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A first glance at the schedule released by the ICC for the Associate nations showed a concerning lack of matches against Test opposition for Kenya. Indeed, the one match that had been promised to Kenya against New Zealand in July will now see the Kiwis take on Ireland instead. The ICC had pencilled in plenty of ODIs for Kenya against other Associates, but a team that won almost all of its matches at that level in 2007 needs more competition against tougher opponents if they are to improve.
The good news is that though the ICC schedule does give some guide to Kenyas 2008 fixtures, there are actually plenty more in store. Cricket Kenya is in negations with the boards of South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to organise ODIs against those teams and Pakistan is keen to send their A team to tour Kenya as well.
Kenyas international year starts with two must win Intercontinental Cup matches first up is the UAE in Sharjah from 15th to 18th January which will be followed by a single One Day match on 20th January. Kenya then return home to host Namibia at Nairobi Gymkhana from 30 January to 2 February in their last home Intercontinental cup match for several months.
Next on the menu should be Zimbabwe who have been invited to tour Kenya in late February or early March. Details on the make up of the matches have yet to be worked out, but there should be several ODIs for fans to look forward to and possibly a couple of longer games as well. It would certainly make sense for the boards of both countries to work towards this as neither currently play enough of the longer version at international level.
May sees perhaps the toughest assignment for Kenya as they travel to South Africa for two ODIs against their hosts on Friday the 9th at Kimberley and Sunday 11th at Bloemfontein. With the series sponsored by MTN, it is likely that fans in Kenya will be able to watch both of these games live on Supersport, potentially a big boost for the popularity of the game in Kenya.
There is then a short rest at home before a six week long tour of Europe which will include matches against Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands plus the 20-20 World Cup qualifier in Belfast (4-10 August). Kenya will play 2 ODIs against Scotland, one against The Netherlands and 3 against Ireland as well as two of the potentially toughest Intercontinental Cup games away to The Netherlands and Scotland.
Other tours that are still in the planning stages are Pakistan A in Kenya possibly in late August or early September after their visit to Zimbabwe and a quadrangular tournament in Kenya in October featuring Kenya, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Ireland. The latter should be very interesting as it will pit the two lowest ranked Test teams against the two best ranked Associates with designs on moving up the ICC ODI table. Kenya are currently slated to play Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup from 12th to 15th October followed by 5 ODIs. It is thought that it will be this ODI series that will be replaced should Zimbabwe and Bangladesh confirm their participation.
Should Kenyas Intercontinental Cup campaign continue as planned, there is also the lure of the final in Dubai in early November.
All in all, it will be a challenging year for Kenya with plenty of international action. There is still room for more matches against the Test nations, but some progress is being made and if the results on the field can back that up, more are sure to follow.
Kenyas Full Schedule for 2008 as it currently stands:
5-18 January: UAE v Kenya, Sharjah (Intercontinental Cup)
20 January: UAE v Kenya, Sharjah
30 January-2 February: Namibia v Kenya, Kenya (Intercontinental Cup)
February/March Zimbabwe tour to Kenya (to be confirmed)
9 May: South Africa v Kenya, Kimberley (ODI)
11 May: South Africa v Kenya, Bloemfontein (ODI)
2-4 August: ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier (Associate ODI teams), Belfast
7-10 August: Scotland v Kenya, Scotland (Intercontinental Cup)
2 August: Scotland v Kenya, Scotland (ODI)
13 August: Scotland v Kenya, Scotland (ODI)
16-19 August: Netherlands v Kenya, Netherlands (Intercontinental Cup)
21 August: Netherlands v Kenya, Amsterdam (ODI)
24 August: Ireland v Kenya, Belfast (ODI)
25 August: Ireland v Kenya, Belfast (ODI)
27 August: Ireland v Kenya, Belfast (ODI)
Early October: Pakistan A tour to Kenya (To be confirmed)
12-15 October (TBC): Kenya v Ireland, Kenya (Intercontinental Cup)
18 October: Kenya v Ireland, Kenya (ODI)
19 October: Kenya v Ireland, Kenya (ODI)
21 October: Kenya v Ireland, Kenya (ODI)
23 October: Kenya v Ireland, Kenya (ODI)
25 October: Kenya v Ireland, Kenya (ODI)
Quadrangular series v Ireland, Bangladesh & Zimbabwe (To be confirmed)
12-16 November: Intercontinental Cup Final, Dubai
