Baby Cricket Cranes chase fourth World Cup appearance in Nigeria

JoriPress

Mar 27, 2025 - 11:50

Baby Cricket Cranes chase fourth World Cup appearance in Nigeria

Baby Cricket Cranes will battle five other nations to earn the right to represent Africa at the 2026 U-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe.

Uganda has made three appearances at the junior global showpiece, with the last appearance in 2022 starting to become a distant memory following the 2004 and 2006 appearances.

Uganda barely managed to hold onto their Division I status at the last qualifiers in Tanzania in 2023, with the loss to Sierra Leone highlighting their performance. Uganda finished a distant third behind Kenya and eventual winners Namibia.

The six-nation tournament will feature Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The teams will be playing the very unfamiliar 50-Over format for the youngsters, which will test the skill of the players. The winner of the tournament will proceed to represent Africa at the World Cup. Namibia is the most recent winner and represented Africa at the 2024 World Cup in South Africa.

The Baby Cricket Cranes have five players from the last qualifier in Tanzania in 2023, Captain Gerald Olipa is now grown with some senior team experience but the other four, Christopher Kidega, Conrad Lubwama, Abdul Tandia, and Ali Balidawa, will also be key players. At this level, all struggle with application, especially with the bat and the team that can take its time to score runs should win comfortably.

Uganda has a decent bowling lineup and will be led by Musa Majid and Jonathan Nyiro with the left-arm spin of Ali Balidawa critical in picking up wickets. Richard Sohera, Gerald Olipa, and Christopher Kidega will provide the backup required to bowl out teams.

Namibia and Kenya might be favourites alongside Uganda, but Nigeria can upset those odds and qualify for a second U-19 World Cup appearance at home.

Uganda U19 Fixtures at the Africa Division 1 Qualifier (All Games start at 11:30 EAT)