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TOURNAMENTS |
| UCA National team Click here for National Team Player Profiles.. . Though Uganda first national cricket team was selected in 1950, the first major international engagement for the Senior National team was the East and Central African Cricket Quadrangulars of 1966. The Uganda team was selected from the Pentangulars which climaxed the seasons and involved the Indian, Goan, White, Muslim and African clubs. Uganda hosted the ECACC in 1975 and out of this Sam Walusimbi and John Nagenda were selected to play for the East and Central African team in the World Cup. The years of turmoil that followed made it very difficult for Uganda to regularly participate in this tournament, but thanks to individual efforts, Uganda persisted. After 25 years, Uganda won this tournament again in 2001, and thereafter, started to dominate it. With the inauguration of Africa Cricket Association in 1996, Uganda started to regularly feature in the ACA Cup, a successor to the Zone 6 tournament. The highlight was 2004, when Uganda finished second, behind Namibia. In 1998, Uganda became an Associate Member of ICC, and 2001 team finished 10th overall in the ICC Trophy in Canada, having entered as seed 25. This was a major turning point in various ways. While on the positive side, Uganda was recognized as a stronghold of Cricket, this also meant that Uganda had to work harder, to display their abilities. As stated earlier, at that time, Uganda dominated the Quadrangulars and Africa Cup, but as was to soon be demonstrated, these tournaments were at the low level. In 2004, the ICC introduced the Inter-Continental Cup, and in the first edition, Uganda beat Namibia comprehensively, but also lost to Kenya by an innings. In the 2005 edition, Uganda narrowly lost to Namibia, but comprehensively lost to Kenya again. In 2005, Uganda hosted a lot of friendly contests, and excelled here. A lot of support was received from Castle Lager, MTN Uganda and Shell Uganda, who also sponsored the team to the ICC trophy in Ireland the same year. Uganda’s performance at the ICC trophy in Ireland can be described in so many ways, but it was poor, to say the least. While different people have raised different theories about the reasons for the dismal performance of late, the reality of the problem is that since 2004, with the introduction of the global ranking programmes, Uganda has been placed in a league where the best performing Associate Members are, and in that aspect, they in reality are about the worst in that group.
A comparison of what preparations other teams had for the ICC trophy will demonstrate the root cause.
The team, first and foremost needs great exposure at that level. In the region, that can only be obtained from Kenya, so tours to/from other lands need to be effected/hosted. However, costs of international travel are prohibitive and sponsorship is needed. The team needs full time high level coaches that have played Cricket at higher levels, to work with our local Coaches. Players need to be allowed chances to play in bigger leagues than ours, including stints in first class Cricket Academies. Kitting, equipping and motivation of players is also of paramount importance. All this requires massive additional sponsorship, way over and above what current sponsorship can cover. ICC branding rules/sponsorship regulations however are also a constraint.
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Uganda |
