The onus of delivering runs has often kept many sides at bay on the global scene but Uganda is not about to let go. The men’s national senior quickly returned to the nets at Lugogo on January 3 to prepare for their early tour to United Arab Emirates (UAE) from January 17-28.
Undoubtedly, the side under the guise of coaches Martin Suji and Steve Tikolo will mainly work on the bat. Performance on the willows calls for more polishing.
And indeed skipper Davis Karashani has not celebrated much during the festive season as he has been pondering on how the troops will perform on the crease line ahead of a multi-tasking year ahead.
“Our batting always rings the bell most,” he highlighted the team’s weakest areas.
“Partnerships build team confidence and demoralise the opposition,” Karashani, who led Uganda to the ICC Africa Division I T20 victory last year, added.
There is no much time to test the best partnerships during tournaments and the technical bench and players have that at the back of their minds.
It is just timely enough to sort out this mess knowing that it is five months before their most important tourney, the ICC World Cricket League Division III slated for Bermuda.
Like for many teams there are few hard hitters who carry the burden of scoring big figures on their shoulders. Usually, it has been individual knocks of the likes of batsmen Roger Mukasa, Arthur Kyobe, Arthur Ziraba, Lawrence Ssematimba and Benjamin Musoke, most fondly from the top order.
But while they await praise and screams from fans next year, they have collapsed when it mattered most, leaving the team wounded at very critical times during the innings.
“We have never had long enough batting partnerships to punish opponents to the fullest yet they always present a number of match-winning partnerships that tear us down,” Karashani reasoned.
This calls for more stringent bowling. “We must tighten the grip on all ends,”
Meanwhile, Uganda Cricket Assocation is set to review this year’s performance and set new targets in annual general meeting on January 26 at Oasis Restaurant Lugogo.
Uganda to focus on partnerships
