By Simon Hughes in Nairobi
RELISHING first use of a bushy but blameless wicket, England A yesterday built the basis of a total that ensures they cannot lose their only first-class match here.
Having won a delayed toss, the Kenyan captain gave virtually every member of his team a chance with the ball, to little avail. Leicestershire's Darren Maddy filled his boots to the tune of a career-best 136 and is still there to continue gorging himself today.
Nothing had seemed less likely at 10.30am, the scheduled start, when the tail end of a heavy storm rendered the outfield a worm-laden paradise for wading ibises but a mire for cricketers. The square was dry however, and once the boundary rope had been re-aligned to avoid the deepest puddles, play began at one o'clock.
In the first hour the Kenyan seamers got a touch carried away with the springiness of the pitch and bowled too short. Steve James and Nick Knight pulled and cut with gusto. The left-arm spin of Asif Karim slowed the scoring, especially after James glided Karim's arm ball to slip. Knight was also lucky to survive a stumping chance on 37, driving at non-existent turn.
Confronted by spin, Maddy, normally an opener, initially looked ill at ease. He searched for the ball in defence, and lacked the confidence to use his feet. Having nurdled his way into the twenties he was presented with several overs of cafeteria (help yourself) bowling by the leg-spinner Zafir Deen, and raced past 50.
The Kenyans, rarely exposed to anything other than 50-over cricket, seemed to have little idea of how to stem the tide, and both Maddy and Knight took runs more or less where they pleased. Maddy carted three sixes over midwicket to augment his delicate leg glances and an axe-like cut, while Knight struck a majestic straight six and concentrated hard on hitting the ball in the 'V'.
A rare failure to do this brought about his downfall as he drove loosely away from his body and ladled a catch to cover four short of a century. But Maddy carried on busily, haring up and down the wicket in such a sprightly manner the chunkier Mark Ealham - his not-out partner - must be rather daunted by the prospect of keeping up with him today.
Day 2: : Kenyans lodge protest over one-day result
By Simon Hughes in Nairobi
THE Kenyan Cricket Association are to send official notification to Lord's of their protest at the interpretation of the rules to decide Sunday's one-day international against England A.
The match was awarded to England on a faster scoring rate after a rainstorm halted their victory chase 31 runs short with 4.3 overs remaining.
But the Kenyans believe the calculations made were incorrect and have decided to fax the England and Wales Cricket Board with their complaint.
They claimed the regulations dictate that the home association should rule on the dispute and want a response from England by tomorrow, ahead of Saturday's third and final one-day international.
If the boards fail to reach agreement, England are entitled to appeal to the ICC, but are expected to accept the Kenyans' interpretation to leave the A team needing victory on Saturday to seal the one-day series.
The hosts will certainly need more than mere arbitration to get anything tangible out of the current three-day game. Their bowling and fielding became a shambles yesterday morning with the exception of a one-handed catch by Steve Tikolo - Kenya's one top-class player - who intercepted Mark Ealham's fierce cut.
Still, 59 runs came in the 10 overs before Kenya could claim the new ball, most of these to Darren Maddy. The seamers then used the new ball so ineptly they were immediately removed by Asif Karim, to be replaced by his own respectable brand of left-arm spin at one end, and the 10th bowler tried at the other. With the pugnacious David Sales also quickly finding his touch, the latter experiment was quickly abandoned.
Kenya are without their two best bowlers - one injured, the other involved in the youth World Cup - but the rest all bowled short of a length and seemed to have no idea how to stem the flow. Maddy's 24th boundary brought up his first double century and, after Sales had struck a straight six, Nick Knight put Kenya out of their misery and declared.
Their woes continued with the bat, however. Paul Hutchison's left-arm swing soon trapped Kennedy Otieno in front and ducked past his opening partner's crooked bat. David Lloyd has already marked Hutchison's card, and with a bit more muscle on his rangy frame, he will be a valuable asset.
Sharing the new ball, James Ormond found the right line with an outswinger to Maurice Odumbe and Andrew Flintoff took a neat catch at first slip. Ravindu Shah chanced his arm with an array of shots, particularly against Dean Cosker during his first spell on this trip, but only the elegant Tikolo hinted at permanence.
After a breezy fifty, Shah was smartly taken at extra cover and the wiles of Ealham proved too demanding for a technically inadequate middle order. Ormond took a superb diving catch at deep square leg to end Karim's resistance, then just as the day's storm was about to break at 4pm, a disillusioned Tikolo sliced to slip. Only the current unpredictable weather will save Kenya from an innings defeat.
Day 3: Keen Kenyans miss out on much-needed lesson
By Simon Hughes in Nairobi
TORRENTIAL overnight rain meant the only activity on the final day of England A's match with Kenya was the groundsmen forlornly pumping gallons of water from the outfield with a sort of Heath Robinson contraption.
The England players retired to the hotel gym but the effect of the rain - which has also put tomorrow's one-day international in doubt - will have been felt more keenly by the home side. Many have played no more than a handful of three-day games in their entire careers, and desperately need experience of quality cricket.
Indeed, since the Kenyans' extraordinary victory over the West Indies in the 1996 World Cup, their cricket has stagnated. This is not necessarily the fault of the players, though there is a hint of complacency in some sections of the team, more the result of a cock-eyed bloated administration.
A multitude of Asians run the game in Kenya, many of whom are more preoccupied with their own little fiefdoms to the neglect of the grass roots. Money has been squandered by the KCA, notably in the botched triangular tournament between themselves, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh 10 weeks ago, and there is little left to instigate a much-needed schools coaching programme.
The saving grace is the dogged work of the multicultural Nairobi Cricket Association, who have nurtured various talented African players (seven of whom now make up Kenya's strongest team) and the lone struggle of Jim Bowen, a cricket coach supplied from Britain by Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). In two years he has taught the rudiments of the game to 3,000 African children.
But with a latent mistrust lying between the Asian administrators and the African players, this potential will remain under-developed unless the ICC step in. What Kenyan cricket really needs is a figurehead of world renown, a neutral outsider the African players will learn from and the Asian administrators will respect.
Significant ICC investment is necessary to kickstart an awareness programme. The ascension of Kenya to Test status vital to broaden the game's cartel - may encourage other central African cricket-playing countries - Uganda, Tanzania, - to take it more seriously. You only have to look at the footballing impact of nations like Nigeria and Cameroon to realise the value of Africa to world sport. But without Western aid, African sport will go pearshaped.