A Pitch for the Development of Cricket
Leagues in Europe, for instance, are patronized by elite players and officials. In the United States, among the most successful people are musicians and sports people.
In Asia and Africa, however, a lot more, in so far as development of art and sport is concerned, remains to be done.
In Kenya, sports like football and athletics, are the most popular of what can be regarded as, mass sports; in the sense that they are capable of attracting many. This is due to their limited infrastructural requirements and massive promotion in schools and communities.
Cricket, however, has failed to generate comparable enthusiasm, despite its potential of joining the rank of football and athletics as a mass sport.
Cricket, a bat-and-ball game, is played between two teams of 11 players. At the centre of is a rectangular pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible. The other team bowls and fields, trying to thwart the batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team.
The game has a rich history dating back to the 16th century and enjoys worldwide popularity.
In Africa, a country like Kenya has had its glorious days in the sport. The 2012 ICC Cricket Twenty Teams Rankings & Ratings puts the country at position fifteen; out doing giants like Bangladesh.
However, Bangladesh appears on 2012 ICC Cricket Test Teams Rankings & Ratings at position nine.
What is even more amazing is that this has happened despite the absence of any planned focus in the development of the sport. No wonder, those who rose to prominence were quickly extinguished by sports politics.
Take Maurice Omondi Odumbe, for example, he was a Kenyan cricketer, suspended from cricket in August 2004 after being found guilty of receiving money from bookmakers.
Odumbe made his debut for Kenya on June 1990 against Bangladesh at the ICC Trophy. He went on to become one of the leading players by Kenya's One Day International (ODI) debut at the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Odumbe won the Man of the Match.
As the national captain in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Odumbe, again, won a Man of the Match award against Sri Lanka.
In 2003 Cricket World Cup, Odumbe led the team to semi-finals in March 2004,
Odumbe was found guilty in August 2004 of receiving money from bookmakers and banned from cricket for five years. He returned to competitive cricket at domestic level in August 2009, however, did not cause much excitement.
His successor on the national side was Steve Tikolo, is credited for leading the Kenyan national side during their run to the semi finals of (the) 2003 Cricket World Cup. A no mean feat for a country that has not even been granted Test status.
Tikolo blamed internal politics for the poor 2004 Champions Trophy. He quit as captain and led a players' strike in protest. The strike forced a new regime and he returned as captain.
In 2005 Tikolo was signed to play cricket in England. In 2007 he became the first player from a non Test playing country to appear in 100 one day international (ODI) games.
The story of these two, speaks volume of the potential in this game.
It is amazing this is in a country where the game so poorly promoted. It is a pointer to the potential that is yet to be marshaled to address the massive youth unemployment that many development countries suffer.
Perhaps the ministry of youth and sports can do better by diversifying to the country’s non traditional sports, like cricket, especially in schools and colleges for the sake of the youth.