Kenya: Women's Cricket Coach Ndege Optimistic Despite Kwibuka Heartbreak

By Omondi Onyatta

Nairobi — National women's cricket coach Francis Ndege has labelled their outing at last month's Kwibuka T20 Tournament in Rwanda a success despite relinquishing their title to Tanzania.

The five-time champions lost by 44 runs to their East African neighbours as Tanzania reclaimed the title they last won in 2019.

However, Ndege said there are a lot of positives to pick from the competition and has backed the ladies to get better with time.

"The loss is not really something to regret. In fact, we exceeded expectations because the team we took to Rwanda is a very young one. We are building a team for the future and that is why we are trying to induct as many young players as possible. As the new coach, the tournament was an opportunity to try out new tactics and assess what we need to go to the next level," he said.

One of the positives, according to the coach, is 21-year-old Kelvia Ogola who made her international debut against Nigeria, a match that Kenya won by 42 runs.

Ndege has tipped the youngster for a great future if she manages to keep her feet down and head up in focus on her goals.

"She is a very talented and young cricketer who is among many who represent the future of the sport in Kenya. If she refines the rough edges in her game, she can be a very good bowler and fielder. We are looking forward to having many more like her in the national set-up," he said.

Ndege added that the team will be keeping an eye on possible tournaments that can help them garner more playing experience.

"As of now, there is no specific competition that we are planning to participate in. However, we are working closely with the federation (Cricket Kenya), specifically the director of women's cricket, to identify opportunities for the team to gain more playing experience," he explained.

The eight-year-old Kwibuka T20 Tournament is held annually to commemorate the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

This year's edition featured eight teams including Rwanda, Uganda, Germany, Nigeria, Botswana, Brazil, Tanzania and Kenya.

This article originally appeared in Capital FM