CHENNAI: IN the early 1970s, a plan to host a men’s 60-over World Cup was mooted. This was rubber-stamped in 1973. “A scheme to stage a World Cup (60 overs a side) in England during 1975 was approved,” begins a paragraph on the ICC’s website. “East Africa and Sri Lanka were invited to take part, as well as the six Test playing nations.”
Of course, East Africa was an umbrella term for several countries coming together as one for the purpose of playing the game. When they came together as one in England, they comprised players from Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda. While the squad was dominated by Kenyans, according to the book ‘Second XI: Cricket In Its Outposts’, two Ugandans had made the squad. Sam Walusimbi and John Nagenda.
Since that maiden sojourn by a group of players, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and, most recently, Namibia, have featured in a men’s ICC event. At Windhoek on Thursday, Uganda, one of the OGs, ensured they will become the fifth.
They needed a win against Rwanda to get through at Zimbabwe’s expense and they achieved that with minimal fuss. Chasing 66, they won with nine wickets and 71 balls to spare. It was poetic that Simon Ssesazi hit the winning run, clipping a ball to square leg for a single. At Windhoek over the last week, the opener has been one of the most consistent batters with 130 runs at an average of 32.5.
When the Africa qualifier began in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, few even recognised Uganda’s potential. But not the interim head coach, Jackson Ogwang. “The team is ready to make Uganda proud,” he had said in a press release issued by Uganda Cricket days before the meet. “We have been preparing for this event for the last three years and we are certain something has to finally give. The focus might be on getting one over either Zimbabwe and Namibia but as a team, every game is important and therefore the intensity we play with Zimbabwe is the same energy we bring for Rwanda. We aim to take care of business and fate will decide the rest but if we play to our potential, we shall be at the World Cup.”
Having made a name for themselves as a solid Associate over the last few years (they, like Zimbabwe and Namibia, didn’t need to take part in the pre-qualifier to feature at this event), that sort of confidence may have been misplaced. That looked to be the case after a six-wicket defeat at the hands of the hosts. Up next, their third match, was Zimbabwe.
They were in business as they hunted down a middling 139 to send Kampala, their capital, into delirium. It was noteworthy that it was Riazat Ali Shah who helped them home with a 28-ball 42 apart from Dinesh Nakrani’s 3/14. After moving to Kampala as a teen, he has continued to blossom. In 2018, he played a big role in helping them win promotion to the next tier.
Since then, he has also added power hitting to his arsenal. “... the hard long hours under the tutelage of Steve Tikolo has helped transform him from the 16-year-old who stepped on the Lugogo Cricket Oval four years ago with potential to one of the budding Associate cricketers,” Uganda cricket wrote on their website in 2018. Five years later, that prophecy is true.
The reward for their hard work is when they will board the flight from Kampala to the Caribbean and the US in a little over seven months for the T20 World Cup.
