Former Cricket Cranes captain Brian Masaba comes from a sporting family. His siblings play volleyball and it was no surprise that he was into sports.
However, I doubt his goalkeeping career would have lasted as long as his cricket career. While his peers walked to the cricket oval, he was flirting with football but he might have realized early enough that being a top shot-stopper would be a long shot compared to an all-rounder.
Masaba at an early age had mastered the art of swing bowling and even with his gentle medium pace, he could move the ball both ways and this writer is a victim of one of his balls that nip back.
Masaba was in a generation that had a lot of talent and among his peers, he was well respected. He held his own as a tidy medium pacer and a fielder who gave you something different. He would later rely on his fielding skills to effect one of the run-outs that set Uganda on the World Cup path.
However, life is about adapting and when he realized that his medium pace could not find him a place on the national team, he learnt a different skill – bowling leg spin. In the murky waters of T20 Cricket where power takes precedence over talent, you have to be different to survive. Masaba mastered his skill and got comfortable with taking the ball away from either the right-hander or left-handers and the conditions in West Indies allowed him to showcase his skills finishing the tournament as the leading wicket-taker for Uganda with five scalps and the first Ugandan to take a World Cup wicket.
His second tenure as Captain of the Cricket Cranes was much better than the first time a testament to never judge a man by his first round. In 2015, the honour might have come so soon especially because the team was in transition and had so many new players. The armband went around to a couple of players but ultimately Brian was chosen as the man to take the team forward, especially under different circumstances. The side had good balance with the new blood such as Simon Ssesazi and Kenneth Waiswa working well with established players such as Roger Mukasa, Ronak Patel and Riazat Ali Shah. The side showed progress in 2022 with qualification for the Global Qualifiers to break a 13-year wait and then they managed to go all way and seal World Cup qualification a year later in Namibia.
There were questions about the captain’s contribution given that he would sometimes go unnoticed in games but that was not his fault that Uganda largely competed against teams that were below them in grade and situations never required him to step up. When the team asked him to deliver at the African Games in Ghana he raised his hand even when he was batting on one leg. At the biggest stage and with the lights on, he never shied away from the big moments, he brought himself on when the opening pair of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanuallah Gurbaz were hitting the ball to every corner of the Providence Ground and broke that 154 opening stand. A fine World Cup performance for a player who sacrificed his own skills for the greater good of the team.
Masaba leaves the T20 side in a better state and says he is still available for selection for the 50 Over games but in a country where we play mostly T20, you can read between the lines. In a cricket chat with Cricket fans, Masaba was asked if the sacrifice was worth it and he said he leaves a content man.
With his background, the correct path is usually to finish University and find a job but he took the unorthodox path of semi-pro cricket and he feels he has not lost any time. He also mentioned he is thinking about coaching as a way of giving back to the game and he is already doing his coaching certificates.
His exit is not very ideal for a team that doesn’t have a lot of leadership depth but also an opportunity for others to step up. Kenneth Waiswa and Riazat Ali Shah have deputized him in the past but there is no communication on who his successor will be. Masaba leaves behind a strong legacy as a leader and player and while he will be in the stands the next time the boys play a T20 game and will undoubtedly still be one of their biggest fans.
