•New county associations representative promises to give 100 per cent
•Former wicketkeeper wants to see more kids playing cricket at the counties
•He will draw upon his vast playing experience in fulfilling his responsibilities
Image: AFP
Newly elected Cricket Kenya county associations representative Kennedy Obuya says all stakeholders will need to work together if they are to resurrect the sport and take it to greater heights.
Former Kenya under-19 player Manoj Patel was elected new CK supremo with Maina Kamau as his deputy in Saturday's polls meant to usher in a new era for the sport, long bogged down by wrangles among stakeholders.
Obuya has advised his peers not to repeat yesteryears' mistakes and instead move in the same direction for the love of the game.
"Yes, there is a lot of pressure. Getting the sport back to its feet needs a lot of work. We may have been in different camps but we all love cricket. Ambassador Amina (Sports CS) has done her part as have the Normalisation Committee and the elections panel," the former wicketkeeper said.
The right-handed batsman, who played 90 one-day international matches for the national team, said he will give 100 percent to see cricket flourish at the grassroots.
"I am very passionate about county cricket and so I will give 100 percent. The major question is how do we support the 24 county associations? If we can have regular cricket going on in all the associations, then that will be a great achievement. Look at rugby, for instance, it never used to be a big sport in the country but is nowadays being played in every corner," Obuya said.
He added: "I will align my vision with that of my chair so that we can spread the game to the counties. In the current era, we have fewer kids playing cricket compared to our days. Obviously, this needs to change...we need to increase the number of kids playing cricket at the counties."
Obuya, who was part of Kenya's fairytale run to the 2003 Cricket World Cup semi-finals, plans to draw upon his vast playing experience to fulfill his responsibilities.
"I am lucky to have played as well as run a cricket academy, among other things. I think this gives me a wide vision of where I'd love to see the sport go. This time, we can make three or four steps forward rather than one step," the former Southern Stars captain.
Similarly, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed congratulated all aspirants for running a mature campaign and urged stakeholders not to mess up this new opportunity to grow the game.
"The days of chest-thumping, pride, arrogance, and scarcity mentality must forever be put to rest. All stakeholders must commit to never again take the sport back to the brink of extinction," Amina said.
She added: "Many of our talented youth have lost several opportunities to showcase their talents and earn livelihoods from this sport. The country has lost a substantial amount of financial and technical support from ICC. This position must be reversed."