, Uganda, mercifully, appears to have found a complementary opening combination.
The blazing Roger Mukasa and Arthur Kyobe scored an electrifying 356 runs –– 203 for the former, 153 for the latter –– and gave Uganda several priceless starts.
Kyobe’s circumspection while batting is particularly important because Mukasa, all aggressive gung-ho, is naturally careless with his wicket.
The explosive 81 the Nile CC opener scored against the Cayman Islands, for example, was accompanied by a golden duck against Argentina.
But the duo has at least put to bed a problem that has nagged since the systematic demise of Michael Ndiko and former U-19 skipper Hamzah Saleh’s perceived disinterest in the national team.
Cut-throat Kamyuka
The bowling, though, was outstanding and the fielding, if ICC and Cricinfo.com reports are anything to go by, even better. Frontline pace bowler Kenneth Kamyuka commands a peerless understanding of his craft and he showed as much with some incisive bowling that yielded a tournament-best 18 wickets.
Yet, a lack of support for the premier seamer must rank as a worry; remember, he is only permitted 10 overs out of a designated 50. Daniel Ruyange and Ronald Ssemanda picked six wickets apiece but they were terribly expensive, coming at the cost of 15 and 13 runs per over respectively. The manner in which first PNG and then Hong Kong were allowed to escape from knotty situations reflects badly on the back-up bowlers.
But it is the performance of Kamyuka’s one-time new-ball partner Charles Waiswa that rankles.
The left-handed seamer claimed a tournament second-best 11 wickets in the 2007 version of Division 3 but took only one in this outing, surpassed even by Olweny’s part-time medium pace bowling.
Fears that Waiswa has stagnated are not helped by frequent injury troubles, the latest being a severe sinuses ailment that kept him out of Uganda’s opening matches in Argentina.
UGANDA’S national cricketers averted what would have been a sure catastrophe by beating Argentina to qualify for the ICC World Cup Qualifier but familiar failings must be addressed for the team to harbour any ambitions of progressing to the World Cup proper.
Statistically, Uganda offered a mixed bag.
The team’s last outing at this level –– at the 2007 ICC World Cricket League in Darwin, Australia –– was notable for strong batting and bowling performances.
Then, Uganda’s decision to bat in matches against Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Argentina resulted in par-220 scores –– give or take a few runs –– and the bowlers possessed the wits to defend potentially meagre totals.
Batting blues
In Argentina over the past week, the team’s batting revealed a fragility that has unnerved the nation several times before.
The confusion over the composition of the middle order was clearly translated in the performances as Joel Olweny and Junior Kwebiiha, arguably Uganda’s most fluent batsmen, could only manage 66 runs between them.
Benjamin Musoke, yet another lynchpin, Nehal Bibodi and Baig Akbar returned similarly pitiful figures while the enterprising youngster Emmanuel Nakana –– who can either open or bat at first-drop –– was not given a proper chance to stake his claim. The highly-rated Davis Arinaitwe remained virtually anonymous. The shambolic collapse in the defeat to Papua New Guinea –– from 67-3 to 85-7 –– tells the story eloquently enough.
A specialist batting coach is the only feasible solution (see Opinion on Page 67) because South Africa’s fast and bouncy pitches lurk in ambush in the April Qualifier. There, technique and temperament will be tested to a degree Argentina’s fairly lifeless pitches could not muster.
Solid opening pair
As it is, the resolution of one batting quandary only served to unravel another.
If the middle order is not the beacon of reliability it once was, Uganda, mercifully, appears to have found a complementary opening combination.
The blazing Roger Mukasa and Arthur Kyobe scored an electrifying 356 runs –– 203 for the former, 153 for the latter –– and gave Uganda several priceless starts.
Kyobe’s circumspection while batting is particularly important because Mukasa, all aggressive gung-ho, is naturally careless with his wicket.
The explosive 81 the Nile CC opener scored against the Cayman Islands, for example, was accompanied by a golden duck against Argentina.
But the duo has at least put to bed a problem that has nagged since the systematic demise of Michael Ndiko and former U-19 skipper Hamzah Saleh’s perceived disinterest in the national team.
Cut-throat Kamyuka
The bowling, though, was outstanding and the fielding, if ICC and Cricinfo.com reports are anything to go by, even better. Frontline pace bowler Kenneth Kamyuka commands a peerless understanding of his craft and he showed as much with some incisive bowling that yielded a tournament-best 18 wickets.
Yet, a lack of support for the premier seamer must rank as a worry; remember, he is only permitted 10 overs out of a designated 50. Daniel Ruyange and Ronald Ssemanda picked six wickets apiece but they were terribly expensive, coming at the cost of 15 and 13 runs per over respectively. The manner in which first PNG and then Hong Kong were allowed to escape from knotty situations reflects badly on the back-up bowlers.
But it is the performance of Kamyuka’s one-time new-ball partner Charles Waiswa that rankles.
The left-handed seamer claimed a tournament second-best 11 wickets in the 2007 version of Division 3 but took only one in this outing, surpassed even by Olweny’s part-time medium pace bowling.
Fears that Waiswa has stagnated are not helped by frequent injury troubles, the latest being a severe sinuses ailment that kept him out of Uganda’s opening matches in Argentina.