An interview with U-19 Kenyan coach Robert Diekmann

Charlie Austin: Were you disappointed with the performance of the team on this tour?

Robert Diekmann: We did expect to do better. We are not disappointed because of the results but because of the way that we played. I really think that the boys played no where near their potential. We came away with a batting side that was never going to score a lot of runs but I thought we would take wickets and field very well. So I was particularly disappointed with those areas of our game.

CA: In what areas have the Kenyan players got to improve if they are to compete internationally?

RD: They have got improve in every area. One of the big problems that they have is that they don't play enough cricket at this sort of level. They have no idea what the next level of cricket is. They gauge themselves on the cricket they play in Division 1 and 2 in Nairobi or Mombassa. That level of cricket is so far below the level here that they were just overawed by it.

CA: Are the Kenyan's mentally weaker than players in other cricket nations?

RD: They are mentally weaker at the moment. Here again because they havn't had to be mentally tough. Mental toughness is one of the things that you have to develop in the players as well as other talents and it just doesn't happen overnight.

CA: What about the future of Kenyan cricket?

RD: The national team has got to start to win matches. The honeymoon is over for the Kenya national side. One of the reasons that they are not able to break through at the moment is that there is no pressure being applied by young players coming through. I really believe that some of the players in this squad in a year or two can on to push some of these senior players.

There is though a lot of work to be done on this U19 level and I think that it has got to back a lot further than that to U15 and U13 levels. We have got to put into place a development programme that is embraced by everyone.

I think that down the track, Kenya will become a test playing country, but its not going to get their until the development programme is up and running. To play at test level you have got have a lot of player resources and a lot of other resources behind you - suitable playing facilities, training facilities, indoor facilities - which just aren't available in Kenya at the moment.

The message that should come out of this tournament here is that Kenyan cricket is not up to the standard at the moment and that we need to address this problem. We don't need just a band aid thing - bringing in coaches like myself for 3 or 4 months, but need to establish a programme for development that embraces coaching, administration, facilitites and umpires.

CA: Has cricket got the potential to really take-off as a major sport in Kenya?

RD:I think it can. The potential that I have seen in some of the kids is really exciting - some of them have exceptional hand eyecoordination, which will allow them to excel at every facet of the game. So the raw natural ability is there and the numbers are there.

But here again there is not a cricket ethos in the country and this has to be developed at the same time so that people understand what the game is all about. I can't compare the attitudes of people here in Sri Lanka, every where we have gone we have had kids and adults asking questions about Steve Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar and others, They are all interested about cricket. In Kenya that ethos has got to be developed as well as the players themselves.