Steve Tikolo has parted ways with Uganda national team after declining to renew his contract as head coach.
Tikolo, who has been at the helm of Africa’s top five side after three and a half years, opted not to extend his contract due to personal reasons.
“Yes it’s true I will not be extending my contract in Uganda. It has been a tough call but I had to do it because of various personal reasons,” he said. Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) were keen to have Tikolo to stay on but had to respect his decision.
“Unfortunately, he has made a personal decision not to extend his stay with us despite our interest to continue our relationship. He leaves with his head held high considering Uganda national cricket team are currently top of the Cricket World Cup Challenge League B. We would like to thank Steve for his dedication and professionalism and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours,” said a statement from UCA.
Regarded as Kenya’s greatest cricketer, Tikolo has made a successful transition to coaching, filling multiple roles in his home country and Uganda.
Uganda enjoyed a glory-rich 2019 under Tikolo’s leadership and were unbeaten in the first Challenge League Group ‘B’ leg in Oman. Blooding a new crop of players during his tenure, Tikolo also masterminded the Cranes’ triumphant World Cricket League Division 4 campaign in Malaysia back in 2018.
After a disappointing Africa T20 campaign on home turf last May, there were calls from cricket circles to sack Tikolo.
UCA, however, chose to stick with the Tikolo to oversee the first leg of Cricket World Cup Challenge League B in December.
Uganda is expected to host the next leg of Group B Challenge League in August with another T20 World Cup qualifying campaign set to fill the calendar in the first half of 2020.
Prior to moving to Uganda, Tikolo was in charge of the Kenyan team for one and a half year before he was sacked over a tussle with the players. Tikolo and his then assistant Martin Suji found themselves in a standoff with the players when they tried to bring in changes in the team.
The changes that included bringing in young players to replace underperforming ones didn’t go down well with a number of players forcing them to call for his sacking.
