Photo: Badru Katumba; Video: Tina Smole
On a sunny morning at Kampala's main cricket ground, members of the Uganda men's national team are receiving a rigorous training session from their new coach.
Clad in bright red uniforms, the Cricket Cranes have been training hard for the first ever Twenty20 World Cup, a “dream come true” in a country where cricket, the most popular sport, has been overshadowed by football.
But they face a tough road ahead in the tournament, which is jointly hosted by the United States and the West Indies and will run from June 1 to June 29.
Opponents include New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea, and the matches will be held in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
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Time is not on their side: it was only a month ago that the Uganda Cricket Board appointed former Indian first-class cricketer Abhay Sharma as the new coach of the men's national team.
“There will be very little time to relax, it will be a very intensive preparation,” Cranes captain Brian Masaba, 32, told AFP after training was interrupted by rain.
Masaba himself has already won accolades for his performance.
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In mid-May, the International Cricket Council ranked him as the second-most successful captain in T20 international matches (44 wins from 56 matches) behind Pakistan's Babar Azam.
“If we win two World Cups it will be a big bonus for us but what is more important to me is the platform it gives to the country of Uganda,” Masaba said.
“So, as an ambassador for cricket, it's important that I portray the country in a good light and the way to do that is to go out and play good cricket.”
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This is Uganda's first World Cup as a nation, although they were part of the joint East African team along with Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia that took part in the 1975 ODI World Cup.
Cricket was first introduced to the region by British colonial settlers in the late 19th century and became popular among the large numbers of Indian labourers brought to work on the East African railways.
Juma Miyagi, 21, said he hopes Uganda's appearance in the World Cup will not only give a boost to Ugandan cricket but also help propel his own international career.
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“It means a lot to us,” said Miyagi, who has been with the Cranes for two years. “We have very high expectations for the World Cup.”
Miyagi grew up in Naguru, a Kampala slum town on a hillside overlooking the cricket ground.
“I'm from the ghetto,” he said.
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“I want to play in one of the biggest leagues in the world and help my family. We've struggled in every way.”
Miyagi, who was interested in tennis before switching to cricket, said he hoped qualifying for the World Cup would be a “big opportunity” to attract more young people like himself to tennis.
Veteran cricketer Frank Nsubuga, the 43-year-old all-rounder and father figure to the team, played his first international match in the 1997 ICC Trophy.
“I've been playing for the last 27 years so I'm very excited to have qualified for the World Cup,” said Nsubuga, who will be one of the oldest players in the tournament.
“That was my dream, and it came true.”
The 54-year-old Sharma did not want to be discussed about Uganda's strategy for the World Cup matches or who he considers to be the team's star players.
However, he said he draws on his own international experience, which includes coaching India A, India U-19, Indian women's cricket team and the Delhi Ranji Trophy team.
“We're taking it step by step,” Sharma said. “We're working on improving their skill sets and we're working on their mindset.”
He was also cautious about the future of the Cranes, nicknamed after Uganda's national bird.
“The expectations of the fans are there. We have to be realistic. This team is young and is the baby of world cricket.”
“But they're doing well and expectations are high.”
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