Baby Cricket Cranes ready to go at U19 World Cup Qualifiers in Namibia

• U19 Africa World Cup Qualifiers
• Sunday, March 17
• Kenya vs Uganda – 10.30 am (EAT)

The U19 Cricket Cranes safely arrived in Namibia Friday evening and quickly got settled in at the Safari Resort Hotel.

The trip from Kampala to Windhoek had the youngsters share a flight with their East African rivals Kenya and Tanzania from Adis Ababa.

There are 9 players from the team that suffered heartbreak two years ago with team captain Frank Akankwasa one of the lot.

Two years on, Akankwasa has made peace with the past and looks forward to the action tomorrow.

“Two years ago we were still in the process of learning and we failed to handle the pressure on the day. Now we have grown and very focused on the job at hand,” he says.

The junior Cricket Cranes will start off with the Migingo derby tomorrow when they take on neighbours Kenya.

Kenya which is handled by Kenyan legend Jimmy Kamande are some of the favourites together with Uganda but they know the job is now bigger.

“We enjoyed our last World Cup experience (and) for us that is the motivation to do well. We want to go back there which means we shall take every game as a final without undermining any of our opposition,” Kamande said.

The team had a light session this morning at the Wanderers Stadium, conducted by team coach Jackson Ogwang and his assistant Lawrence Ssematimba.

The Migingo derby is a must-win encounter for either side as they build momentum for the rest of the tournament.

In the other fixtures, hosts Namibia take on Sierra Leone while Tanzania will be facing of with Nigeria.