The Baby Cricket Cranes will visit Sanjay Farm in India for a training camp as they prepare for the World Cup qualifiers scheduled for July in Tanzania.
From 13th,May to 25th May 2023,the training camp will see the Under-19 boys play six 50-0ver games and one T-20 match against select sides in Sanjay Farm and also get a chance to work-out with specialized batting coach Hemal Vatekar.
This is all on invitation of the Sanjay Farm in India and Joshua Mwanja the Operations Manager at Uganda Cricket Association believes it is an opportunity to develop the sport.
“We would like to thank Sanjay Farm for inviting us and this is a true commitment to their promise to help us improve our development teams. Sanjay Farm has offered to look after all the team expenses on the trip including accommodation, meals, facilities, and playing uniforms for our boys. This tour should help not just our players but also our technical team to better prepare the boys ahead of the qualifiers in July in Tanzania,” Joshua Mwanja said.
Fahad Mutagana will captain the squad of 16 players that has been undergoing training since the start of 2023 under the guidance of Head Coach Isaneez Emmanuel and his Assistant Robinson Turinawe.
Christopher Kidega, Sowobi Yunusi, Omara Ronald,Asaba Brian, and Joseph Baguma who were part of the 2022 U-19 World Cup in West Indies are other notables on the squad.
Team: Fahad Mutagana (Captain), Anas Baig, Pius Oloka, Christopher Kidega, Sowobi Yunusi,Omara Ronald, Baguma Joseph, Musa Majid, Conrad Lubwama, Gerald Olipa, Nyiiro Jonathan,Ochaya Jaffer, Ocen Peter, Tandia Abdul Aziz, Balidawa Ali, Brian Asaba.
Officials: Emmanuel Isaneez (Head Coach), Turinawe Robinson (Assistant Coach), Richard Okia(Analyst), Habiba Anguyo Kulusumu (Physiotherapist), Rokani Slyvester (Team Manager).
Baby Cricket Cranes Team Head Coach is confident there are more positives to pick from the trip.
“The trip to India is part of our warm-up engagements which involves playing against strong youth in Gujarati at Sanjay Farm so that we gain the necessary experience we need before July, India is known for producing quality spinners in the game of cricket so this isa good platform for our boys to learn more,” said U-19 Head Coach Emmanuel Isaneez.
Uganda has qualified for three editions (2004, 2006, and 2022) of the U-19 World Cup and they will be seeking to make it back to back after qualification in Tanzania from 23rd-29th July against opponents Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia, and Kenya with only one teamearning a card to represent Africa in Sri Lanka in 2024.