I welcome captain of one of the most promising team of Africa. Presently winner of Africa Twenty20 Championship and it's club are leading in East African Premier League and East African Trophy. The country we are talking about is Uganda and it vibrant captain Davis.
Davis thanks for the time
Thanks for the opportunity
For the interest of Wider world, I would like to ask you what is the status of cricket in your country?
Well first and foremost cricket in Uganda plays second fiddle to soccer and maybe athletics but otherwise game is only going one way n that is being played a lot more not just in Kampala but in over 12 other districts and has recently picked up media recognition and national attention after recently winning the Africa T20 championship on home soil.
What is required for taking cricket to next level in your country?Cricket in Uganda is undergoing various re-structural developments right from the administrators, age group cricket to national men and women teams.
Awareness is being passed onto administrators about the requirements needed to transform a basic national team player into a consistent match winner in national colors down to local cricket, association has to find a way of keeping players interested in the game and playing for the nation with pride, to avoid any other exodus of more players to other nations, efficient player followup programs to continue regular quality player availability,sending players to better facilitated ODI playing nations for further detailed training are major factors that could make a difference in seeing Uganda in a World cup sooner than later.
What are the challenges in playing for a Associate Nation?
Lack of proper training facilities, quality player turnover and lack of continued frequent playing exposure are the major challenges. Because cricket plays second fiddle to other sports in Uganda, sponsorship has been hard to come by that could have eased up on solving the above challenges. That said steps like playing in the E.A Premier League and Cup are expected to better players skills and abilities and expected to make a huge difference.
What should ICC do to make the game global in true sense?First and foremost, make a World Cup a WORLD CUP and not a 10 nation mini series. The difference Uganda's participation in previous U-19 World cups made down here was soooooo huge that the game had started taking an unexpected sudden rise in public awareness and created a huge urge in so many youngsters from various sports to take participation in cricket very seriously as this game had started being looked at as a revenue to brand Uganda as the next big cricketing nation in Africa so just imagine if either the National men or women's teams made it to the global event. Also think the present WCL format is so wide due to the small number of teams per division making the wait between tournaments too huge to make a big difference. I think of 10 teams per div with fewer divisions with shorter waiting time between divisions.
How does it feel to be a star in your country at such a young age?Hmmmm, wouldn't really regard at as stardom but rather public service with an immense opportunity to serve our country with pride with a burning desire to make a difference and leave a lasting mark. Otherwise great being looked at as a role model to youngsters but comes with the responsibility of making a remarkable memorable difference.
what are the steps that need to be taken to make cricket self sufficient financially in Uganda?
Uganda cricket needs to urgently find a sponsor for national teams, better the facilities such as somehow getting flood lights hand in hand with a working marketing strategy to tap into all potential sponsors and fans to attract fans to cricket matches as a form of entertainment at a decent entrance fee.
We thank Davis for taking out time and hope Uganda qualifies for the World Twenty20 in 2012 and he leads his side Nile Knights to title's of East Africa Cup and Premier League. All the very best from Associate and Affiliate world cricket
Davis thanks for the time
Thanks for the opportunity
 |
| Ugandan Captain: Davis playing a shot |
For the interest of Wider world, I would like to ask you what is the status of cricket in your country?
Well first and foremost cricket in Uganda plays second fiddle to soccer and maybe athletics but otherwise game is only going one way n that is being played a lot more not just in Kampala but in over 12 other districts and has recently picked up media recognition and national attention after recently winning the Africa T20 championship on home soil.
What is required for taking cricket to next level in your country?Cricket in Uganda is undergoing various re-structural developments right from the administrators, age group cricket to national men and women teams.
Awareness is being passed onto administrators about the requirements needed to transform a basic national team player into a consistent match winner in national colors down to local cricket, association has to find a way of keeping players interested in the game and playing for the nation with pride, to avoid any other exodus of more players to other nations, efficient player followup programs to continue regular quality player availability,sending players to better facilitated ODI playing nations for further detailed training are major factors that could make a difference in seeing Uganda in a World cup sooner than later.
What are the challenges in playing for a Associate Nation?
Lack of proper training facilities, quality player turnover and lack of continued frequent playing exposure are the major challenges. Because cricket plays second fiddle to other sports in Uganda, sponsorship has been hard to come by that could have eased up on solving the above challenges. That said steps like playing in the E.A Premier League and Cup are expected to better players skills and abilities and expected to make a huge difference.
What should ICC do to make the game global in true sense?First and foremost, make a World Cup a WORLD CUP and not a 10 nation mini series. The difference Uganda's participation in previous U-19 World cups made down here was soooooo huge that the game had started taking an unexpected sudden rise in public awareness and created a huge urge in so many youngsters from various sports to take participation in cricket very seriously as this game had started being looked at as a revenue to brand Uganda as the next big cricketing nation in Africa so just imagine if either the National men or women's teams made it to the global event. Also think the present WCL format is so wide due to the small number of teams per division making the wait between tournaments too huge to make a big difference. I think of 10 teams per div with fewer divisions with shorter waiting time between divisions.
How does it feel to be a star in your country at such a young age?Hmmmm, wouldn't really regard at as stardom but rather public service with an immense opportunity to serve our country with pride with a burning desire to make a difference and leave a lasting mark. Otherwise great being looked at as a role model to youngsters but comes with the responsibility of making a remarkable memorable difference.
what are the steps that need to be taken to make cricket self sufficient financially in Uganda?
Uganda cricket needs to urgently find a sponsor for national teams, better the facilities such as somehow getting flood lights hand in hand with a working marketing strategy to tap into all potential sponsors and fans to attract fans to cricket matches as a form of entertainment at a decent entrance fee.
We thank Davis for taking out time and hope Uganda qualifies for the World Twenty20 in 2012 and he leads his side Nile Knights to title's of East Africa Cup and Premier League. All the very best from Associate and Affiliate world cricket
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