New-look Victoria Pearls chase T20 World Cup  

Focused.  NCS Assisnat General Secratry David Katende (2R) flags off Team Uganda to the Africa T20 qualifiers on Monday. PHOTO / EDDE CHICCO

What you need to know:

  • And that statement could be made bolder should the senior women’s national team successfully achieve a World Cup dream at the ICC Africa Women’s Twenty20 Qualifier which bowls in Botswana’s capital Gaborone tomorrow.

Cricket in Uganda may have suffered a big blow from the coronavirus pandemic but the gentleman’s game is beginning to rise.

And that statement could be made bolder should the senior women’s national team successfully achieve a World Cup dream at the ICC Africa Women’s Twenty20 Qualifier which bowls in Botswana’s capital Gaborone tomorrow.

Rebranding from the Lady Cricket Cranes to a new nickname Victoria Pearls, a 14-lady team jetted out on Monday night in company of optimistic coach Suraj Karavadra.

“The brand is definitely going to be flamboyant, expressive,” Karavadra said of the brand of cricket to expect after the team’s flag-off at the lakeside oval in Entebbe.

“These girls know how to power hit, they know how to bowl fast and how to bowl spin. The fielding is agile, dynamic and athletic and that’s the style of cricket we need in T20.”

The Pearls must top the 11-team championship which pits them first, against Cameroon, vastly experienced Namibia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone in Group B.

The winner will advance to the Global Qualifier from which they get a clear view to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup due 2023 in South Africa.

Boasting of experience from stints in India and UK, this will be Karavadra’s first tournament in charge having missed the Kwibuka T20 Peace Cup in Rwanda due to Covid-19 cases in the team back in June.

This time, the Pearls took on a nearly month-long bio-bubble with loads of training as well as tutoring from psychologist Edgar Kazibwe.

“We are as a team right now, ready to do anything for our country as long as it is positive,” team captain Immaculate Nakisuyi said after receiving the flag from National Council of Sports (NCS) assistant general secretary David Katende.

Nakisuyi and company are dreaming big. “We will come out as champions. I don’t think it will be easy but we will be tougher,” she added.

They must first walk the talk against Namibia, which was granted full ICC Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) status in 2018.

TEAM UGANDA TO BOTSWANA: Rachel Ntono, Damalie Busingye, Proscovia Alako, Ritah Musamali, Naomi Kayondo, Kevin Awino, Esther Ilukor, Stephanie Nampiina, Immaculate Nakisuyi (Captain), Janet Mbabazi (Assistant Captain), Evelyn Anyipo, Irene Alumo, Patricia Malemikia, Consy Aweko.
OFFICIALS: Suraj Karavadra (Coach), Alpha Adowa (Assistant Coach), Lwiza Nabulwala (Manager), Edgar Kazibwe (Psychologist), Shamim Nassali (Physiotherapist), Denis Musali (Media Manager)

ICC AFRICA WOMEN’S QUALIFIER

UGANDA’S FIXTURES
GROUP B - AT GABORONE OVAL 2

Thursday: Namibia vs. Uganda
Friday: Cameroon vs. Uganda
Sept 11: Nigeria vs. Uganda
Sept 14: Sierra Leone vs. Uganda