With the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Division III Tournament looming, head coach Steve Tikolo and his charges are oozing with confidence as seek to gain promotion to Division II.
The event, to be hosted by Uganda, gets underway on May 23 and Tikolo announced his final team for the tournament on Wednesday morning.
“The team has been improving step by step for the last nine months and I am confident the boys will put up a good show come May,” Tikolo said.
The six division three nations are set to compete for the two available slots to division two and Uganda will only target promotion and not necessarily winning the tournament.
“We are in good shape and very certain we are going to perform well. Our target as a team is to finish in the top two,” mid-order batsman Deus Muhumuza revealed on Wednesday.
The national team started training August last year and had a group of 31 players that was trimmed to 20 early this year as Tikolo looked to try out different combinations during the recently concluded Easter series with Kenya.
Uganda made light work of Kenya 4-0 in a 5-game series during the Easter holidays. With less than a month left until the start of the tournament, Tikolo believes his side is in the right shape to challenge for promotion.
Players have had to go outside the routine training time to be in shape for the event.
Tikolo also revealed that the team, which has previously struggled to get runs on the board, has improved tremendously in the recent times.
“Uganda has always been excellent in bowling and now the batting has also improved, that should give us a big chance,” the Kenyan tactician noted.
Canada, Malaysia, Oman, Singapore, United States of America and Uganda will all be vying for the two available slots in Division II.