Following Kenya's defeat by England over the weekend, their captain, Steve Tikolo, requested more one-day games against Test opposition. We get the impression that maybe - just maybe - this isn't the first time he's said this.We're with him. There are enough one-day games taking place around the world between Test teams that the odd one could easily be cut and replaced by a match against Kenya. They don't need to take part in long-winded triangular competitions. Perhaps it could just be a couple of matches prior to a more cash-friendly one-day series. We'd happily go and see a Kenya match. We've seen everyone else.
Kenya reached the semi finals of the World Cup last time around. That so little is made of this is shameful. That the achievement doesn't seem to have raised the side's profile, equally so.
Tikolo's right. In days gone by, when England would travel to Aus (and vice versa) by boat, SL was a big stop-off point, where the travelling team would often have a rest and play a warm-up match against the (non-Test) SL team. That played a huge part in SL's cricketing education.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, with all those new-fangled aeroplanes whizzing around, why not do something similar? For example, a Test team touring England could play Scotland, Ireland or Holland as part of their warm-up. WI have Bermuda (!) and USA, while teams going to SA have Kenya, Zim and possibly Namibia. Canada and UAE are a bit stuffed though!
It's not going to happen though. Teams now seem to only get about two warm-up matches, so they'd want to play them on pitches as close as possible to those they're going to be playing on for real.
Incidentally, in my Fantasy WC comp of choice (run as part of Battrick), Tikolo was the top points-scorer in the group stages. That's how good he is!