Kenya complete whitewash of Bermuda

14/11/06 – All parties woke up this morning feeling much better than the day before, just as well as it’s another game day today, the last of the 3! Sunshine greeted as we went for a light breakfast and it turned out to be another hot one – all 3 days have reached 32 degrees centigrade and the humidity is up around the 75%, not easy to perform whether you are an official or player. Kenya won the toss and batted with Steve Tikolo making a superb 100 in their total of 305 for 8. Bermuda in reply made a good fist of it reaching 206-6 with vice-captain Dean Minors getting a very good fifty unfortunately during the innings Maurice Ouma the wicket keeper was taken off after a ball from Steve Tikolo reared up awkwardly and struck him on the forehead, he was alright though after a while just another battle scar!!!! There was an official function in the evening put on by the Kenyan Cricket Association which was a nice way to end our stay in Mombasa and Kenya

13/11/06 – The lack of sleep and upset stomach meant that I had to pull out of the safari trip we had planned for today. I was disappointed as it’s always nice to get out and about and see some of the country I visit but the last thing I wanted was to be bouncing around on unmade roads with out a toilet close at hand so I spent the day not eating just drinking lots of fluids and trying to flush the bug out of my system. As it turned out it was a good trip to miss as both umpires told me they only saw 2 elephants and a few buck and the journey over the bumps was bone crushing.

12/11/2006 – Although back to back matches have been outlawed by Test playing countries as they regard it as too difficult for players to perform on consecutive days it is still the practice for Associate countries and both sides and officials have to start game 2 in this 3 match series today. Rain greeted us as we pulled back the curtains and the rain continued to pour for a good 2 hours but the beauty of playing cricket in Africa is that when the sun comes out it really comes out and before you know it the puddles on the outfield had evaporated and play was beginning at 11.30am with the game reduced to a 42 over game. Unfortunately Tony Hill my New Zealand umpire was not feeling too well having eaten something that hadn’t agreed with him the night before but he agreed to start the match. He didn’t last long though as after 5 overs he signalled that he was going to come off at the conclusion of his over. He didn’t make that either because as he was walking off the field he vomited not once, not twice but three times! Why is it that when someone in the sporting world suffers ignominy people always laugh at them! Tony was really struggling but he was brought off and the medics took a look at him and gave him some medication. When I went down to see him at the first drinks break he could see the funny side of what happened but he was still not well so he went back to the hotel to recuperate. Local umpire Gulam Kutub came on which must have been a very exciting time for him and he didn’t let anyone down making some very good decisions.
The game itself was won by Kenya who after losing the toss restricted Bermuda to 183 with Thomas Odoyo bowling his 9 overs with figures of 4 for 25, they then proceeded to knock off the runs for the loss of 3 wickets, Steve Tikolo and Tanmay Mishra both scoring 50’s, this of course gives the home side an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
With Tony Hill still not well Buddhi Pradhan my Nepalese umpire and I went out for a meal with the Kenyan Chairman Samir Inamdar. He took us to a beautiful fish restaurant on the north shore called Tamarind. It was spectacular, perched as it was just on the cliff over looking the sea and the food was excellent as well. We got back to the hotel at about 11.00pm and retired to bed but I didn’t get much sleep as I had a bad case of food poisoning and was up most of the night visiting the toilet. I can’t think the poisoning had come from the restaurant that night because it was so soon after the evening had finished that I fell ill but you never know!


11/11/2006 – Remembrance day back in the UK for all those who fought and died for us in wars around the World. It is a very sombre day for all who remember them! But whilst that was going on at home I am out in Kenya and it’s the first official ODI game between Kenya and Bermuda and the very picturesque Mombasa Sports ground. Kenya win the toss and decide to bat first on a slow and low pitch that, at the toss only looked as though it was going to get lower and slower! It was a struggle to get runs initially because of the pitch but also some tight Bermudan bowling and fielding. But some good batting by David Obuya and captain Steve Tikolo plus some late order hitting from Odhiambo and Ongondo saw the home side to a decent 224-7 in their 50 overs. The overrate was good by the Bermudans so we had a full 45 minutes for lunch and then it was the Bermudans turn to bat, unfortunately they weren’t able to match the discipline they showed in the field when some poor shot selection saw them lose wickets on a regular basis. Hiren Varaiya a 19 year old left arm spinner took 3 for 27 during his 10 over spell and duely won the man of the match award as the home side came out on top by 79 runs.
After finishing off the paperwork I have to do at the end of each match the members in the bar downstairs started to watch the England v Argentina rugby match that was being shown live over here on SuperSport television. I wish they hadn’t have been because England played very badly, nearly as badly as England cricket had played the previous day against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI. It wasn’t pretty watching as England were well beaten 18 – 25 and the locals weren’t shy in letting me know how well the Argentineans were doing! Not a good end to a very nice day but I did have a few beers in the bar to soften the blow!