Tuesday, December 21, 2010

10 year anniversary of cricket in Rwanda.


The following details were taken from a Press Release detailing the 10 year anniversary of cricket in Rwanda.

Rwanda Cricket Fraternity Celebrates 10 years at a Gala Event

Kigali The Rwanda cricket fraternity wrapped up a series of events that preceded the celebrations of a remarkable 10 year success at a gala dinner to fundraise for a new cricket ground at the Manor Hotel.
The Celebration, held under the theme Growing with every step was graced by special guests in South African International Loots Bosman, International Cricket Council Africa Chief Cassim Sulliman, regional and international guests, sponsors, well wishers and friends of Rwandan cricket as well as founding members of the game.  Since RCAs approval by the Ministry of Sports in December 2000 and becoming an Affiliate Member of the ICC in June 2003, the then, little known game has steadily grown far exceeding anyones expectations.

Thrilled to be hosting such a momentous occasion, Mr. Charles Haba, the President of the Rwanda Cricket Association said, We are all very proud of this accomplishment and we are grateful to our supporters who helped us get here.  He cited, A decade after its founding, the Rwanda Cricket Association now boasts over 1000 registered cricket players and 11 competitive clubs.  He also added that the progress of the development program is very encouraging and at the moment, there are more than 15 secondary schools playing cricket, more tournaments and most of all, tremendous improvement in quality of cricket being played.

In line with marking a decade of cricket in Rwanda, the main ground at Kicukiro is undergoing a major facelift and Haba attributed this major milestone to extremely dedicated members of the cricket fraternity and funds from the Africa Cricket Association and RCA.

Haba is not complacent about the achievements of the RCA and has set the goals higher.  We intend to put up one new ground every year for the next two years.  2011 is going to be very busy with the introduction of an improved and more competitive senior womens league and an annual tourney for the four universities that will spice up the already action-packed calendar.  We very much look forward to the next 10 years.

The gala dinner was characterized by guests treated to a delicious cuisine, dancing, dazzling performances and lucky guests went away with lots of prizes including return trips to Dubai, Nairobi, laptops, gorilla trekking permits, trendy phones, dinner coupons, nights at the Manor Hotel, internet modems, fuel coupons, printers and lots more.

The most fascinating news of the night was a pledge by the Honorable Minister of Sports that the Government of Rwanda would support cricket to get a ground hence enabling the game to attract international matches.

The evening was crowned with Haba calling upon everyone to keep with them as we Grow with every Step.” 

Adam and Theo

Team Rwanda

Game on
Some keen cricket fans

Loots and Adam

Loots 

Some Ugandan singer/performer

Adam and Shell at the dinner

Andre (National Team opening batsman/bowler) at the dinner

Monday, December 20, 2010

New mobile cricket net

The England based charity ‘Cricket Without Boundaries’ have continued their thankless support of Rwandan cricket and have shipped over a mobile net that can be used for centre wicket cricket training.

Rather than train this afternoon, we started to assemble the mobile net.




Tomorrow afternoon we will apply the netting and it will be ready for use.  The mobile net is going to be so helpful and will allow a lot more batting practice to take place without the need for fielders.

A big thank you goes out to Cricket Without Boundaries for their continued support of Rwandan cricket.

Monday, December 13, 2010

ACA/ICC Under 19 Women's cricket tournament

 At 6pm on Monday, November 29, 2010, I joined the Rwandan under 19 girls cricket team on a ‘Kampala Coach’ bus headed from Kigali, Rwanda to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania for the ACA/ICC under 19 women’s cricket tournament.

The bus trip included three bus changes (one due to our bus tire catching fire - leading to a five hour wait on the side of the road), covered four Countries (Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania) and took us 55 hours to complete.

We finally arrived at out hotel around 4:00am on Thursday morning just five hours before we were due to play our first game against Uganda.  The tournament officials kindly amended the schedule so that our first game was changed to Thursday afternoon, allowing the girls to get a few hours sleep.


On the bus
Time for some sleep during the journey
The offending tire
Practicing while the bus was broken down


Game 1 – Rwanda v Uganda

Match played at:       Annadil Burhani Stadium.
Result:                       Uganda 121/4 defeated Rwanda 33/8 by 88 runs.

The first game was at the Annadil Burhani Stadium.  On a very hot afternoon Uganda won the toss and decided to bat.  The Rwandan girls seemed very tired during this game (understandable given the journey they had just endured) and it showed in their cricket.  The team fielded well but unfortunately they bowled 51 extras (49 wides and 2 no balls), allowing Uganda to score 121/4.

Rwanda’s batting did not get off to the start we were hoping for as the Ugandan opening bowler took a hat trick (all bowled) in the first over.  To make matters worse, there was a run out in the second over and the team never recovered.  The girls batted well during the middle overs and ensured the team did not lose a wicket for around 10 overs.  While the team did not score a lot of runs during this time it showed some great fighting spirit and gave the team some much needed encouragement.  Unfortunately our innings was abandoned due to bad light after 24 overs with the score at 33/8.

Rwanda v Uganda - Rwanda in the field 
Rwanda v Uganda - Rwanda take their first wicket
Rwanda v Uganda - Rwanda get ready to bat
Rwanda v Uganda - Rwanda batting


Game 2 – Rwanda v Tanzania

Match played at:       UDSM.
Result:                       Tanzania 66/10 defeated Rwanda 65/7 by 1 run.

Game 2 was played at the University ground (UDSM).  Tanzania won the toss and decided to bat.  After a decent night’s sleep the Rwandan girls came out to play.  The bowling and fielding could not be faulted during this game against a Tanzanian side that batted aggressively and continually tried to take on the fielders when running between the wickets.  Rwanda took just 16.4 overs to dismiss Tanzania for 66 runs.  The improved bowling effort saw all five bowlers take a wicket and the extras were reduced to only 13 for the game. 

The opening batsmen got the team off to a steady start and were keeping up with the required run rate of two per over before some tight bowling by the Tanzanian team led to a couple of quick wickets.  The batting slowed up during the middle overs, which left our lower order chasing around four runs per over.  Thelooked to be too big for Rwanda until Veronica (23 not out) decided to play her shots and kept the scoreboard ticking over.  She played a mature innings and almost won the game for Rwanda in the final overs as she and Jacky (5 not out) fell one run short of the total.  It was a nail biting finish that went Tanzania’s way.

Rwanda v Tanzania - a chat with the Skipper
Rwanda v Tanzania - drinks break
Rwanda v Tanzania - chasing 66 runs
Rwanda v Tanzania - the run chase was going well
Rwanda v Tanzania - support from the girls
Rwanda v Tanzania - newpaper report


Game 3 – Rwanda v Kenya

Match played at:       Annadil Burhani Stadium.
Result:                       Rwanda 113/6 defeated Kenya 112/10 by 1 run.

For game 3 we were back at the Annadil Burhani Stadium.  Rwanda won the toss and decided to bat.  Once again our openers got the team off to a solid start by putting on 15 runs.  The middle order chipped in with some valuable runs and our lower order finished the innings off strongly to help score 113/6.

A highlight of today’s batting was the positive stroke play, rotation of the strike and aggressive running between the wickets.  The girls have improved their batting each day and seem to be getting better at batting in pairs and building partnerships.

Today’s bowling was not as successful as the Tanzanian game yet the girls managed to take regular early wickets and had Kenya 35/5 at one stage.  The Kenyan team combined for some excellent middle order partnerships which put the pressure on Rwanda.  The bowlers were rotated in an attempt to take some wickets, however, the runs continued to flow and 38 wides were bowled.  This allowed Kenya to move closer to the required 113 for victory.  Late wickets and a run out from the final ball of the game allowed Rwanda to scrape home for a one run win.

This was the first ever victory for the Rwandan girls team.

Rwanda v Kenya - Rina playing straight
Rwanda v Kenya - Delphine on the attack
Rwanda v Kenya - Delphine hitting to mid wicket

Rwanda v Kenya - Vestine driving to cover
Rwanda v Kenya - Vestine turns one around the corner
Rwanda v Kenya - Kenyan player swinging hard

Final (3rd v 4th) – Rwanda v Kenya


Match played at:       Annadil Burhani Stadium.
Result:                       Rwanda 95/8 defeated Kenya 70/10 by 25 runs.

The final between Rwanda and Kenya (3rd v 4th playoff) was played at the Annadil Burhani Stadium.  Rwanda won the toss and decided to bat.  For the third game in a row Cartier (6 runs) and Vestine (16 runs) got the team off to an excellent start with an opening partnership of 30 runs.  Both girls played some positive strokes and regularly turned the strike over with some aggressive running.  After Cartier was dismissed Veronica (20 runs) came to the crease and continued her good form with the bat, playing shots all around the ground.  Vicky (6 runs) also played some nice shots during the middle of the innings but was unfortunately run out by a direct hit.  The finals overs were played out by Winnie (9 not out), Jackie (5) and Sonia (1 not out) who all helped to keep the score moving along with some good partnerships.

Once again it was fantastic to see the girls’ positive stroke play, rotation of the strike and aggressive running between the wickets.  The girls have really started to bat well together in partnerships as the week has progressed.

Rwanda successfully changed their bowling plans today and started by using four different bowlers in the first four overs.  This was a stroke of genius as all four bowlers took a wicket in their first over.  Rwanda quickly had Kenya struggling at 9/4.  Another quick wicket saw the score at 19/5 before the Kenyan team combined again for some middle order partnerships.

Kenya made Rwanda work hard for their remaining five wickets.  All the bowlers tried hard but it was Sonia who was the pick of the bowlers, claiming five wickets and cleaning up the Kenyan tail.

Rwanda had another successful day with the ball and was backed up in the field by all players.  A special mention should go to Vicky who held onto two excellent catches at short cover.

The result was fitting for the Rwandan team who continued to improve as the week went on, winning their final two games to finish third in the tournament.  The Rwandan team was the crowd favorite and the girls were loved by all teams participating in the competition.  Many of the organizers and opposition coaches commented on the sportsmanship and competitiveness shown by the Rwandan girls and said they will be a force to recon with in future tournaments.

Rwanda v Kenya - winning the final
Rwanda v Kenya - team shot 1
Rwanda v Kenya - team shot 2
Rwanda v Kenya - team coaches
A trip to the beach to celebrate the win
Posers
A trip to the beach - on lifeguard duties
It was a privilege to be able to assist the Rwandan team and watch the girls improve as a team as the tournament progressed.  It would be fantastic for Rwandan cricket if the girls could continue to play regularly as a team, which would ensure continual improvements to an already talented side.

Many thanks to the Tanzania Cricket Association for providing coloured uniforms for the Rwandan girls to wear during the tournament.

An article from the ACC/ICC under 19 women's cricket tournament

The following article was written by an English Journalist, Colin Macbeth, who was following the Ugandan under 19 girls cricket side during the recent womens's cricket tournament.

One Of Cricket’s Fairytales

When you look at the record books in a couple of years’ time you will be reminded that Uganda won the 2010 Under-19s Girls’ East African regional championships in Dar es Salaam, and that Tanzania were runners-up.
What you will not be told is who were the real winners: Rwanda and cricket.
Rwanda survived a blown-up bus and 56 hours on the road to reach the Annadil Burkani stadium. There, poor souls, they were annihilated by an albeit weakened Uganda side, 121/4 to 38/8. On the same day Tanzania walloped the lacklustre Kenyans 101/4 to 18 all out.
So, everyone thought the die was cast; and indeed it was the Tanzanians and Ugandans who would battle it out for first place and fight again in the final. But on the way the Tanzanians scraped through against the rapidly improving Rwandans by just one run – 66 all out to 65/7, while Kenya succumbed easily to Uganda , 87/7 to 37.
Thus the final games against Kenya , an established though declining powerhouse of non-Test cricket, were going to be the real test for the inexperienced Rwandese. And they rose to it magnificently, beating the Kenyans not just once, but twice, all in the name of good cricket. First, it was they who won by the one run – 113/6 to 112 all out; then it was more emphatic, 95/8 to 70.
Coach Adam Arnold, an Australian who fell into the job almost by chance when visiting his girlfriend in the little central African nation, was like a kid with candy. “It was great, simply great,” he crowed. And his side were right behind him on this momentous occasion,
“It was strange though,” said Arnold . “When they lost by one run to Tanzania, they were as happy as can be; when they won by one run against Kenya they hardly celebrated at all; and when they beat them the second time they just said a prayer, although it was clear their joy was unbounded.”
The three visiting sides left Tanzania early on Monday morning each with long journeys ahead of them. Kenya ’s tails were rather between their legs; Uganda were all vuvu-blowing and flag-waving; Rwanda were simply proud, as the Tanzania Cricket Association chairman said they had every right to be.
And added “Cricket has won.”