That National Men’s Division One 50-Over League holders Tornado Bee had not scored more than 200 runs in any innings this season is a surprise. 
And perhaps, Jeremy Kibuukamusoke and company were unaware that they were staring at a second season defeat when opponents Kutchi Tigers reached 145-3 inside the 34th over at Lugogo Oval on Sunday. 
With seven wickets in hand, there were 13 overs left to play as the game had prior been reduced to 46 overs due to a soggy outfield left by the morning showers.

Moments after new Kutchi batsman Shailesh Halai had faced two pace deliveries from left-arm seamer Charles Waiswa, play was halted by umpires Patrick Makumbi and Phillip Kahuma.
There was a brief consultation with the game’s scorer Gertrude Chandiru and umpires later called off the game and awarded Tornado Bee five winning points. Why?
“Shailesh went onto the field yet his name was not registered on the team sheet,” Kibuukamusoke told Daily Monitor. 
“None of us had noticed it but when Chandiru did not find his name on the submitted team list, she raised the matter to the officials.”
Competition rules indicate that for one to walk onto the field, they must be registered before the two captains toss the coin.

So how did that pass? “We share names in our Kutchi family,” disappointed Tigers’ captain Alphesh Hirani said. “I wrote Hitesh Halai twice and instead of writing Shailesh Halai on the team list. This was a mistake and I apologised for it.” he admitted.
Hirani and teammates pleaded with the umpires but they stuck to the rules. “It was a really harsh decision made. Even my opposing captain understood the situation but umpires insisted on calling off the game.” he helplessly added.
While Tigers remained second from bottom on 11 points from six matches, Tornado Bee moved to 34 points, assuming league leadership.

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Bowlers outclassed batsmen in all three National Men’s Division One 50-Over League contests played at the weekend. 
That rare moment yielded relatively low scores but Kampala Institute of Cricket Clubs (KICC), Challengers and holders Tornado Bee certainly got home on Sunday.

KICC beat Nile by eight wickets, condemning the 2015 runners-up to their first defeat of the season at the University Oval in Kyambogo.

“Winning keeps us firm in the title race,” KICC skipper Hanumant Katkar said after his side moved to third place with 18 points after three victories from four outings.

After Katkar’s opposite David Musoke opted to bat first, Irfan Afridi’s purple patch with the ball flawlessly continued. The Pakistan-born right-arm spinner kept top of the charts after picking 4/48 to take his wicket tally to 18. His eight-over spell and Kenyan import Abdul Rehman (4/34) blew away Nile’s top-order for 27-3 in the first 52 balls. And though Simon Ayella resisted with 22 off 11, KICC’s Frank Nsubuga (2/19) ensured Nile only set 103 in 25.1 overs. “We did not bat to our standards,” Musoke admitted.

“Our bowling has been clinical and we only want to change that for the better,” Katkar added.

Rehman was trapped early in the chase but Nsubuga’s five boundaries and four maximums in an 18-ball 49* got KICC over the rope after 17.2 overs. At Entebbe, Tornado pair Sadam Oyaga (20 off 46) and Arsalan Pirzada (17 off 44) built well in a 50-run second wicket combo only for Challengers’ Nasir Ahmad (5/24) and Fahad Sadiq (4/23) to do the unthinkable.

Chasing only a paltry 122 runs, Challengers’ openers Hamu Kayondo (45* off 36) and Mohammed Aneef (60* off 54) found no trouble to their fourth win in five games. Tornado Bee also recorded their fourth victory in five outings with a 23-run win over Wanderers amid some pain. They were hard-pressed at 26-4 only for Roger Mukasa’s stand-out knock of 42 off 45 to guide Tornado Bee to 155 after 37 overs.

Defending the score against win-less Wanderers proved tedious when Walaza Zulu (60* off 130) and Dennis Musali (20 off 66) held firm for the sixth wicket. It was not until Mukasa (5/30) bowled and caught the latter midway the 41st over that Wanderers crumbled like a pack of cards in the next 37 balls.

“We still have a bit of homework to do but the team is still showing determination,” Tornado Bee skipper Jeremy Kibuukamusoke said.

Selected results 
Tornado Bee 155/10 Wanderers 132/10
(Tornado Bee won by 23 runs)
Nile 103/10 KICC 107/2 
(KICC won by 8 wickets)
Tornado 121/10 Challengers 125/0
(Challengers won by 10 wickets)
DIVISION TWO
Aziz Damani 373/10 SKLPS 189/10
(Aziz Damani won by 189 runs)
Premier 265/9 Jinja SS 145/10 
(Premier won by 120 runs)

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For the first time in the history of the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA), its elective assembly will take place after February.

And whereas such an occurrence has ruffled many feathers within the fraternity, outgoing UCA chairman Richard Mwami insists that they must look at the big picture.

“I am a busy man and I will be travelling a lot to help my company (EzeeMoney) grow as an entity. But we don’t want to hand over power when things are not right,” said Mwami, who has served as boss for the last four years.
“During our Special General Assembly on February 6 at Lugogo, we could not discuss any matter going forward because we are not legal. We are not aligned within the requirements of the 2014 National Council of Sports (NCS) regulations and we issued a notice of statutory change within 30 days as stipulated.”

Lawyers Dunstan Nsubuga Kamunvi, Fred Mpanga, Nicholas Kebba and Jeremy Kibuukamusoke, who is also the association’s secretary, averted any looming chaos by advising that UCA first sort out with NCS before the assembly can be held.

“It is a good thing that everyone in the assembly understands that we need to first be recognised by NCS,” says UCA CEO Justine Ligyalingi.

“Our learned friends (read lawyers) intervened and guided us there. Now the secretary has called for another SGM on March 12, which will be a vital step in our roadmap to ensure UCA conforms with NCS and set a date for the elective AGM.”

Previously, UCA was registered as a limited company and according to the new NCS Sports Act, it must either be a trusteeship or a non-governmental organisation body. 
“We have opted to register it as a trusteeship,” says Mwami, also a former national top-order batsman.
“After the SGM in March, we will provide for 21 days for the women clubs to pick their delegate to the board as well as the eight men’s clubs to appoint representatives to the new board from which the new chairman will be voted.” Each of the eight voting clubs will nominate one member to constitute the new-look board.

AGENDA - MARCH 12 
l Registration of delegates and determination of quorum. 
l Dissolution of Uganda Cricket Association Limited.
l Adoption of a trust complying with the National Council of Sports statutory requirements.
l Appointment of Trustees.
l Confirmation of Annual General Meeting date.

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The genesis of cricket in Uganda was centred around the European and Asian communities that often gathered to play for fun and leisure in the early 1900s.

It was not until the early 1950s that some locals got fully engaged in the gentleman’s sport under Africa Cricket Club (ACC). Today, ACC is the oldest club.

On the flip side, ACC has been stuck in the National Men’s 50-Over Division Two League tier since relegation in 2011. “We were not playing responsibly at the time,” ACC senior player Sylvester Rokani recalls how demotion engulfed them.

For five straight years, ACC has jumped high but failed to get hold of the promotion key. Why? 
“Our belief is growing players and enjoying game but often, our upcoming talent has been snatched by big money teams as soon as they peak,” explained Rokani.

On Sunday, ACC continued their perfect start to the season making it two wins in as many matches with a 21-run victory over Premier at Budo Oval. That was preceded by the opening 24-run win over Mwiri at Entebbe on February 7. Clearly, there is something that has changed about the 2006 and 2007 top-flight champions.

“The team spirit and morale is excellent,” Rokani noted. “We secured a few sponsorships, signed some really important players which adds oomph.”

Unlike before, ACC has now got a kit sponsor in Case Medical Centre, whose proprietor Dr. Kato Sebbaale doubles as the club chairman. The club also generates funds from club members, who contribute annual subscription fees of Shs300,000 each.

The club has also successfully serenaded Kintu brothers Michael and Aggrey as well as Timothy Erumuka from Jinja-based Rounders and young guns like Gaddafi Jjunju from partner school King’s College Budo.

Michael’s knock of 25 off 35 and Emmanuel Odeng’s half-ton of 55 runs off 83 helped ACC set 194 in 49.2 overs. 
Then left-arm Timothy Erumuka single-handedly blew away Premier’s with figures of 7 for 39. Pace bowlers could be the thing for ACC this season since Odeng was also crucial with a fine spell of 6 for 23 in the win over Mwiri. With such developments in place, many will expect ACC returns to the big time next year.

ABOUT ACC: Started: 1950 Captain: Richard Lwamafa Twitter Handle: @AfricaACC

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They may have survived the relegation monster last year but Challengers Cricket Club are now showing all signs of potential National Men’s Division One 50-Over League title contenders.
Having suffered a painful 117-run loss to KICC two weeks back, Challengers showed character by dusting themselves very quickly to beat defending champions Tornado Bee by 45 runs at the lakeside oval in Entebbe on Sunday.

“We had a few in-house problems (against KICC) which we sorted,” Challengers captain Mohammed Aneef told Daily Monitor after their third win in four matches.

“By picking ourselves up with a win over the champions clearly shows we want to dethrone them.” Interestingly, defeat for Tornado Bee was not only the first in three games but also, it was their maiden loss in 12 limited-overs matches since the shock four-wicket loss to KICC on June 7, 2015.
“We did not apply ourselves well with the bat during the chase,” Tornado Bee skipper Jeremy Kibuukamusoke admitted.

Unlike last year’s run fest between the two, this was a low-scoring contest. After Aneef opted to bat, top-order pair Arthur Kyobe and Daniel Ruyange struggled to play on the unpredictable wicket. 
But Hamu Kayondo (22 off 46), Naseer Ahmed (25 off 43) and Ivan Thawithemwira (34 off 64) resisted John Mpande (3/21) and Deus Muhumuza’s (2/23) tricky bowling spells for Challengers to set 160 in 47.2 overs. Aneef (4/20) and left-arm spinner Henry Ssenyondo (4/16) shared eight scalps, enough to stifle their opponents’ mission. Only Roger Mukasa stood out with a run-a-ball knock of 39.

SUNDAY league RESULTS 
DIVISION ONE
K. Tigers 279/10 Wanderers 145/10 
Challengers 160/10 Tornado Bee 115/10

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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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