• Although there were parties long into the night at the hotbeds of the game, the clubs in Nairobi and Mombasa, the momentous victory went largely unappreciated.
• Among the players that have risen through Asiji’s tutelage all the way to the international scene are former national team captains Irfan Karim, Maurice Ouma, Rakep Patel, Shem Obado and Jimmy Kamande.
Image: / COURTESY
Unbeknownst to many, a number of Kenyan players — who wowed the world in their maiden appearance at a cricket World Cup in India in 1996 — took up the game by chance, compared to the other teams in the bonanza.
In their debut, Kenya went on to produce one of the greatest upsets in world cricket as they beat West Indies by 73 runs in Pune.
Kenya’s joy knew no bounds when the final wicket was claimed to confirm a victory of giant-killing proportions. The crowd at Pune appeared to be equally ecstatic, for they knew they’d witnessed a historic game.
Although there were parties long into the night at the hotbeds of the game, the clubs in Nairobi and Mombasa, the momentous victory went largely unappreciated.
Unlike many of their opponents at the World Cup, the Kenyans took an assortment of paths to reach the pinnacle of cricket. There were those who began the game either by being members of the few cricket clubs in the country or after being lured to the sport by friends or family members.
Then there are those that held the cricket bat for the first time as some of the benefits of living next to a cricket ground. To them, the allure of sumptuous food prepared for wedding guests at the venue is what got them closer to the game.
As they waited for the guests to finish their meal so that they can have a share and take some home, they were forced to try out the game that they saw being played.
This kind of lifestyle is what Sir Ali Muslim Club and the adjacent clubs brought to the Tikolos, Sujis and Odumbes before they went on to orchestrate West Indies' fall.
With the qualification, the then Nairobi Cricket Authorities (NPCA) took that as an opportunity to spread the game in the city and away from the members clubs and neighbouring estates.
And with no trained coaches, NPCA turned to young budding players from some of the clubs to jump-start the program.
Among the players that NPCA turned on to get the cricket development ball rolling was David ‘Alolo’ Asiji .
For 25 years, Asiji has been the face of cricket development in the country. He has been the heart and soul of schools and clubs development programs that has produced gems for Kenyan cricket.
From clubs to all the nationals’ teams, Asiji has had a hand in nurturing players.
Among the players that have risen through Asiji’s tutelage all the way to the international scene are former national team captains Irfan Karim, Maurice Ouma, Rakep Patel, Shem Obado and Jimmy Kamande.
Others that donned the national team colours through Asiji’s hands include the Ngoche brothers, James and Nehemiah, Alex Obanda, Rajesh Bhudia, Nelson ‘Mandela’ Odhiambo, Lucas Oluoch, Jadavji ‘Malindi’ Bhimji and Elijah Otieno.
Had Kenya had a proper pathway for its players by having either Kenya ‘A’ or Elite Squad, then the list of who-is-who in ‘Asiji’s school of cricket’ would be longer.
“All these players and many more, have all been involved in my coaching, either at school, club or at the national team level,” says Asiji who began coaching while still a student at Eastleigh High School in 1995.
“Before joining Eastleigh, I was playing cricket and so when I joined the school, I wanted to ensure that they take up cricket so I assembled some school mates and from there I got into the rhythm of coaching to date.
When NPCA started the program, Asiji was assigned Peter Kibukosya, Kifaru and Tumaini Primary Schools in Umoja Estate.
“I had just completed my secondary school education and here I was being asked to start coaching. It was a big challenge because I had not worked with young kids before. Getting to coach a big number of pupils with no cricket background and then expected to show results was not going to be an easy task,” he recounts.
After two years, he was given another task of introducing the sport in secondary schools. Here, the father of two girls faced more challenges that made him prefer working with the primary school pupils.
“It was difficult to sell the game to the students because we were competing with established sports like football, basketball, rugby, hockey, volleyball and handball. Nobody wanted to try out something new, so it was very difficult to get a smooth sailing in the secondary school,” he said.
For his primary school pupils, Asiji only needed two wooden or plastic bats and a soft ball to start a coaching session while for the secondary school lads, Asiji, who was born and raised at Kenya Institute Career Development (KICD) headquarters in Ngara, would need proper bats, hardball, helmet, thigh pads and abdominal guard on top of a proper cricket surface to kick start a session.
With little or no provision of this because of high costs, Asiji’s work became more difficult, which is why he settled on working with primary schools more and more.
“I quickly decided to stick with primary schools pupils after seeing the challenges in secondary schools. In primary schols, you just needed pupils to get on the pitch, get a ball, bats and tell them what to do and off you go,” Asiji recalls.
"But in secondary schools, the surface itself would make it difficult to jumpstart your session. Apart from that, one would need an expensive kit to get going and don’t forget that there were other games being played too."
Apart from conducting coaching in schools, Asiji was also tasked with running coaching courses for teachers and setting up inter-school competitions.
“These competitions were aimed at giving the pupils a chance to expose themselves to the game in a competitive environment and at the same time enabled us to identify talented players,” he said.
It’s through this kind of competitions — popularly known as mini cricket — that the likes of Obanda, Mandela, Rakep, Bhudia, Jadavji ‘Malindi Bhimji and many others were identified.
“Within a short time, we were able to see talents coming up from these competitions. They made us realise that we were on the right track as far as our plans of honing new talents is concerned. We were encouraged that we can actually get more players into the game and with that more schools were identified and with this more coaches also came up,” Asiji recalls.
After the success of mini cricket, where kids played with a softball, those that had been identified as talented were introduced to hardball cricket. A coaching program at Nairobi Gymkhana that was working with young kids quickly took them up and as fate would be, Asiji was drafted as one of the coaches to hone the talents.
He said: “The program turned out to be a good initiative for them and for our cricket in general. They got some intensive coaching in all the aspects of the game and within a short time, we were able to see some future players.”
In 2000, a number of players from the hardball introduction training won selection for the inaugural national junior teams that took part in the international junior championships with Asiji being among the coaches.
While coaching, Asiji was still actively playing cricket and when he moved to Aga Khan from Gymkhana as a wicketkeeper, he set up an academy at the club where he worked with children of both members and non-members.
His work with young players continued to earn him more opportunities both at club and national teams level and by 2008 he had coached almost all the junior teams in the country.
In 2009, Asiji's coaching career took a different dimension when he was posted to Nakuru when Cricket Kenya began their development program.
Due to his experience, it didn’t take him long to settle down and make a mark in a county that had little knowledge of the ‘gentleman’s game' and in less than two years, Nakuru had contributed players into the national team
“It wasn’t a surprise when three players made it into the ladies team to the 2010 Africa Junior Girls Championships in Tanzania. Their selection only made me realise that the county had just as much talent as Nairobi. It also motivated a number of kids into taking up the sport and even working harder," said Asiji.
By 2013, girls from Nakuru made up half of the junior and senior ladies teams. Ruth Ambiyo — the first girl from Nakuru to don national team colour — says Asiji’s influence in cricket in the county and the country at large, cannot be matched.
“Alolo has done a lot for this country as far as the development of the game is concerned. How he connects with everyone from teachers, parents, kids and everyone that he comes across is what we have never understood. And I feel this is what makes him successful in his work,” Ambiyo said.
Tom Tikolo, who posted Asiji to Nakuru says his ability to work with youngsters from varying backgrounds is what has made him successful.
“He is the most reliable and most effective coach we’ve had in junior cricket coaching. Those that have worked under him will agree that he’s shown tremendous ability of working with youngsters. Most of the players have a lot of respect for him. His knowledge of the game is excellent,” Tikolo said.
Apart from coaching the junior sides, where he has earned the name ‘Coach Mnoma’ (wonderful/good coach), the ardent Liverpool FC fan has also had a stint with the national team’s coaching staff on a number of occasions where he reconnects with his past students.
More than 25 years after he first started out his involvement in the development of cricket, and quite spectacularly, Asiji continues to nurture and churn out a good number of the country’s most talented cricketers.
“I’m proud and honoured to be working with cricket development. I love working with the age group, assisting players in the long-term player development model,” he proudly says.
He has been around for so long and knows Kenyan cricket inside out, according to his close friend Kamande
“When the country talks about success and development of cricket, those who know its history will think of Asiji. Whatever he has done to this sport cannot be matched. He is our walking cricket academy,” Kamande said.
Asiji has not thought of retiring but he says if he finally hangs his coaching bat, he would have left the sport in good hands of coaches now that a number of his ‘students’ have taken up coaching.
“At the beginning, I just wanted to see them playing the game. But with time, they have risen to don the national team colours all the way to being captains. Some have retired and are now coaching and I am hoping they will keep the fire burning and get us more good players,” he said.