NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 27 – The Cricket Kenya Normalisation Committee on Tuesday met the national team players and coaches in their quest to solve impasses that has rocked the sport for a long period.
The players and coaches asked the Lady Justice (Rtd.) Joyce Aluoch led Committee to look at the constitution of Cricket Kenya with a view to giving the Player Selection Committee complete independence.
The players also decried the politicization of the game while pointing out that the breakdown of their relationship with Cricket Kenya Board had hurt the local game.
The players informed the Committee that the national women’s team is divided into two, others based in Nakuru while the rest are in Nairobi, a move they said has hampered the development of women cricket team.
The women’s team players urged the committee to ensure that the technical bench is properly constituted since it lacks an assistant coach and a physiotherapist leaving the head coach to take up all those responsibilities.
The players reported to the Committee that they have no training and competitive kit leading the team to share tie-pads.
The players and coaches expressed their desire to return to playing as soon as possible and the need to have a Women’s Cricket League that runs throughout the year.
The Committee appointed by Cabinet Secretary for Sport Amb. Amina Mohamed on March 16 has been working to deliver on its mandate, which include amending the constitution and organising elections for the troubled Cricket Kenya.
Since inauguration, the Committee has reviewed existing documents, mapped stakeholders, met the Cricket Kenya members of staff and has since called for written memoranda from stakeholders with specific challenges and proposed interventions.
Former Kenyan Cricket players welcomed the move of the formation of a normalization committee “We are happy to have met the Normalisation Committee. I think this is a good start. We have presented our views and expectations from the committee. We are ready to give them the time and space to work,” legendary Maurice Odumbe said.
On his part retired David Obuya said, “We were invited to meet the Normalisation Committee, which I believe is a good thing. It is everyone’s desire that we go back to playing. This definitely is a good beginning and hopefully we will get the way forward. We have done our part to present.”
The mandate of the Cricket Kenya Normalisation Committee is to coordinate the finalization of the Draft Constitution and ensure its validation in line with the requirements of the Sports Act 2013 and the ICC Statutes.
The committee is also tasked to Ensure smooth running of Cricket Kenya’s operations including team preparations for local and international events, coordinate and facilitate the compliance of Cricket Kenya to the ICC requirements, facilitate the elections of new officials as per the validated Constitution and hand over Cricket Kenya to newly elected officials after a successful election.
