Kenya players face a different challange

Fresh from their successful tour of Uganda, Kenya's cricketers face a different kind of challenge this week when the set off for a three-day team-building exercise at the Malewa River Lodge.

Set in the Great Rift Valley some two hours drive out of Nairobi, Malewa is a small eco-friendly lodge built entirely from local mud, timber and thatch. It nestles in the shade of huge Acacia trees on the banks of the Malewa river close to the Aberdare National Park.

This will be no holiday, however, as they will be taking part in a specialised outdoor boot camp involving survival in the wild. Pupils at nearby Greensteds School regularly attend such camps as part of their preparations for challenges they are expected to encounter in life.

"It's meant to get the players mentally and physically fit," Tom Tikolo, Cricket Kenya's chief executive. explained. "They're going to be together during the period and we are hoping to build a lot more responsibility in their teamwork."

Martin Bentley, the headmaster of Greensteds and a member of the Cricket Kenya board, explained that the programme for the Kenyan team will involve a number of difficult physical and mental challenges to enable each of them to learn to perform better individually and to understand and help each other by working as a team.