Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association calls for truce
Kanbis A bowler Pravin Mepani celebrates a wicket against Stray Lions A during their Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association T20 Tournament match at Eastleigh High School grounds on February 20, 2022.
What you need to know:
- NPCA’s appeal comes in the wake of Kenya’s dismal performance at the just concluded ICC World Challenge League B in Kampala, where the team won only two matches in five outings.
With perennial wrangles still dogging Kenyan cricket even after a new team of Cricket Kenya (CK) officials were elected just four months ago, the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA) has come out to refute claims that it has been holding the national association at ransom on the strength of what they bring to the table.
Speaking to Sunday Nation, NPCA Secretary, Narendra Patel said that at no time have they arm-twisted CK and that the only thing they have been demanding is fair of representation in the national body.
“NPCA remains a major stakeholder in Kenyan cricket and it’s hard to compare it with the other associations. That would not be a fair way for CK to affiliate its county associations. But in no way have we held anyone at ransom. At the same time, NPCA was not going to be sidelined the way some people wanted to,” Patel said.
The NPCA official also said the association chose not to participate in CK elections that were held on February 26 because the Normalization Committee that midwifed the process failed to meet them halfway prior of the polls.
“From day one we had asked for some minimum requirements to be met. One of the contentious issues was how the affiliation would happen and the number of positions at stake. We engaged the Normalisation Committee until the very last day, but they disregarded everything we put forward. That was the reason we didn’t participate in the election,” he said.
Patel also claims there were too many “briefcase counties” that participated in the election which in effect made the whole process a political numbers game.
And while NPCA maintains that it is ready to work with the new CK office, Patel said that can only happen if some of the critical issues they have raised are addressed.
Among the key issues they are proposing is a review of CK constitution. The association also wants all pending court cases to be put aside and the concerns of the majority stakeholders to be addressed.
“We will continue support the game as we have done for the last four years, but there a few things that CK needs to do. There has to be a clear way forward. At the moment, it’s neither here nor there,” he said.
NPCA’s appeal comes in the wake of Kenya’s dismal performance at the just concluded ICC World Challenge League in Kampala, where the team won only two matches in five outings.
