The Kenyans are certainly on their way up

Woolmer retains a diplomatic silence on the subject of Test status. It is not for him to comment on such issues; his brief is as coaching adviser. In this case, he has worked with Sandeep Patil and Andrew Kirsten, the brother of Peter Kirsten, as the assistant.

Most people think of Kenya as the side who shocked the West Indies at Pune in 1996 and forget the rest of their success: one was against India at St George’s Park in 2001 in which the query was raised about the result. As this did not go down too well with the Kenyan management, Pat Symcox’s claims were dismissed out of hand and being spurious in nature.

These days the chatter around the dressing rooms and in the TV talkshows of how they beat Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, both Test nations, although the first named do have a problem of establishing credibility at Test, and limited overs international level, as well as an identity. Kenya, however, have developed an adventurous style which can be as exuberant as the West Indies with an African flair.

For years there has been talk of Steve Tikolo and Maurice Odumbe. They are the veteran players who have created their own image and brought with them that extra touch of Africa drumbeat. It is the sort of level of competition which adds spice to the game in the emerging nations and not developing countries. Woolmer has been quite adamant on this point.

Reference to development suggests that they are backward in their growth. This, he says, is not the case at all and words should be selected carefully when discussing such matters at the level of growth. Emerging is explanatory while development is ‘‘quiet embryonic’’ in its meaning.

‘‘The game has moved well beyond this stage in places such as Kenya,’’ he says. ‘‘This tournament and the way they have come through proves this point.’’

The one point most forget though, in the rush to pat the new African heroes on the back, is that they were given a walkover against New Zealand who, frankly, were a little too premature in their decision on the security situation of the East African nation. The New Zealand players wanted to go but the management decided otherwise. In a sense, it was similar to Sri Lanka gaining an easy passage to the 1996 quarterfinals in 1996 with walkovers against reluctant Australian and West Indies teams.

What we are looking s Kenya’s long-term case. It is a small nation in number of teams and players, yet the profile of the sport is almost as popular as is soccer. What has helped in this exposure were the wins over India and their World Cup 2003 performances. It even drew some tourists from Nairobi to Kingsmead for the semifinal to ‘‘experience the occasion.’’ To them it was more important than any Kenya sporting showpiece in a decade.

While there are concerns about the administration and the row between the sports ministry and the Kenya Cricket Association, the game is making massive strides around the country and this, says Woolmer, is what is important.

Yet when the team is in action there are any number of talented players and one is the leg-spinner Collins Obuya whose efforts against a side such as Sri Lanka was as remarkable as his return with five for twenty-four.

Kenya are certainly on the way up but for their sustained growth ICC needs to pitch in its support.