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Arinaitwe, the Wanderers and national team skipper, plays the square cut here |
SPORTLIGHT
At 20, Davis Arinaitwe became the youngest ever player to captain Uganda’s national cricket team when he was appointed to the
demanding position last October. And if the Wanderers skipper had any illusions about what the post entails, Uganda’s disastrous Division II World Cricket League campaign in Namibia in November came as a rude awakening. But Arinaitwe is coming of age. Sunday Vision’s PAUL Mbuga writes...
IN countries like Australia — where the states’ sports heroes live under an inordinate amount of pressure — the job of national cricket captain ranks second in importance only to the nation’s Prime Minister.
Uganda is not famed for blessing its leading sportsmen with such ceremonial honours, but the pressure is definitely there; a burden of expectation Davis Arinaitwe, the captain of Uganda’s underachieving national cricketers, can readily identify with.
At 20 going on to 21, Arinaitwe is the youngest ever player to be appointed skipper of Uganda’s national cricket team, beating Paul Nsibuka –– who was 23 at the time of his appointment in 1989 –– to a distant second.
The Wanderers skipper may have nursed ambitions of captaining the national side, but he was blind-sided when he was called upon by the national selectors to lead the side in October.
In the heady world of cricket, age 20 translates to infancy.
“Honestly, I didn’t see it [the appointment] coming,” Arinaitwe freely concedes. “I’ve always wanted to be captain, but I never thought it would be this early! I was caught off-guard, but I love challenges and I was ready to accept this challenge.”
Suffice it to note that Arinaitwe’s appointment was not without its simmering controversy.
His predecessor, Joel Olweny — like Junior Kwebiiha before him — was allegedly stripped of the captaincy after clashing with the hierarchy of the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) over, among other things, the delayed remittance of allowances and the association’s callous treatment of the players.
With the official position of the association rather unconvincing, it is difficult to disbelieve the voices of discontent, and Arinaitwe will have a sensitive bridging job to do.
But his principal focus will be the cricket.
“I know what is expected of the job,” Arinaitwe remarks.
“Being captain at my club helps a lot, and I’ve also studied how other captains, nationally and internationally, conduct themselves and their team’s affairs.”
The team’s affairs, a knotty area.
The average cricket team, let alone a national team, whips up a diversity of personalities who are specialists in their disciplines and may resent patronising advice.
It is a difficult path for the captain to tread, and rather than bully or boss his charges, Arinaitwe believes in the tried and tested blueprint of inspiring by example.
“I’ve always believed I’m a player-captain,” Arinaitwe explains. “Simply put, I’m first a player, then a captain. You have to do your part first. As a batsman, score runs. As a bowler, take wickets and don’t leak runs. If you do not, the players will obviously feel that you are letting them down.”
But even that may, ultimately, not be enough, for a captain’s ability to inspire his troopers goes far beyond the mundane calling of accumulating runs or wickets.
Tactical nous is important, and is often the difference between mere poster-boy captains and winning ones.
Mercifully for Arinaitwe, sources close to him readily admit he possesses an impressive cricketing brain, and it is a quality that shone through as we spoke.
“You have to trust your instincts too,” he quickly says. “Cricket is different in the sense that you play with persons who are as knowledgeable about the game as you are. You will get lots of advice particularly in the field, but the final decision is yours.”
“The timing of decisions is crucial. For example, if an opposing batsman is taking on your bowler, how do you respond? If runs are being leaked through cover, post a fielder at extra cover and ask the bowler to tighten his line and length. Limit the batsman’s options till you get a wicket. The ability to handle those situations will earn your teammates’ respect.”
Arinaitwe’s first serious examination came at the Division II World Cricket League in Namibia last November; a tournament in which Uganda needed to finish among the semi-finalists to qualify for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Qualifier (formerly the ICC Trophy) in 2009 — and a chance to earn the right to play in the prestigious 2011 Cricket World Cup.
And not even Arinaitwe would have been impressed with the outcome.
Ravaged by controversy back home, the nation’s cricketers obviously carried a lot of baggage to Windhoek, and the implosion that followed was foreseeable.
Surprising losses to makeweights Denmark and Oman, along with meek surrenders to Namibia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) put paid to Uganda’s qualification chances.
And that was the least spectacular feature of the team’s venture!
Reports of internal disharmony rent the air, and it was feared that the dressing room had spiralled out of Arinaitwe’s control, or anyone else’s for that matter.
But the lessons have been learnt and bitter truths hammered home.
“We had a very constructive team talk after Namibia,” Arinaitwe reflects. “We were all disappointed with our performnaces.”
He then revealed how the death of former national team player Henry ‘Santos’ Sebulime — who was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident a week ago — has further served to unite the players.
“We are now more united, and aim to ensure the national team progresses. We need more build-up matches to enable exposure and experimentation. Different players feel they can perform maximally in different positions. We are working on that.”
However, the 87 Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC have found meaningful build-up matches near-impossible to come by, but Arinaitwe revealed plans are afoot to take advantage of Kenya’s hosting of the Division I tournament and Afro-Asia Cup this year to woo teams for build-ups in Kampala.
Uganda also used 27 cricketers last year, a figure Arinaitwe concedes does nothing for continuity.
“Yes, we talked to the coaches and agreed we need to do something about that. A core group is important.”
Uganda will get the chance to attempt to qualify for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier if the ICC, as expected, sanctions a qualification tournament in Dubai in April. We may well see Arinaitwe’s coming of age then.
Published on: Saturday, 12th January, 2008
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