A total of 34 cricket teams from the East African region will participate in this year’s Hayer one-star field cricket league, with the Uganda national under 19 cricket in Nairobi to defend their title.
The third edition of the tournament which will start on 21st August 2019, will have a total of 450 young players who have entered categories of under nine, under 11, under 13, under 15 and under 19 who are drawn from Uganda, Nairobi, Nakuru, and Mombasa.
Star Field Sports Director Karan Kaul speaking during the media briefing on Tuesday at the Nairobi Gymkhana said, “We expect the tournament standards to be very high this year, especially after the successful high performance camp which attracted 105 children.”
Kaul added that promising cricketers are also expected from Cricket Kenya Development sides from Homa Bay, Nairobi and Nakuru while Cricket associations from Uganda, Coast and East Africa Cricket and Development Foundation have also sent their teams.
“Clubs and schools hosting the youth league and putting their facilities in good use include Nairobi Gymkhana, Sikh Union Sports Club, Ruaraka Sports Club, Sir Ali Muslim Club, Nairobi Jaffrey’s Sports Club, Peponi Secondary School and Jamuhuri High School,” said Kaul.
Crown Paints General Manager Abhijit Roy said that Kenya should improve in Cricket since it has financial support and all the necessary resources.
Roy noted that Kenya Cricket has not witnessed any significant growth over the past two and a half years considering the talent and skills it has in fantastic players from national, provincial, clubs and school teams.
MacCoffee Regional Head Abhishek Rana said that since there is a lot of potential and talent, they want to support and link with institutions that want to give back to the society.
Hayer One member Elizabeth Njambi said that it takes courage, discipline, determination and passion for all participants to play Cricket and as a company they believe that the best way to succeed is by helping others succeed.
Njambi commended both the coaches and parents for their love and dedication for making stars out of the players.
Star Field is a sports Development Company, which was established in 2017 and aims at creating top quality training programmes that follow long term athlete development principles and also remove all barriers when it comes to participation which include gender, race, disability and lack of income.
The tournament has drawn attention of sponsors namely Crown Paints Kenya, Executive Health Solutions, MacCoffee and Muthaiga Travel to facilitate the league through financial support in order to nurture young talent.
By Lucy Wambui and Hillary Wangila
