ICC confirms decision to stay away from Uganda

The ICC's announcement confirming an earlier decision to move the Intercontinental Shield tie between Uganda and Namibia to Windhoek was greeted with predictable dismay in Kampala.

The ICC switched the game, which was originally scheduled to be played at Lugogo Oval because of the Al-Shabaab bombings on July 11 which left 74 people dead. A fortnight ago Sean Carroll, the ICC's top security adviser, visited Uganda to inspect facilities at Entebbe and Kampala. He also visited hotels and routes to the venues to assess security and met top Ugandan security chiefs.

"We must accept the ICC verdict," Uganda Cricket Association chief executive Justine Ligyalingi said. "We did our very best to restore the fixture based, we feel, on strong grounds such as the visit to Uganda by the Namibian president for the recent AU summit; but maybe it wasn't enough. The match has been moved to Namibia, so we must plan for that.

"We must get the team's spirits up and running again to take on the Namibians in their own backyard and go on to win the Shield against UAE in Dubai in November."

The main fixture between Namibia and Uganda is scheduled for September 18-21, in Windhoek, with two one-day matches and a Twenty20 game in Namibia also part of the mix.