Peter Kirsten to coach Zambia

Peter Kirsten, the former South African batsman and ex-Jersey coach, will coach Zambia at the World Cricket League (WCL) Africa Division Two tournament from April 24 to 29 in Benoni, South Africa.

Kirsten coached Jersey in 2008, experiencing first-up success in guiding them to promotion from WCL Division Five on home soil in Jersey. The Division Four campaign in Tanzania was an unhappy one as Jersey won one match out of six to be relegated straight back to Division Five.

The former Derbyshire and Sussex batsman has been in Lusaka since early March, coaching the Zambian squad. He told the Zambia Post newspaper his goal was to see Zambia qualify for Division Eight of the global level of the WCL, which is to be held in Kuwait in December. Zambia was part of the old East African Cricket Conference, also comprising Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The squad for the tournament starting this Saturday includes the bulk of the side which finished third in the 2008 Division Two event, behind Botswana and Nigeria. Zambia is the top-ranked team in this tournament.

Zambia's first match is against Sierra Leone on April 24. Also competing are Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Swaziland.

Zambia: Abid Patel, Allan Nsensha, Andrew Toms, Ashraf Lulat, Godfrey Kandela, Gladson Kandela, Imran Suleman Patel, Markus Pieterse, Meeth Naik, Mohamed Mitha, Sarfraz Patel, Sarfarajhusen Sopariya, Sharif Yousuf, Tapson Nyirongo