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A refreshing change

Internet, Johannesburg
Whatever happens to Collins Obuya and Kenya, they will never forget the 2003 World Cup. The sentiment will be wholly reciprocated.
It is not just the image of Obuya's hugely turning legspinners ripping through the heart of Sri Lanka's batting in Nairobi that will endure. They may also be the catalyst that eventually propels Kenya into the Test arena.
Obuya can still barely believe what has happened in the past month as he and the team have progressed to the tournament semifinals (and that feeling is also mutual).
"We did not expect anything like this," he said.
"I did not know what to expect. All I wanted to do was to play in the
World Cup like my brother."
There are three Obuya boys in the Kenya squad, Kennedy, 30, David, 24, and Collins, 21. It was Kennedy's appearance in the 1996 competition he made a stirring 85 against
Australia which first spurred Collins. "The Aga Khan club was near our home, and because it was there we started playing," he said.
"I began playing properly when I was 12, and when Kennedy played in the World Cup I decided I wanted to as well."
Like thousands of youngsters, his wrist was flexible enough to bowl leg-spin, unlike thousands he was encouraged to do so, and he had a hero in Shane Warne. He stunned the world by taking 5 for 24 against Sri Lanka, a feat which briefly entered the World Cup top 10 bowling returns. Collins simply kept bobbing in and inviting them to hit across the line. He can bowl leg-breaks all right: what he must now do this to develop some variations.
Kenya have hardly looked back. Further wins against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have almost, but not quite, silenced those observers who maintain that their advance is
because of the boycott by New Zealand of the group match in Nairobi. It is true that the four points Kenya were awarded have been vital, but nobody can suggest that they have not helped themselves.
The advance has left Kenyan cricket with a sense of high expectation. Pre-tournament criticism of the administrators has been forgotten and the application for full membership of the International Cricket Council, which brings Test status and a greater share of the game's cash, has been revived.
It provides a conundrum for the ICC. How can they deny a country which has reached the last four of the sport's premier competition? A deal will probably be cut. Kenya recognise that if they began playing Test matches now they would probably follow Bangladesh as cannon fodder. Rather than have an uplifting effect, it would eventually debilitate the side and the development of the game.
"We want to play Test matches but we realise that before that can happen we must get experience in the longer version of the game," said Mehmood Quarishy, the team manager.
"There are plans for more three-day games at domestic level, but the [small] number of players does not make it easy. I would like us to have matches against other countries' A teams."
There are hundreds, rather than thousands, of senior cricketers in Kenya. Cricket has been given an enormous boost because of the World Cup. The deputy prime minister
and sports minister will attend the semifinal against India in Durban on Thursday. But athletics, football and boxing remain the big three sports. Collins himself was a
long-distance runner before cricket finally ensnared him.
The ICC have plans for an intercontinental tournament for countries like Kenya. Andrew Eade, the global development manager, has the template in mind. Nations from America,
Asia, Europe and Africa would play in separate tournaments, with the winners qualifying for a separate competition.
"That is a way for sides to gain experience," he said. "The idea is not for the eventual globalisation of Test cricket.
I don't think that will happen because I don't think that many countries have that desire.
"But they will want to play one-day international cricket, and while it might seem perverse, a way to play that better is to play three-day cricket. I hope we can get this off the ground soon."
It is likely that Kenya will be given a set of targets in developing first-class cricket. If they are achieved, Test status might be granted by 2005. But the ICC dare not risk
a repeat of Bangladesh. Their haplessness since being granted full membership by a unanimous verdict, which makes everyone culpable is helping to make the international game a laughing stock.
Kenya ought not to go down that road. True, they are left with the immediate problem of replacing their national coach, Sandeep Patil, but they have a sound youth structure in place. The graduation of Obuya is demonstration of its effectiveness.
Surprisingly, in view of the bland mediocrity likely to be on show in some English county sides this summer, he has not had an approach.
"I would like to play in England some day and club cricket would be a possibility. But I am signed to Kenya," he said.
He has put on hold his plans to study medicine. Some 21 players have been enlisted by the Kenyan association and are in effect fulltime cricketers. Their rewards have been multiplied. It was agreed beforehand, when nobody expected them to progress, that they could keep the prize money.
It would be appalling if they were full-time cricketers without anybody to play. At the least, they should expect more invitations to one-day tournaments.
"It's been a big problem, just getting games," said Quarishy.
"We've got to have them otherwise this will be for nothing."
Whatever happens next, Kenya and Collins Obuya will not be disappearing.