Kenya recovered from their loss to Tanzania to beat Sierra Leone by 10 wickets in the ongoing Africa Women’s tournament in Kampala, Uganda.

Sierra Leone won the toss and elected to bat and they never got going at all struggling at 8 for 5 early on but they fought hard to post 49. Mercyline Adhiambo was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3 for 4 and Man of the Match Sarah Bhakita, debutant Mako Wako and Emily Ruto picked two wickets apiece.

Kenya got off to a flying start and took only 14.5 overs to reach their target thanks to 23 runs apiece from openers Bhakita and Margaret Banja, who has been batting brilliantly since the event began last Friday.

Tony Munro

At least four African countries are set to lose their annual international competition following the apparent demise of the North-West African Championships (NWAC).

Nigerian Cricket Federation President, Kwesi Sagoe, has advised CricInfo the event is "highly unlikely" to be held in 2010 due to issues obtaining sponsorship as a result of the state of his country's economy. It will be the second year in a row it has not been held.

There is a possibility Nigeria and/or Ghana will be included in one of the lower divisions of the global World Cricket League, however that option is not open to Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mali and Morocco.

The latter four can compete in the regional Africa Division Three event bi-annually, and depending on results play in Division Two the following year.

The NWAC was a successor to the old West African Cricket Conference which had been held since 1960.

ICC Africa Development Officer, Cassim Suliman said his office would consider providing financial support if approached.

Tony Munro

The next North West African Championships have been delayed to April 2010 due to the global financial crisis.

The economic downturn may also see the tournament restricted to its traditional participants, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, said the president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Kwesi Sagoe.

"It is likely that a review of participants would be undertaken given the cost of the event and the relative development standard of each of the North-West African countries. No decision has however been made on this yet," Sagoe told Cricinfo.

In recent years, Morocco and Mali have taken part with Mali experiencing some heavy defeats. At one stage, following the change of the tournament's name to the "North West African Championships", Egypt and Libya had been mentioned as possible future participants.

Sierra Leone earned promotion to World Cricket League (WCL) Africa Division 2 following their narrow two-wicket win over Rwanda on Wednesday.

It will be a case of the new and the old as the young Sierra Leoneans join the mature and primarily expatriate Malawians for the tournament to be held in Benoni in April.

Sierra Leone won promotion as runners-up in the WCL Division 3 tournament, following their victory over Rwanda. Gambia won the battle to avoid the wooden spoon, beating a young Lesotho team by two wickets.

Tony Munro

Malawi remained unbeaten to ensure their promotion to Africa Division Two following their four-wicket win against Sierra Leone in Blantyre, Malawi on Tuesday. Sierra Leone must beat Rwanda on Wednesday to ensure they join Malawi in Benoni next March.

Sierra Leone won the toss and batted. However, the top order failed to fire and the innings was precariously poised at 142 for 5 in the 29th over. Allrounder Lasana Lamin smashed 78 off 86 balls, helping his side set a target of 176 for victory.

In response, the Malawi top-order managed meaningful partnerships in the run chase and reached 79-3 after 24 overs at one stage. Shailandra Jeena smashed an unbeaten 35 to help his team to achieve the target in 42 overs with four wickets to spare

Rwanda beat Lesotho in the second match by 218 runs.


Scores:

Sierra Leone 176 (41.4 overs) (Lansana Lamin 78, Ibrahim Kamara 45; Zaffar Sukhera 3-28, Arjun Kalaria 3-46, Shailendra Jeena 2-22) Malawi 177 for 6 (41.4 overs) (Shailendra Jeena 35 not out, Danish Jakhura 31, Mushahid Quraishy 22, Naeem Chaudry 21, Ishtiyaz Khan 20; Ibrahim Kabia 2-23, Lamin 2-39)

Rwanda def. Lesotho No scorecard available at this stage

An unbeaten 153 off just 116 balls from Malawian batsman Sheilendra Jeena was the highlight on day three of the World Cricket League Division 3 tournament. Jeena hit 19 fours and two sixes and propelled Malawi to 237 for 9 from 50 overs, before they bowled out Gambia for 121. Prince Johnson was Gambia's best bowler, taking 5 for 43 from his 10 overs, while Moses Bahoum (57) top-scored for Gambia. Zaffar Sukhera led the attack for the hosts, taking 3 for 19.

Sierra Leone had an easy day in their match against a youthful Lesotho, winning by six wickets with 35.3 overs to spare. Having been put in, Lesotho slipped from 21 for 1 to 51 for 6, and were eventually shot out for 82 in 32.2 overs. The main resistance came from Masui Tolofi (19). Allrounder Lansana Lamin ensured the Lesotho innings never got going with 3 for 12 from 9.2 overs. Sierra Leone finished the game in a hurry, ending on 85 for 4 from 14.4 overs. Lamin was named the Man of the Match, after hitting two sixes and a four in his brief unbeaten cameo of 19.

Scores:
Malawi 237 for 9 (Jeena 153*, Ishtiyak Khan 27, Johnson 5-43) beat Gambia 121 (Bahoum 57, Sukhera 3-19)

Sierra Leone 85 for 4 (Lamin 19*, Coker 16*, Khubetsoana 2-20) beat Lesotho 82 (Tolofi 19, Lamin 3-12, Kabia 2-26, Marah 2-32)

The ICC has been coming in for a fair amount of sniping of late as a result of teams being unable to take part in its events because of issues with visas. This is not about the game’s big boys, but Associates and Affiliates competing in lower-level tournaments.

Last month Sierra Leone were unable to take part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers because they could not obtain visas from the Canadian consulate in time; last week Morocco failed to make it to Malawi for a World Cricket League commitment after falling foul of officialdom in Qatar.

There have been those who have heaped the blame on the ICC. It should, so their argument goes, ensure this does not happen and put pressure on the various countries hosting events to, in some way, bypass the usual rules and regulations. It’s almost as if cricket is a special case.

The same people who were lambasting the ICC for not ensuring Sierra Leone were able to play in Canada have been quiet over the fact that almost a dozen players from Afghanistan and Uganda took the opportunity of playing in Toronto to abscond and seek political asylum. All those individuals have done is ensure it will be even harder for players for some countries to take part in future events.

In fairness, the ICC has not helped itself in the past with its posturing when the British government barred Zimbabwe officials. But that was a bigger fish in a bigger pond.

The reality here is it is down to each country to ensure its own arrangements are in place. It cannot be the responsibility of the ICC to chase up every visa application and transit visa to make sure they are all in order. It is not - and should not be - the job of the ICC, or any sporting body, to tell countries who they should let in or not.

The boards get good money from the ICC and it is not unreasonable to expect those boards to show a higher degree of professionalism in the way they handle things. Too often, sides are selected at the last minute, paperwork is left until far too late in the day, and officials are happy to heap the blame on embassies and consulates.

I chased up one such instance not too long ago where a board was making a great song and dance about visa delays meaning it was shut out of an event. It turned out that it had spoken to the embassy months before the event and been given clear guidelines, including the key one that it needed 14 working days for visas to be processed. In the event, the applications - more than half of which were wrongly completed - were submitted five days before they were needed. There are two sides to every story.

In short, some boards need to be more professional and to take responsibility for their own affairs. Most manage it quietly and efficiently. It is not for the ICC to mollycoddle the few who can’t get their acts together. Martin Williamson

Sierra Leone sent a warning to the other teams with an impressive first-up performance, while hosts, Malawi, scored their second successive win on day two of the World Cricket League Africa Division 3 tournament in Blantyre.

The home-grown Sierra Leone vindicated their decision to bat first by scoring 255 for 7 in its 50 overs. It then bowled out Gambia for 74 from 27.2 overs to win by 181 runs. Meanwhile the young Rwandan team bowled out the experienced Malawians for 172 in 44.2 overs, but could not recover from a slow early start to reach just 126 in 42.1 overs. Malawi won by 46 runs.

Tony Munro

Apartheid decreed Hoosain Ayob, the first ICC Africa development officer, cape coloured and reputedly a bowler of some talent in his day, would never play for his native South Africa at international level because of the colour of his skin.

In a tournament in Blantyre, Malawi, starting on Saturday, four of the five teams playing will be fielding mainly African XIs, thanks chiefly to the work of Ayob, who retired from his role about three years ago.

Lesotho and Sierra Leone (both fully indigenous), Gambia (12 locals), Rwanda (8 born there) will be joined by hosts Malawi (mainly Asian) in the World Cricket League Division Three tournament.

Perhaps none of these countries will make a proper World Cup (Sierra Leone did qualify for the recent Under 19 qualifying tournament before Canadian immigration officials turned them back). It shows, though, how far these countries have come in their development.

No longer are African teams (Malawi aside) stacked with 'mature' players from the subcontinent. Sierra Leone features allrounder Lasmin Lansana, who has done well in previous African tournaments, 11 players under 25 and just two over 30.

Seven of the Gambian team are under 25 and only two over 30 while Rwanda have eight players who are not yet 25. Morocco would have been the sixth team in the tournament but were reportedly stopped from proceeding further en route by Qatar immigration officials due to visa issues, necessitating a bye. Again, their team had only Arabs.

The top two teams will be promoted to Division Two.

The draw:

Saturday, October 3 - Rwanda v Gambia, Malawi v Lesotho, Sierra Leone bye

Sunday, October 4 - Sierra Leone v Gambia, Rwanda v Malawi, Lesotho bye

Monday, October 5 - Sierra Leone v Lesotho, Gambia v Malawi, Rwanda bye

Tuesday, October 6 - Sierra Leone v Malawi, Lesotho v Rwanda, Gambia bye

Wednesday, October 7 - Sierra Leone v Rwanda, Lesotho v Gambia, Malawi bye

Africa needs to look hard at itself and ask this question: why are there only two teams from the continent going to New Zealand for the Under-19s World Cup in January? And of the two, no-one can ever be too sure about Zimbabwe.

No non-Test nation (apart, now, from Zimbabwe) has made it through from Africa; whereas Asia will have six representatives (two non-Test sides), the Americas and Caribbean three (two non-Test nations), the Antipodes three (Australia, New Zealand and non-Test Papua New Guinea), and Europe two (one non-Test).

Uganda nearly made it through, but in the end they came out also-rans and, like Vanuatu, hom they beat, were not really up to scratch. Sierra Leone did not appear for the Toronto qualifiers - might they have been a surprise package or, more likely, mere fodder for the better teams? And Kenya were a no-shower for other reasons, compounded in part by their own foolishness amid premature assumptions that they would host the tournament.

So, the second question is this - and it's one that's been asked before: whither Africa?

South Africa will always hold its own; Zimbabwe seems possibly to be coming back; Uganda (where 38,000 people play the game) still appears promising; and Kenya has a lot to do. Backstage, Tanzania also hold promise, but Botswana recently took a biffing at the World Cricket League Division 6 event in Singapore.

Nigeria may be an untapped talent; Ghana are making efforts to climb; Malawi, on the other hand, and Zambia too, have faded away. Namibia are somewhere in-between, blowing hot and cold. One day Morocco may come through, but it will be a long time before Mali does.
In the wings, and whether they can fly or not nobody really knows, are Mozambique, Rwanda, Lesotho, Swaziland, Cameroon and the Gambia, while way offshore there lies little St Helena.

As yet, no Egypt. Why not?

It's not a particularly rosy picture; nor is it one of total despair. What it does illustrate, though, is that more resources need to be ploughed into the continent and proper development programmes carried through.

We could start with no less than adequate press coverage of cricket, so desperately lacking across most of the continent. So let's start there; the oxygen of publicity may be the saving of cricket in Africa.

What do others say?

Colin MacBeth

Sierra Leone’s flickering hopes of taking part in the Under-19 World Cup were finally ended when they failed to arrive in Canada before the expiry of the ICC’s September 5 deadline. As a result they were kicked out of a tournament they had done so well to qualify for.

While officially it is said that visa applications for the squad were submitted too late, it is being reported in local newspapers that their non arrival was caused by the refusal by the Canadian consulate in Ghana to issue visas on the grounds there was concern that some of the players would not be willing to return home at the end of the competition. Two Ugandan players sought political asylum after being granted visas to play in an ICC tournament in Australia in 2007, and since then it has proved much harder for some teams to get the documentation necessary for them to play in events.

Afghanistan also had issues with entry visas and arrived in Canada the day after the tournament started, but they have been able to honour all their fixtures.

With Kenya, Africa’s leading Associate side, already in effect barred from the competition after the ICC controversially withdrew their rights to host the 2010 U-19 World Cup, that leaves Uganda, who have struggled to make their mark, as the continent’s only country in the qualifying competition.

The most talented young players in Associate and Affiliate cricket gather in Toronto this week in an attempt to qualify for the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, staged in New Zealand.

While the opportunity of competing against the best young squads from larger nations, such as Australia and India, is at the forefront of the players' ambitions, the tournament gives them a chance to impress and perhaps even press for a place in the senior team. Ireland's Paul Stirling, a highly regarded left-hander, turns 19 September 3 and displayed his potential during his senior side's three-run defeat to England on Thursday, cracking 30 from 26.

Click here for the full story.

Uganda and Sierra Leone booked their places in the Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament later this year after finishing first and second in the Africa Under-19 Championship in Zambia. They will join Afghanistan, Hong Kong and the top two teams from the Americas, East Asia-Pacific and Europe regions in a play-off, from which the top five teams from that tournament will join the ten ICC Full Members and hosts Kenya in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup.

Uganda and Sierra Leone met in the final round of matches, and it was Uganda who won a rain-affected game despite being bowled out for 91. Chasing a revised target of 83 in 20 overs, Sierra Leone lost too many wickets too quickly and only managed 35 for 8, Geofrey Nyero returning remarkable figures of 6 for 7.

That result meant that Namibia could have overtaken Sierra Leone with an emphatic win over the hugely disappointing Kenyans, but after they had posted 158 for 7, the match was abandoned six overs into Kenya's reply. The one point Namibia earned was not enough.

Hosts Zambia finished fourth thanks to a 63-run win over Tanzania, but again the weather meant the game was decided by Duckworth-Lewis calculations. Zambia made 133 and Tanzania struggled to 42 for 7 before the rain returned.

Nigeria showed why they finished bottom without a win as they were dismissed for 68 by Botswana, who went on to amble to a six-wicket win.

               P   W  NR   L   Pts      NRR 

Uganda         7   6   0   1    12     -0.31

Sierra Leone   7   5   0   2    10      1.18

Namibia        7   4   1   2     9      0.83

Zambia         7   4   0   3     8      0.10

Kenya          7   3   1   3     7     -0.22

Botswana       7   3   0   4     6     -0.44

Tanzania       7   2   0   5     4     -0.43

Nigeria        7   0   0   7     0     -1.36

Sierra Leone continue to surprise opponents and followers of the Africa Under-19 Championship in topping the table. After the fifth day they are joint-first with Namibia on eight points, but with a superior net run-rate, thanks to another win over Zambia by 85 runs. Chasing 177 Zambia were skittled for 91 with Ibrahim Kabia picking up 3 for 8. Elsewhere, Namibia thrashed Nigeria by ten wickets while Kenya – who are in a disappointing fourth position – beat Tanzania by 19 runs. Uganda pulled off a thrilling one-wicket win over Botswana when they rather underestimated their target of 114, losing nine wickets – three of them to Waseem Tajbhai. Their last pair saw them across the line, however, with overs (if not nerves) to spare.

---- Points table ----
1. Sierra Leone (8 points, NRR: 1.03)
2. Namibia (8, 0.87)
3. Uganda (6, -0.56)
4. Kenya (6, 0.10)
5. Zambia (4, -0.12)
6. Botswana (4, -0.44)
7. Tanzania (2, -0.39)
8. Nigeria (0, -2.02)

The Africa Under-19 Championship got underway this week and the big surprise from the tournament so far is the appearance of Sierra Leone at the top of the table. They kicked things off by beating Kenya by four wickets then followed it up with a 10-wicket thrashing of Nigeria, who were bowled out for a paltry 44. Uganda, second-placed in the table with two wins out of three, beat Tanzania quite comfortably by six wickets, but their unbeaten run came to an end when Namibia rolled them for 128.

---Points Table (as of third day)---
1. Sierra Leone (6 points, NRR: 1.323)
2. Uganda (4, 0.986)
3. Zambia (4, 0.513)
4. Namibia (4, 0.510)
5. Botswana (4, -0.226)
6. Kenya (2, -0.289)
7. Tanzania (0, -0.864)
8. Nigeria (0, -2.158)

Sierra Leone won the African Affiliates Under-19 Championship staged in Maputo, edging out Ghana on net run-rate. They progress to the next stage of qualification for the 2010 U-19 World Cup when they are joined in Zambia by Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Next week's ICC annual get-together promises to have more than its fair share of politicking, posturing and controversy. But, unless there is a major about-turn, it should also be a watershed for the Associates and Affiliates.

In 2009, income from the ICC's six-year media deal with ESPN-Star, worth over US$1 billion, kicks in, and while the game's big boys will still keep the lion's share, the rest will see substantial increases in their incomes.

Although the ICC draws considerable flak on many fronts, it is quietly committed to promoting the game in as many countries as possible, and it does that by means of a myriad of competitions and initiatives. Most do not warrant much media attention, but they are there and they work.

Until now, the gripe of the smaller countries, and especially those bubbling just underneath the top flight, has been about the inequality of the way in which the game is financed. That was never more apparent than when it came to earnings from last year's World Cup.

Ireland got a flat fee of US$125,000 a year for four years for taking part, and on top of that they received another $50,000 for reaching the Super Eights. However, because of the extra costs involved in their progression, not least because their players are not professional cricketers and their absences from their full-time jobs had to be underwritten, Ireland's success actually left the board out of pocket.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, turned up, tied with Ireland and never threatened to progress after being thumped by Pakistan and West Indies. For those three matches, Zimbabwe Cricket received US$11 million, their share of the pot as a Full Member.

The top six Associates receive no more than US$500,000 a year - some substantially less - to fund their entire operations. Out of that they have to pay all their cricketing and administration costs. Only those with a low cost of living, such as Kenya, can hope to maintain a professional squad on that kind of money.

The gulf between the haves and have-nots is further widened by the limited sums Associates can earn from sponsorship and media contracts. Zimbabwe can exploit home series against, say, India to carve out lucrative TV deals worth millions, and on the back of that, attract shirt- and other corporate sponsorship. As highlighted by Scotland's failure to secure any TV deal for their forthcoming ODI against England, the Associates struggle to get such income streams.

The new deals will provide a substantial increase for Associates, especially for the countries who are pressing for space at the top table. Until now the share has been roughly equal, rewarding Netherlands and Kenya on par with Thailand and Fiji. The new system will see more demarcation between the top Associates and the rest.

The leading ten could earn as much as US$1.5 million a year from 2009. There will then be an onus on them to professionalise their administrations, but several of them are already well down that route. They will also be more accountable - the ICC does not want a repeat of the mess that came following a spike in Kenya's funding earlier in the decade.

The second-string Associates will also get more - around US$160,000 as a base figure - but then again the demands on them are less. Even Affiliates will receive US$15,000, with the opportunity for more should they make a good enough case. There will also be more cash in the pot for participating and hosting competitions.

There have never been more opportunities for development outside the Full Member countries, but there remain some nagging worries.

The main one is how to bridge the gap between semi and full-blown professionalism. Almost all the Associates rely on dedicated amateurs, both on and off the field. As the number of ICC competitions has increased - and they have to be welcomed - the pressure has begun to tell. Scotland and Ireland particularly have already found players cannot meet all their commitments, and even the increased income will not allow them to employ a full-time squad.

"So much of putting players on full-time retainers depends on how many fixtures we can command," Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland's chief executive, said. "At the moment, all we can promise the squad in 2009 is a World Cup qualifying campaign, eight FP Trophy matches, an England game, and probably some Intercontinental Cup matches. Of course, we hope to have more, but can't be sure at the moment.

"Our top players are already plying their trade in county cricket, while others have full-time jobs which they may not wish to give up. The actual number of players that the coach will want to put on a full-time contract, or else the number that even want to have one, may not be that many."

The other quandary is how to get them fixtures. Kenya, widely regarded as the leading Associate, have found it almost impossible to get Full Member countries to visit or host them. As a result they invariably play other Associates. Good for the win-loss ratio, not so clever in providing the kind of experience that no amount of money can buy.

These issues will need to be addressed, but for now the future has never looked so promising beyond the Test world.

Ghana will play Swaziland in the final of the ICC World Cricket League Africa Region Division Three.

Ghana had the easiest match, thrashing Rwanda by eight wickets with more than 39 overs in hand. Rwanda were bowled out for 23 in 11.1 overs, but that represented a recovery after they found themselves 13 for 8. Abdul-Karim Sumaila (4 for 11) and Isaac Aboagye (6 for 9) bowled unchanged throughout, while extras (9) contributed more than any individual batsman. Ghana lost both their openers in easing home.

Swaziland had to work harder, and survived a mini collapse within sight of the finishing line, before overcoming Sierra Leone by four wickets with 20 overs to spare in the battle of the group winners. Sierra Leone managed 116 thanks to an eighth-wicket stand of 50 which bailed them out from 50 for 7. Joseph Wright (5 for 17) was the man who blew away the top order. Swaziland were wobbling on 27 for 3 but Wright (48) and Abdulazis Patel (35*) put on 73 for the fourth wicket, and strikes from Lansana Lamin (4 for 19) came too late.

Lesotho lost to a South African Invitation XI by seven wickets in the fifth-place play-off.

Click here for the tournament scorecards.

Tony Munro

One of the oldest running (give or take the odd year) tournament in international cricket starts this weekend when five countries contest the North West African Championships in Lagos, Nigeria.

The traditional entrants, Gambia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, all members of the British Commonwealth, have taken part in the old West African Championships since the 1960s.
Last year Mali and Morocco became the first former French territories to compete, (in Banjul, Gambia), and the tournament became the North West African Championships.

Mali is back, Morocco is not, and plans for Cameroon to debut this year have been scuppered.

Also returning this year are 12 of the 14 members of the successful Nigerian team, the only changes forced by work commitments. The five teams will contest a round-robin, with the winner decided on win-loss record.

Ghana and Sierra Leone are regarded as Nigeria's main threats.