High adrenaline vibes for World Cup Trophy Tour

The current buzz in Uganda is all about the three-day tour of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup Trophy.

After years of endless bidding, Uganda got its nod from the ICC that the Pearl of Africa would be one of the three countries in Africa where the trophy will make a stopover amongst an elite list of 18 nations across the globe before it lands in India for October 5 to November 19 for the final dance.

Barring the national U-19 boys side (Baby Cricket Cranes) who possess bragging rights for having been to the World Cup three times in the different generations of 2004 (Bangladesh), 2006 (Sri Lanka) and 2022 (West Indies),  the senior side has never played in it. The only sniff of the trophy was last year when they excited but fell in their tracks to progress to the penultimate qualifying event in Namibia – held early this year – courtesy of a painful subject of Net Run Rate (NRR) with Jersey edging Uganda by the slightest of margins (0.479). Both countries ended on 22 points after three-legs of a combined 15 matches in Oman, Uganda and Jersey.

Uganda’s heroes

And with the Cricket Cranes away in Kigali grinding to defend the East Africa Trophy, the Victoria Pearls led the way with an euphoria of activities from Lugogo to go pick the cricketing world’s ‘Holy Grail’ locally hash-tagged as ‘#WalusimbiNagenda’ after the first two Ugandans; John Nagenda (RIP) and Sam Walusimbi who played in the inaugural World Cup in 1975 England as part of Team East Africa. Henry Osinde is the only player of Ugandan descent that has played at the grandeur stage when he represented his adopted country – Canada – in 2007 (West Indies) and 2011 (Asia).

From Entebbe to the Indian High Commission in Kampala, the who’s who of cricket in Uganda turned up in full throttle and speaker of speaker including National Council of Sports (NCS) officials who represented the government highlighted the latest milestones of the game in Uganda and said the Trophy Tour to Uganda was a sign that ICC acknowledges the nation’s efforts to spread the game further.

UCA benefits

The pure climax of the night was when Tembo Steels General Manager Manish Kalla, a batsman in his heyday in Jodhpur District, Rajasthan State in India, put the highest bid to win the Cricket Cranes playing floppy hat for Shs5.1m. And his effort was doubled by Kutchi Tigers Navin Pindoria, who was flanked by his community friends Mukesh Hirani, Suresh Patel and Mansukh Bhuva, after the forked out Shs 12.5m for the highest stake to be the latest owners of the Cricket Cranes replica playing jersey – a function that was conducted by veteran ace Frank Nsubuga, Victoria Pearls captain Consy Aweko and UCA chairman Michael Nuwagaba.

“My heart beats for cricket. This is my biggest passion,” Pindoria said after accepting his latest acquisition. For Kalla, who was flanked by his chairman Sanjay Awasthi, it was a monumental feeling to be part of the auction.

“We are always here to shape the nation and lend a hand in developing matters. Like our motto, zero to 100 made in Uganda, owning and promoting everything Uganda is what drives us,” said Kalla.

High profile visits

The Trophy Tour, under the strict protection of ICC Trophy Tour manager Eddy Fwamba, visited the State House on Sunday and later a public viewing at Kyambogo Oval that hosted a mini World Cup festival before it flew to Jinja, courtesy of Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) where it will have an extravagant photoshoot at the Murchison Falls and Mahatma Gandhi Monument in Jinja and Jinja SSS where the National Schools Cricket Week is taking place tomorrow.

A visit to the Parliament has been coined as its last activity before it heads out to Nigeria and later South Africa.