NAIROBI, July 9: World Cup semifinalists Kenya are looking for a coach to lead them at the 2007 championships in the West Indies, cricket officials said on Saturday. Former Pakistan Test all-rounder Mudassar Nazar took temporary charge of the team after the sudden departure last March of Englishman Andy Moles to coach Scotland.

The Kenya Cricket Association chairman Samir Inamdar said Nazar, who had originally been contracted as the national cricket development manager, would not continue to coach the team after his contract expired last month.

“We have many interested applicants for the job,” Inamdar said at a news conference. “We shall get the best coach possible to lead the country to the World Cup. It is ostensibly a long term plan.”

Inamdar refused to reveal the identities of the prospective candidates but it is believed that South African Andy Kirsten, who as deputy to India’s Sandeep Patil took Kenya to their first-ever semifinal place in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, is one of them.—AFP