Court bars fresh Kenyan board elections

A court injunction has prevented the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) from holding elections for the second time since 2001. AFP reported that in 2001, a court barred outgoing officials from holding annual general meetings.

Anil Sarkar, the secretary of the board, said that a new court order stopped the KCA from having fresh elections. "We cannot go ahead with the exercise because of the court order issued by the high court in Mombasa on Friday and served to the executive committee this afternoon."

The court order has come as a blow to the KCA, who were advised by the ICC to take steps to speed up their development. They were asked to to reform the board and the constitution, and hold fresh elections. Ehsan Mani, the ICC's president, had said in April that Kenya had to improve rapidly.

"After Kenya's strong showing in the 2003 World Cup, the ICC and the KCA mapped out a series of milestones that need to be passed before any consideration could be given to an application for Test status," the BBC reported Mani as saying. "While things are moving forward, the pace of progress is too slow. Some deadlines have been missed and we have underlined the need for the KCA to commit to and deliver against the agreed plan."

While the court order will hinder the ICC's plans for Kenya, it will make little difference to Jimmy Rayani, the KCA chairman, who announced he would step down after a 10-year stint as head of the board.