In a bid to do things differently, the Cricket Kenya interim selection committee, on Firday, announced a change of guard at the helm of the Senior Men's National Cricket Team, with Sachin Bhudia set to take over from the resilient Shem Ngoche who’s worn the armband since his second stint in 2019.

Bhudia jumps right into business as he leads the team to Kigali, Rwanda for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa A Qualifier, scheduled for 15th - 26th November 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda.

The boys hope to be amongst the top two teams that will advance to the regional event and the skipper is confident of their abilities. “I’m grateful for this opportunity to lead.

I’m happy with the squad and I believe that we can win the tournament,” added Bhudia.

The newly constituted Selection panel that is chaired by Alfred Njuguna also appointed all-rounder Lucas Ndandason as the vice-captain, the slot having been left vacant since Ngoche ascended to captaincy.

Notably, Pushkar Sharma finally earns a nod to the side and will be the sole iT20 debutant. The Indian born left hand top order batter reaps from his exploits with the Thika Road-based Ruaraka Sports Club where he topped the (NPCA) chart with 814 runs, inclusive of four centuries, three half centuries and an average of 70.08 from 14 innings last season.

Head Coach David Obuya stated that he will rely on experience, as he has over the years. “We are playing against teams that could be termed as ‘small’ but we are not taking them lightly. Our goal is to advance to the next stage and we are going to rely on our experienced players to do so,” said Obuya.

The tournament will be played in a round robin format and the top two teams will join the winner and runner up of the Africa Sub Regional Qualifier B tournament (1^st -9^th December 2022) in the Regional final that will comprise of Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The top two teams from the Regional event will proceed to the World Cup which will be hosted by West Indies and the United States in June 2024.

 SQUAD

1. Rushabh Patel – Swamibapa Sports Club
2. Pushkar Sharma – Ruaraka Sports Club
3. Irfan Karim (WK) – Aziz Damani Cricket Club (Uganda)
4. Collins Obuya – Obuya Cricket Academy
5. Rakep Patel – Kanbis Sports Club
6. Sukhdeep Singh – Sikh Union Sports Club
7. Sachin Bhudia (C) – Kanbis Sports Club
8. Nelson Odhiambo – Kanbis Sports Club
9. Tanzeel Sheikh – Stray Lions Cricket Club
10. Lucas Ndandason (VC) – Nairobi Gymkhana
11. Shem Ngoche – Stray Lions Cricket Club
12. Emmanuel Bundi – Kanbis Sports Club
13. Peter Koech – Swamibapa Sports Club
14. Vraj Patel – Stray Lions Cricket Club

Technical bench

1. David Obuya (Head Coach)
2. Moses Muturi (Physiotherapist/Team Manager)

Non travelling reserves

1. Eugene Ochieng’ – Sir Ali Muslim Sports Club
2. Vishil Patel – Ruaraka Sports Club

TEAM’S FIXTURES

Courtesy of www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket

Australia's preparation for their ODI series against England were dealt a major blow, with Glenn Maxwell ruled out for three months after breaking his leg in a 'freak injury'.

According to The Age, the 34-year-old broke his leg while attending a friend's 50th birthday party on Saturday night and required surgery on Sunday afternoon.

Maxwell and person celebrating the birthday reportedly tripped and fell while running in a backyard area with artificial turf.

The Aussie star's leg got trapped under the other person as the two fell, causing a fracture to his left fibula.

The injury means Maxwell will be sidelined for a period of between eight and 12 weeks, ruling him out of Australia's upcoming ODI series against England.

The 34-year-old served as reserve player during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in the winter and was expected to play two Sheffield Shied games for Victoria as he looked to return to play the longest format of the game for the first time in three years.

'Glenn is in good spirits,' Australia chief selector George Bailey said in a statement.

'It was an unfortunate accident and we feel for Glenn in the circumstances given he was in great touch in his last few games.'

'Glenn is a critical part of our white-ball structure and we will continue to support him through his recovery and rehabilitation.'

Sean Abbott has been drafted into the ODI squad to replace Maxwell, while Adam Zampa is the favourite to take over the captaincy of the Melbourne Stars in the BBL. 

Maxwell was Australia's second-highest run scorer at the T20 World Cup with 118 runs behind only Marcus Stoinis' 126.