Moles: 'It's not long before the whole thing collapses'

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Andy Moles, who resigned last month as Kenya's national coach after 18 difficult months to take up a similar position with Scotland, has warned his former employers that their house is in danger of falling down.

It is less than two years since Kenya stunned everyone by reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup, but hopes that they might build on that success have foundered amid bitter political in-fighting and players' strikes.

Moles, the former Warwickshire batsman, says he had to endure death threats and unfounded claims of racism, and even had to dip into his own pocket to buy petrol for the roller to ensure that net sessions went ahead as planned. His departure came after the Kenyan Cricket Association was suspended by the sports minister, Ochilo Ayacko, for alleged mismanagement.

"Over the last six months I was in Kenya there appeared to be a new crisis every week," Moles told The Wisden Cricketer magazine. "It's like taking the bottom cards from a pyramid of cards - it's not long before the whole thing collapses. Kenyan cricket is getting to that stage and, unless people stop playing politics with the sport, then there is no way they will ever be in a position to play Test matches."

Moles blames internecine strife between the KCA, the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association and the Coast Cricket Association for the decline. The dispute led to facilities at Nairobi's best grounds, the Gymkhana and Aga Khan, being withdrawn for Kenya's training sessions, forcing the country's 20 fulltime professionals to use more basic facilities elsewhere.

Moles also had to contend with strikes from senior players before major competitions which culminated in 14 of them, led by the former captain Steve Tikolo, withdrawing from the squad for last autumn's ICC Intercontinental Cup finals in the Gulf.

"I could sympathise with the players but I didn't think that going on strike on the day before they were due to represent their country was the right way to handle things," says Moles. "I know that some of the players didn't like my approach to coaching, but all I asked for was hard work and discipline, the things that helped to make Warwickshire successful in the mid-1990s.

"Some of the senior players would not conform, their timekeeping was poor and they were reluctant to train. It appeared that as they got to the World Cup semis they thought there was no longer a need to work on their cricket."