Following a less than convincing qualification campaign for the 2011 World Cup, Kenya's attentions now switch to the longer format of the game where they open their efforts to capture (for the first time) the Intercontinental cup from Ireland (the current 3 time defending champions) , by facing them on their own on the
3rd of July. The tour which will also involve two One day Internationals is likely to a baptism of fire for a new coaching set up with word in the press and
certain blogs that an ad had been placed for a new head coach and that the shortlist is now down to two candidates. That and the small matter of selecting a new captain following steve Tikolo's decision to step down in April of this year.
This season's tournament see's one major change with Zimbabwe fielding an 'A' team as part of their efforts to rehabilitate and get back to playing test cricket. Aside from that there is the creation of a second division Intercontinental shield. Other changes see Bermuda and Namibia bizzarrely relegated on the back of their poor World Cup Qualifiers, to be replaced by Afghanistan and the A team from Zimbabwe. So far the ICC has only released a handful of matches (amounting to about 1 round) with no indication as when the rest of the schedule (if it exists at all) will be made known to the participants.
Back to the Kenya situation. If the coaching vacancy is were being filled tomorrow, it would leave the new guy some three weeks to gel with the squad and prepare them for what would surely be the most difficult assignment that could reasonably come out of the hat (aside from probably a likely fixture away against Zimbabwe A). However it is likely that
the job will stay with Andy Kirsten till just after the Ireland assignment
Last season's meeting between the two sides saw a resurgent, full strength,
Ireland thrash Kenya by an innings on a Gymkhana wicket that saw Kenya's bowlers only manage 4 wickets in 160 overs, enabling the Irish to overhaul Kenya in the points table and get back into the final they eventually won against Namibia.
This year it is likely that as many as 6 of the Irish team will be unavailable for at least the Intercontinental cup due to County cricket commitments. However, the Irish are likely to be on a high after once again upsetting the apple cart by making the latter stages of the ongoing World T20 World Cup in England and and will be full of cricket when their opponents arrive in Dublin to face them, having not played a single international match since April.
Full tour fixtures (with facebook event links)
July 3rd-6th
Intercontinental Cup (4 day game)
Ireland vs Kenya
Venue:TBCJuly 8th*
One Day International
Ireland v Kenya
Clontarf Cricket Club Ground, DublinJuly 10th*
One day international
Ireland v Kenya
Clontarf Cricket Club Ground, DublinTickets and booking information is likely to be made available here, or here*
EDIT: After pestering several sources for infor this blog can now confirm that tickets will certainly be available only at the gate for at least the two ODIs, and possibly the intercontinental Cup match.
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