Old-look Kenya brim with confidence

Kenya leave today for their Intercontinental Cup tie against Uganda at Kampala in good heart, despite the massive upheavals the game has undergone in the last six months.

Many of the 14-man squad have only just returned from a bitter dispute with the Kenya Cricket Association, and will be ring rusty when they step onto the field. But they have been training hard, and Tikolo believes that, allied with their depth of experience, will be the decisive factor. "We have worked around with players available, looked at their strengths and weaknesses and made the best choices for the match," he said. "The big names are back in the team and we should win the match easily." Tikolo knows more than most about Uganda - he was their coach last year.

Steve Tikolo, Tom's brother, has been restored to the captaincy, with Ragheb Aga, who led Kenya in their last international against Scotland in Sharjah, not even contacted by the selectors. He is confident that the internal ructions will not affect the side. "The players have largely been undistracted and remained focused on training despite the administrative problems. They are all, therefore, in very good shape for the game. I am positive we will do well."

The absence of Ravi Shah, Kenya's leading batsman, will be a blow - he has failed to recover from a long-standing knee injury - and while there is no doubting the squad's experience, a fair number of those playing were also in the Kenya side which played so dismally in last year's Champions Trophy.

And Uganda are no pushovers. Although they were beaten by Kenya in last year's competition, they themselves thrashed the fancied Namibians. They named their side earlier in the week, but will be without Junior Kwebiiha who has been ruled out by a shoulder injury. In his absence, Joel Olweny, their leading batsman, will lead the team.