Janmohammed bails out team ahead of Oman ICC contest

National cricket team on Monday received a major boost ahead of their the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Division III, set for November 9 to 19 in Oman, with former chairman Jackie Janmohammed pledging to cater for players’ allowances.

Janmohammed, who resigned in February this year, has given the team a total of Ksh 1.6 million to cater for players’ allowances for the 15 days they will be in Oman.

The team has not been paid in the last two months due to suspension of board members, prompting Janmohammed to rally friends to rescue their participation in the Oman competition.

“I spoke to the team and told them that I can make or borrow to try and raise funds for their allowances but I can’t manage to raise their salaries. We have to honor the fixture to avoid being banned by the ICC,” she said.

Janmohammed praised the team for maintaining the discipline of practicing despite the financial difficulties.

If the national team won’t participate in the tournament, then it risks being banned from the ICC Cricket league.

The national cricket board members were suspended by the high court rendering them impossible to transact and access money from the accounts.

The Court Order by Honorable Lady Justice Kamau on September 11, pronounced a temporary order of injunction restraining the board members from interfering with the accounts thus no member could sign for them.

The court order further stated that they will be not allowed conduct any election to choose new officials.

Acting chairman Harpal Sehmi on Monday told Citizen Digital Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa gave a road map for election of new board members.

“CS Echesa banned the board members and replaced them by an interim committee to steer the game until a new constitution can be drafted with a view to holding fresh elections within the next three months,” noted Sehmi.

In Echesa’s directive,  the interim committee is chaired by the former Vice Chair Sehmi, with treasurer Ravi Kaul and Rajesh Patel surviving from the previous board. Three members of the “stakeholders group” and three representatives from the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association complete the caretaker board matrix.

The full nine-member committee consists of Sehmi, Kaul, Patel, David Obuya, Edward Odumbe, Tom Tikolo, Sukhban Singh, Omole Asiko and Walter Trenkof.

Former captain Shem Ngoche noted the shakeup has affected the team in their preparations for the Oman fiesta.

“It has been hard for the team without funds during the preparation period, but the moving forward we are focusing on regaining our second tier status after suffering relegation in February,”  Ngoche offered.

The team was relegated after finishing sixth in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Namibia, earlier in the year.

Kenya will open her account against the hosts Oman on November 9 before facing USA on November 12. A day after facing USA, Kenya will confront neighbors Uganda, lock horns with Singapore on November 16 before winding up their campaign against Denmark on November 18.