Cricket Cranes: Congratulations are in order, but don’t dare rest on your laurels

This column comes not to tell you what you already know, i.e. that Uganda will field a team at next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

This newspaper has spared no effort in detailing how Thursday's feat in Windhoek, Namibia, was the culmination of years of hard work. What your columnist can add is that the subplots have been nothing short of extraordinary. 

Skipper Brian Masaba's sensational bowling spell provided yet another timely reminder that cricket should not be singularly viewed through the lens of batsmen.

His three overs that went for a measly nine runs typified the instantly recognisable way of describing the role of spinners in T20 cricket—putting pressure on batsmen in the middle overs. But you already knew that. 

Franco Nsubuga and Davis Karashani habituated the feeling that they could always be relied upon to get the basics right with unerring accuracy. They starved batsmen of runs in those crucial overs.

Bar the five chances that were put down in the solitary defeat at the hands of Namibia, Uganda's fielding rattled along with terrific energy and exuberance in Windhoek. The iron will to cut out runs comes naturally to the archetypal Ugandan fielder.

Always does, always will. But you already knew that.

Jonty Rhodes can probably trace his roots back to the Pearl of Africa.

In a bid to play at the big time, it always seemed as if Uganda's senior men cricket team anticipated heaven but rather hoped for a sighting of hell.

Such was the manner of the near misses that the team was forced to grapple with. The vast bulk of the so-close-yet-so-far episodes were occasioned by, you have got it right, batting deficiencies.

The mistake is in imagining that the team continues to subsist on this once-upon-a-time sad state of affairs. Additions of the likes of Riazat Ali Shah, Alpesh Ramjani, Ronak Patel, and Dinesh Nakrani to the team's nucleus means that it would be an elementary error to judge the Cricket Cranes by their past track record i.e. abjectly poor players of spin, ridiculously poor run chasers, and whatnot.
But you already knew that.

So what is it, dear reader, that you do not know? Or, to put it more accurately, what is it that you know but choose not to know? Well, for starters, we know that in 2009 Uganda edged past Afghanistan in the ICC World Cricket League Division Three final.

Half centuries from Nsubuga and Arthur Kyobe helped set a victory target of 217 that Kenneth Kamyuka's five-for ensured the Afghans failed to chase down.

Cricket Cranes players that bested Afghanistan in Buenos Aires, Argentina, back in January of 2009 can be forgiven for having a stab of regret watching the likes of Mohammad Nabi figure in the recently-ended 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

Questioning why the two cricketing nations went separate ways is not a reductionist phraseology or indeed lazy moralising. It is the right thing to do.

Just in case you are wondering, Afghanistan will also be at next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. They made the cut without breaking a sweat after managing to place in the top 10 of the men's T20I rankings. They will also feature at the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy after finishing sixth at 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

Moral of the story? The Cricket Cranes should not rest on their laurels and let qualification to the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup be a flash in the pan. They should keep challenging themselves just as the Afghans keep doing.

But you already knew that; albeit chose to be afflicted by a bout of selective amnesia.

Elsewhere, the National Council of Sports' social media footprint that offered hearty congratulations to the Cricket Cranes after making it to the big time should not come as a vulgar surprise.

No. Council will continue prioritising social functions over cricket matches at the Lugogo Cricket Oval. 

But you already knew that, and will probably continue attending the social functions staged there regardless.

And do not get me started on Jackson Ogwang’s position as interim head coach. The story of Ugandan cricket is such a mixed bag. For now, though, this column joins the entire nation in toasting to the first that was pulled off in Windhoek. Cheers, guys!