BUILT ON QUICK SAND?

It seems ages when Kenya were the envy of the cricket world. As a top associate member of International Cricket Council, (ICC), Kenya enjoyed some unique privileges; they benefited from a special category of funding and even earned automatic qualification to the cricket World Cup finals and the Champions Trophy. They had the classiest players in Africa and also lined up a premium collection in all positions. The players lived big; they spotted the latest fashions and drove the latest car models. They socialised in exclusive joints, while some were property speculators in upscale Nairobi.
That was half the story.
At that time, the issue was when, not if, Kenya was to be admitted to the exclusive club of Test Playing nations. So it was just natural
that top African coaches on the continent were Kenyans. Tom Tikolo was in Uganda,
while a host of other players ran cricket clinics in various countries in East and entral African region. Then Kenya completed its conquest with a fantastic performance in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. They not only elbowed their way to the semi finals, but wrote some rare piece of history by becoming the first nation outside test cricket to reach that stage. It was just the beginning, or so it seemed.

Up to 2004, test teams like India A and Pakistan A were wary of Kenya. Bangladesh was nothing more than a junior partner; placed at the rear where Kenya monitored her progress from the side mirrors. Not for once did Canada and the Netherlands, or even Bermuda, register on Kenya's radar screens. It all seemed destined to last.
Then poop! Slowly, and imperceptibly, everything started to unravel. You can make comparison between the current state of Bangladesh, or even Canada and Kenya to understand the difference class and form. While is class is permanent, form is always temporary, just like mood.
As World Cups go, the 2003 tournament may have been the chalice that contained the poison that has condemned Kenya cricket to a stillbirth.
Nothing has ever been the same ever since that glory moment. The achievement was
supposed to be the turning point for Kenya cricket, not only for the anticipated corporate goodwill and mass support, but it helped shore up a strong case for the protracted push towards test status.
How things have changed for the worse! The associate membership category has been whittled down, and while the funding still remains, Kenya will, after the next World Cup, start qualifying for the world cups. In just two years, lack of common sense from successive authorities has reduced Kenya to a house of cards. It's now engaged in dogfights with Bermuda, Holland and Canada the same countries that were light years behind just a while ago. The tragedy is, while these countries are on their superhighways to the summit, Kenya's cricket is rattling and stuttering to the abyss.                                                                                              .
That it is Canada that bundled Kenya out of the 2006 ICC Intercontinental Cup, shows the extent of the fall. The sad bit is; most of Canada's top-line cricketers were having their first taste of the four-day version of the game. The sadder bit was; although it was a four-dayer, it took the results of the first day to settle the match, which Kenya finally lost by 25 runs. From a shaky beginning 102 for 7 Canada finished up 235 all out, with Pakistan-born Qaiser Ali doing most of the work with his 91.
After the switch, opening Canadian bowlers Henry Osinde and Umar Bhatti claimed two wickets apiece in checking Kenya on just 14 runs when play was put aside for the first day.

Captain Steve Tikolo was caught out after just six. But it was Umar Bhatti who took Kenya's last wicket to help Canada pull off a thrilling 25-run victory. The 22-year-old left-arm pace bowler from Toronto thrived in the sweltering 36C heat to grab six wickets in Kenya's second innings to go along with four he captured in the first at Maple Leaf Cricket Club. "We prepared in the heat and we were not duly bothered by it. To beat one of the top associate countries is exciting and it is a huge confidence booster for our upcoming games against Bermuda," Bhatt said. Kenya, resuming on 45 for two after being set 291 for victory, started with a bang by putting on 109 runs in the first session, thanks to a knock of 50 by Tikolo. Tikolo's innings were laced with nine boundaries and he looked set to torment Canada. But his masterful innings was ended by Canada's captain John Davison who had him clean bowled. Tikolo had added' 75 runs for the third wicket with Hitesh Modi. His dismissal temporarily buoyed Canada's hopes, but Modi (41) found an aggressive and sound partner in- Collins Obuya, who treated the Canadian attack with total disdain. The tall Kenyan played some exquisite cover drives and deposited anything short of length to the leg boundary. Obuya brought up his 50 and his country's 200 with a shot through the covers off left-arm spinner Puvendran Ravishankar, who was the pick of the Canadian bowlers with three wickets.

Obuya was finally last man out for 89 and Kenya on 265, edging a Bhatti delivery to Geoff Barnett at second slip. However, Kenya recovered from the Intercontinental Cup elimination to whitewash the same Canada 2-0 in their 001 series. From Canada, Kenya returned to Nairobi Gymkhana for a date with their traditional arch rivals, Bangladesh, who had lost 2-3 in their five 001 to the trouble-ridden Test Playing nation Zimbabwe in Harare.
History has always been in favour of Kenya whenever confronts the South Asian nation. Spurred by history, and the 2-0 win against Canada, there was great optimism in the squad that Bangladesh were in for a humiliation. This optimism was to prove irrelevant, as the well organised Tigers taught Kenya some basic lessons in batting and fielding, registering a shameful six-wicket win in the first 001, edged a close second by two wickets before running out six wicket winners in the third 001 to seal a comprehensive 3-0 whitewash. What was surprising was not so much the defeat but the low run rate among the batsmen and the disappointing wicket figures posted by the bowlers. No Kenyan batsman was able to reach a century. Tikolo's 47 on the first day turned out to be the highest batting figure the hosts registered throughout the series. Thomas Odoyo's spirited attempts to take the gauntlet from his captain, and fight back with everybody on the ropes, proved futile. However, it was the same I Odoyo who had proved a crucial link in taking the Bangladesh wickets, particularly in the second game where he took four and added another in the final day. '" Top order of opener Kennedy . Otieno and partner Maurice Ouma, who was making a return in the team after poor performance against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe early this year, posted dismal figures in all the three matches where they both contributed less than 50 runs! Other than Tikolo, debutants Nick Odhiambo and Tanmay Mishra gave glimpses of hope while Obuya, Modi and Jimmy Kamande, completely failed to acquit themselves. Cricket Kenya chairman Samir Inamdar remained graceful in defeat, but promised to improve the team with time. "It is just a matter of time before things change for the better," he said, "We are already giving the team the relevant international exposure it needs to compete at the highest test playing level. We have visited Zimbabwe and Canada; we're in the process of hosting Holland and Bermuda," While appealing for patience, Inamdar assured Kenyans that the sport was on the right track, and will never sink to the low depths like in the past. "It's heartbreaking, but there is no going back. It's a difficult task but not insurmountable. Positive results will start trickling in soon, what we want is some patience." However, for some aggressors, pretence was thrown out of the window; sleeves rolled as they took advantage of the moment, and the poor results, to puncture holes on the leadership capabilities of the present office. It went as far as praying for calamity to strike as the above loss in order to use it as a weapon for self-promotion.
The defeat was received with much glee by the former chairman Sharad Ghai. Without mincing words, he declared that the standards of cricket in the country appeared to be on the meltdown since his departure. "The only time that players made money was during my time in office," he boasted. "The Sh7000 monthly salary the administration is paying the national team players is peanuts and is not enough motivation for the to win against sides like Bangladesh that treat the sport like a religion."
He declared that was seriously considering a comeback "if cricket was to be saved".
"I am still waiting for the heaven that we were promised when they bundled me out. It seems to be taking too long." On the second and third days of the series, a group of youth booed the current chairman while cheering Ghai. It was suggested that Ghai had paid them to boor and jeer the current officials, to push his case for his anticipated return~ Ghai denied the accusation.
By and large, it is only incorrigible optimists who expected Kenya to beat Bangladesh just because history. The fortunes of the two rivals have taken different paths in the la$t couple of years. While the Kenyans have wallowed in history, the Bangladesh cricket board burnt the midnight planning for their destiny. They have established an excellent cricket infrastructure, staring from each and every village in the vast country. The government and corporate-supported programme have come in handy. In Kenya, club cricket is as vibrant as skiing; and instances where it exists, it restricted to one day affair. CK is yet to launch its own national league; the country as of now lacks a well established national league format, and players are inducted in the longer version of the game, only when they are playing international matches.
CK needs to put its act together pretty fast, and if the heat is too much get out of the kitchen.