Kenya keen to impress (28 Sep 1996)

28 September 1996

Four-nation tournament in Kenya: Hosts keen to impress

NAIROBI, Friday - Kenya, still basking in the glow of their remarkable win over West Indies in the World Cup, have the chance to enhance their ambitions to play test cricket in a four-nation tournament starting in Nairobi on Saturday.

World champions Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan provide the daunting opposition.

A significant Asian population in Nairobi has ensured the growth of game played there by the British at the turn of the century and now Kenya are looking to join cricket`s elite.

While the sport hardly competes as a spectator rival with soccer in Kenya, public awareness climbed hugely with the World Cup victory over West Indies, twice world champions.

The Sri Lankans will start the tournament in buoyant mood.

Australian mutterings about "lucky`` after losing to them in the World Cup final were silenced during the recent Singer Cup in Colombo when the hosts thrashed Australia in the final.

Pakistan, too, are in confident mood after a one-day series win over arch rivals India.

But they are missing three key players -- opener Aamir Sohail, leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, man of the series against India, and middle-order batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq -- through injury.

South Africa go into the tournament with the recent Hong Kong sixes as their only competitive cricket in the past five months.

But coach Bob Woolmer is not unduly worried by his team`s lack of match practice.

"Start at the deep end, that`s the way to go these days. You can`t try and protect yourself. Pakistan and the world champions in the first two games of the season, it doesn`t come much harder than that,`` Woolmer said on Friday.

If South Africa do have any doubts, they need only think back to their form last year when they won 20 of 22 one-day internationals.

The opening game between Kenya and Sri Lanka and the final are already sold out and less than one-third of the tickets for the other matches remain to be sold.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)