Obuya's exit closes chapter on Kenya's greatest cricket story

Kenya's progress to the semi-finals of the 2003 Cricket World Cup remains, to date, the best performance by an Associate nation at the global One Day International (ODI) tournament. 

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya co-hosted the global competition. The Kenyan squad was made up of Hitesh Modi, Kennedy Obuya, Ravi Shah, David Obuya, Brijal Patel, Steve Tikolo, Thomas Odoyo, and Tony Suji. Other players were Collins Obuya, Maurice Odumbe, Aasif Karim, Martin Suji, Joseph Angara, Peter Ongondo, and Alpesh Vadher. 

They excited the cricket world with their fearless, gung-ho brand of cricket that saw them claim big scalps including those of Sri Lanka.

Well, March 23 marked the end of an important chapter in the story of that revered team following the retirement of all-rounder Collins Obuya from international duty.

He announced his retirement after Kenya's third-place play-off loss to Uganda at the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.

Out of the 15 players from the class of 2003, the right-hand batsman and leg-spinner was the only one still actively playing cricket.

“The mind was willing but the body was sometimes saying no,” said Obuya of his decision to call time on his illustrious international career that spanned more than two decades.

At 42, the father of two was still Kenya’s top player by a mile.

He ended his international career in style, smashing three half-centuries at the African Games -- 58 runs off 47 balls against South Africa, 68 runs off 30 balls against Ghana, and 52 runs off 29 balls against Zimbabwe.

“Overall, I am very proud of my performance,” said the youngest of the famous Obuya brothers.

“I played in the Under-19 World Cup, T20 World Cup (2007) and three ODI World Cups (2003, 2011). I’m very grateful for that and I wish to thank everyone who supported me. I thank God for enabling me to play that long.”

Dream Team

At 21, Obuya was Kenya’s youngest player in the 2003 World Cup. Then playing as a leg-spinner, he starred with a massive 13 wickets - a performance, which he attributed to “playing with the best''.

In their fairy-tale run in 2003, Kenya defeated Zimbabwe by seven wickets but lost to India and Australia by six wickets and five wickets respectively in the Super Six category.

In the group stage, Kenya was awarded a walkover against New Zealand, defeated Canada by four wickets, Sri Lanka by 53 runs, and Bangladesh by 32 runs. They lost to South Africa by 10 runs and West Indies by 142 runs.

“The Kenyan squad at the World Cup (2003) was a dream team that to date, I feel very proud to have been part of. I was the youngest and they (his teammates) would share with me a lot of tips, which contributed to my good performance,” said Obuya, who also played in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups.

He earned the man-of-the-match accolade in Kenya’s historic win over Sri Lanka after he took five wickets in 10 overs where he conceded 24 runs. Kennedy, Shah, Odumbe, Suji, Odoyo, and Karim were Kenya’s other standout players in the 2003 World Cup.

Against Australia, Karim shone with three wickets and six maidens in 8.2 overs where he conceded seven runs, while Kennedy top-scored with 60 runs in their famous win over Sri Lanka.

With four wickets and a maiden in 10 overs to his name, Odoyo was named the man-of-the-match in their clash against Canada while Shah impressed with his 60 runs in their match against South Africa.

Odumbe scooped the man-of-the-match gong against Bangladesh after he top-scored with 52 runs and took four wickets in 10 overs where he conceded 38 runs.

Suji was the star against Zimbabwe after he took three wickets and earned two maidens in eight overs where he conceded 19 runs.

Angara, Odoyo, and David heaped praise on Obuya for his long remarkable international career.

“Obuya's work ethic has been good all along and his fitness level has been great, but above all his discipline on and off the field has kept him this long. He was very focused and he knew what he wanted to achieve,” said Angara, the Kenya national senior cricket team assistant coach.

Odoyo, who is the Cricket Kenya Development Director said: “Collo was always a talented player who worked his way up to be one of the best batters in the team from being a leg spinner. What he has achieved is amazing. He has been a great servant of Kenyan cricket and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

His brother David said: “I have never seen someone with a lot of energy like Collins. He is special because even at his advanced age, he would get to the ground very early to bowl individually before the rest of the team joined him. In the afternoon, he would remain behind to practice bowling alone."

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