Swamibapa's claims lack substance

Confusion surrounds claims made by Swamibapa that they had been docked 80 points for refusing to fulfill fixtures in the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association's Super League.

The club claimed that they had written to the NPCA to request that some matches be postponed because they had seven players on duty with the international side, but that they had not had any response.

However, Cricinfo has learned that all clubs were told at the start of the season that fixtures had to be honoured regardless of international call-ups and that Swamibapa officials were present when that was discussed.

On August 4, Swamibapa wrote to the NPCA asking for the next day's game against Sir Ali to be postponed as they were unable to raise a side because several of their squad were playing for Kenya. The league refused the request and the match did not take place.

That week NPCA and Swamibapa officials met and the club was advised that no games could be rescheduled as the league would come to a standstill. Furthermore, the increasing number of international fixtures would mean the league became almost unworkable. That weekend Swamibapa fielded a side against Aga Khan and won.

Despite there being no more communication between the club and the NPCA, Swamibapa failed to turn up for their next three matches.

Contrary to media reports, they have not been docked any points for their no-shows, although their opponents were awarded walkovers in all the matches in which Swamibapa failed to appear.