Cricket Kenya is coming closer to stepping in to address the shambles inside the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA).
However, reports in the local media that Samir Inamdar, the CK chairman, had delivered an ultimatum to the NPCA are not true. Inamdar has asked the NPCA to provide a copy of the new constitution which should have been ready in September and to address its lack of accountability to stakeholders in the province.
The NPCA has not held an AGM for more than three years and it is not thought to have even held council meetings, which involve every constituent club and are supposed to take place twice a year, for almost as long. The chairman left for Australia almost a year ago, and the secretary resigned last month. Several dates have been set for an AGM but these have repeatedly been cancelled by the NPCA executive.
John Moyi, the acting secretary, replied in a typically abrasive manner by telling Inamdar that he had no business in interfering in NPCA affairs "because he does not represent any club". Inamdar's local board is the Coast Cricket Association, although as chairman of the national body he has every right to become involved in a dysfunctional local association.
"I'm unhappy with the way the NPCA is operating," Inamdar said. "They have left clubs in the dark about their constitution and operations and they keep on postponing elections."
Moyi countered that the NPCA was on course to hold elections before the end of the year.
The main Cricket Kenya elections have been repeatedly delayed by the failure of the NPCA to review its constitution, and the ICC is monitoring the situation closely.
Nairobi is at the heart of Kenyan cricket. One only hopes that the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association sorts out its internal problems fast and comes out with a feasible solution to the current turmoil. The association should keep transparency in its operations, which should boost the confidence of the budding cricketers. Otherwise, things don’t look too bright for this country with One-Day International status.
In any case, Kenyan cricket hasn’t got much to speak of after their surprise entry into the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2003. Their performances in the 2007 edition of the Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 and the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2007 have been disappointing and forgetful. The only positive development in Kenyan cricket in recent times has been Thomas Odoyo being named as ICC Associate Player of the Year in 2007, apart from the rise of Tanmay Mishra, following Maurice Odumbe’s entanglement in alleged match-fixing.
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