Kenya coach fancies team's chances

Eldine Baptiste, the Kenya coach, believes his team is capable of qualifying for the 2015 World Cup despite losing all five games in last week's World Cricket League Division One tournament in the Netherlands.

"We can," Baptiste told Cricinfo, "[but] the batsmen need to score big runs consistently."

The former West Indian allrounder remained positive despite the issues with the batting. "Our goal is to become the best team among the Associates in all departments and also the fittest, [and] avoid unnecessary injuries. So far, we are the fittest and have one of the best bowling attacks. What we are lacking is in the batting, specifically making big scores consistently, which we are addressing."

Baptiste was confident the problems had been identified. "Mainly, having patience in batting, understanding your game and always sticking to the basics," he said.

England-based Seren Waters, who opened for Kenya, was left out of the squad after falling out of contact. "I had no report from him since he left in February, though I had asked for a report."

Kenyan preparations for the tournament were wrecked by a player strike, which resulted in the cancellation of a short tour of England and deprived the team of match practice in European conditions.

Baptiste felt, however, that the commitment of players wasn't an issue during the actual tournament. "The main positive [of the tournament] was the fighting attitude of the team in the last two matches." He agreed the team had reached a critical point. "Yes we have to improve."