Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has appealed to all cricket stakeholders in the country to work with the newly elected officials in reviving the sport.
Amina has also urged the new Cricket Kenya (CK) officials to “build bridges” among all stakeholders for the sake of unity in the fraternity.
On her part, CK Normalisation Committee chairperson Lady Justice (retired) Joyce Aluoch called on the new officials to give their best in the task of ensuring Kenya regains her lost glory in the sport.
Mombasa-based businessman Manoj Narshi Patel was emphatically elected the new CK chairman in the transitional elections held Saturday at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi.
The 40-year-old, former Kenya international garnered 51 votes from a possible 71, while his competitors Chidambaran Subramanian (Stray Lions Cricket Club Chairman) and veteran cricket player Tariq Iqbal got zero votes each. Twenty delegates failed to show up for the elections.
Maina Kamau won the vice chairman post while Kalpesh Solanki was elected treasurer. Pearlyne Omamo and former Kenya international Kennedy Otieno Obuya were unopposed in Director Women’s Cricket and County Associations Representative posts respectively.
Amina said Kenya’s cricket had suffered a lot due to wrangles in management thus division should not be given room again.
“…I challenge you to engage all registered Cricket County Associations to ensure vibrant cricket activities across all the counties. Your success will be measured by the ability to carry out all the stakeholders on board, prioritization of development of the sport and sustaining high performance activities of our national teams,” said Amina.
“I call upon the entire cricket fraternity to join hands with the newly elected officials and work together to put the sport back to where it belongs; on top of the World map. The days of chest thumping, pride, arrogance and scarcity mentality must forever be put to rest. All stakeholders must commit to never again take sport back to the brink of extinction.”
The journey of putting Kenya’s cricket back on track began in March 2021 when Amina appointed a Normalisation Committee to be headed by Lady Justice Aluoch. Some of their key responsibilities included: ensuring compliance with the Sports Act 2013, coming up with a new CK Constitution, holding successful CK elections.
These they were to undertake by engaging with various cricket stakeholders who include: International Cricket Council (ICC), cricket players, scorers and umpires, clubs and county cricket associations among others.
Lady Justice (retired) Aluoch who was elated to see their mandate ending successfully said: “…So if I started at nothing and now I speak and sometimes breathe cricket, what about you? She posed.
“Please give it your best shot …you are starting from somewhere while I started from nowhere and I got everybody here (successful elections). You have our blessings and so you have to succeed.”
In his victory remarks, Narshi said he is not new to his role having been involved in various cricket development activities before, including organising tournaments and providing teams with playing equipment.
He said that his main focus will be securing sponsorship to Kenya’s cricket, grassroots development and making the national teams strong again by organising exchange programs with top teams globally.
“My executive committee promise to put their best foot forward to see the glory days of the past. The areas that we intend to work on immediately are bringing the cricket community together, getting our national teams back on track, bringing together all elite players for higher level competition and spreading the game to the member counties and beyond,” said Narshi.
“Engage the government of Kenya, County governments and other entities for the support of Kenya’s cricket, engage with the big cricket countries to realise partnership that will lead to bilateral series with them. To the couties, I request that we work hand in hand to develop the game. I want to declare here that my executive committee will develop an open policy for dialogue and engagement with all interested parties.” BY DAILY NATION