By Denis Musali
Cricket Cranes Captain Roger Mukasa, left arm seamer Charles Waiswa and youngster Kenneth Waiswa have landed an invitation to be part of the 2019 edition of the Singapore elite performance program.
The trio who have been key players for the cricket cranes for the past two years will join other players from other countries such as Malaysia, England, Botswana and Pakistan in the new expanded format of the program.
The program that has been running since 2017 is used to test the skills of the finest players in Singapore who are selected from the premier clubs, provincial sides and the emerging players from U19.
A statement from the Singapore Cricket Association read
The Elite Player Series will consist of handpicked players across the Premier League clubs in Singapore including current Singapore representatives, Singapore U19s cricketers and certain players that the SCA feels will contribute to the strength of the Elite Player Series regardless of whether they do or do not qualify to represent Singapore.
The SCA hopes that by allocating these players across three teams, an extremely competitive playing environment which will test all players involved will be created and that they will be presented with an opportunity to prove themselves against the challenges associated with playing against some of the best cricketers in Singapore.
The five week program will run from Feb 6th to 18th March with the 50 over games played over the weekend on a day and night basis while the T20 games will be played on Tuesday and Thursday night.
Roger Mukasa and Charles Waiswa will be teammates as they turn out for the SG Crescents while Kenneth Waiswa will be featuring for the SG Crimsons.
The Singapore Cricket Association will cater for the players’ accommodation, match dinners plus match fees on the match days. Uganda Cricket Association on their part will cater for the players’ flights to Singapore and living allowances while in Singapore.
This opportunity will test the skills of the talented trio with Roger Mukasa and Charles Waiswa having another shot at semi- pro cricket, Roger and Charles have over the last two years been plying their trade for Stray Lions in Kenya but both have also tested semi-pro life in South Africa and England respectively.
For youngster Kenneth Waiswa this will his 1st time to play semi-pro cricket and he cannot wait to get started
It means a lot that am going be exposed to play outside the country and not with the national team or U19 for the first time, Its an opportunity that is going test me on how future or coming years of my cricket will be.This is the time to trust my abilities and what I can do on the cricket field and gaining more exposure and confidence.
The trio will fly out of the country tomorrow afternoon to link up with their team mates ahead of start of the games that start on the 6th of Feb.