JOHANNESBURG, March 2: Two years after a cash crisis and player rebellion threatened to rip apart the already flimsy fabric of Kenyan cricket, the team is celebrating its greatest ever achievement.
Two successive victories over 1996 champions Sri Lanka and hapless Bangladesh have put them through to the Super Six.
But it’s been a tortuous journey.Back in February 2001, the team was self-destructing.
Eleven players, accused of indiscpline, were sacked and a proposed tour of India and Bangladesh was called off.
Amongst the rebels were former skipper Maurice Odumbe, whose 52 runs and four wickets helped his side beat Bangaldesh by 32 runs at the Wanderers on Saturday, and opening batsmen Ravindu Shah and Kennedy Otieno.
The chairman of the Kenyan Cricket Association (KCA) Jimmy Rayani accused the players of holding the country to ransom.
“Cricket is our livelihood and they cannot deny us the game,” recalled the 33-year-old Odumbe who was skipper at the time, but who has twice been removed from his post after various fallouts with the authorities.
“It was inappropriate for them to terminate our contracts.”
After a five-week stalemate with insults and accusations being mutually traded, the players returned to the fold after agreeing to pay increases of between 40 and 100 percent.
“We had plenty of sleepless nights over those months but we were happy to have the new arrangements,” said Otieno.
Problems always seem to bubble beneath the surface of Kenyan cricket.
In October 2001, Odumbe fell foul of the authorities again when he was suspended from playing in his team’s 70-run win against India in Port Elizabeth for criticising an umpire.
To make matters worse, team manager Mehmood Quraishy, who is still in charge of the team, suffered a heart attack and had to undergo bypass surgery.
Into 2002 and the Kenyan city of Mombasa was rocked by a terrorist bomb which left 17 people dead.
One of the minor knock-on effects was a doubt over Kenya’s planned hosting of two World Cup games — against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
The Sri Lankans honoured their match in Nairobi but probably wish they hadn’t as they lost while the Kiwis opted to forfeit the game and lose four points.
“It was awful back then,” said captain Steve Tikolo. “The situation is fine now but people still talk about the attack.”—AFP