While Africa Cricket Association keeps participants guessing about the dates of the ICC Africa Women’s Twenty20 Championship, Team Uganda has kept up with its training routine.

In a bid to gauge what they have learnt in practice, coaches Jonathan Ssebanja and Grace Mutyagaba had slotted a series of trial matches for the Lady Cricket Cranes for tourney expected to happen in April. 
Although winning was not the essence, the two build-up matches at the lakeside oval in Entebbe on Saturday, left the national women’s side with several unanswered questions.

The Lady Cricket Cranes lost by 80 and 124 runs in the respective morning and afternoon contests. 
“We brought in the boys to give the ladies a different kind of ball game,” Mutyagaba explained. The previous four trial matches were between selected Mackenzie Ayato XI, Franklyn Najjumba XI and Naomi Kayondo X1 sides.

“The U-23 boys played with aggression the ladies were not accustomed to,” said one of the coaches Mutyagaba.
“They also exposed that we are a weak spin-playing unit. We know that giants Zimbabwe have got some good spinners and if we work on how to play the slow bowlers it could give us an advantage over them.”
Perhaps, Mutyagaba will be triggered to think more about his bowlers Najjumba, Ayato, Patricia Malemkia, Ritah Musamali and Stephannie Nampina.

This is after the quintet conceded an unbeaten century of 135 runs off Zephania Arinaitwe’s willow as U-23 Boys set 178-5 in the afternoon duel. 
Only Saidat Kemigisha managed to reply with a meagre 15 runs off 34 deliveries.

TRIAL MATCH RESULTS
U-23 X1 148/7 Lady Cricket Cranes 68/10
U-23 XI 178/5 Lady Cricket Cranes 54/10

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