David GOMBE
The Cricket Cranes will take part in the inaugural edition of the Continent Cup T20 to be held in Nairobi from June 7th – 21st. The four-nation event will feature hosts Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Botswana.
The selected squad of 14 will be led by Brian Masaba and has Dinesh Nakrani and Bilal Hassun who missed the tour to Qatar. Youngsters Cyrus Kakuru and Pascal Murungi get another opportunity in the side to show that they can challenge for places ahead of the T20 World Cup Qualifiers. Juma Miyagi misses out due to injury and Ronald Lutaya misses out due to University exams.
Robinson Obuya and Siraje Nsubuga get a chance to make their senior debuts for the Cricket Cranes. The tournament will be played in a triple round-robin format with a final, apart from Botswana all the other teams will be at the T20 World Cup Qualifiers later in the year and this tournament should give the Cricket Cranes a good test as they prepare for the Qualifiers.
The tournament has been sanctioned by the ICC and therefore will have T20 ranking points with Uganda the highest-ranked team at the tournament at 24th, Kenya 28th, Tanzania 30th, Botswana 49th, and Rwanda 67th in the world.
The travelling Team:
Roger Mukasa, Simon Ssesazi, Robinson Obuya, Riazat Ali Shah, Dinesh Nakrani, Frank Nsubuga, Brian Masaba (Captain), Alpesh Ramjani, Kenneth Waiswa, Siraje Nsubuga, Kakuru Cyrus, Henry Ssenyondo, Bilal Hassun, Pascal Murungi.
Officials:
Lawrence Mahatlane (Head Coach), Jackson Ogwang (Assistant Coach), Tusiime Steve (Team Analyst), Shamim Nassali (Physiotherapist), Malinga Marion (Media Attache), Charles Waiswa (Team Manager).