Beyond the Test World

Same old Kenyan bias

This column has flagged on several occasions the slanted reporting of one or two journalists in Nairobi’s Nation newspaper, and that bias has again surfaced with quotes from Sharad Ghai, the larger than life former board chairman, following the





Sharad Ghai: blame it on the rain © Cricinfo
This column has flagged on several occasions the slanted reporting of one or two journalists in Nairobi’s Nation newspaper, and that bias has again surfaced with quotes from Sharad Ghai, the larger than life former board chairman, following the abandonment of the ICC Intercontinental Cup tie against Bermuda.

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“We had a golden opportunity to win," Ghai told the newspaper. “When drawing the fixtures Kenya should have considered the weather pattern. India will not agree their fixtures to be drawn for June because of Monsoon rains"

The Nation, so ready to quote the former board chairman, fails to mention that when Ghai was in charge rain was not an issue as almost no matches took place. The final home game under his tenure was an ICC Intercontinental Cup match held in … October …only four weeks earlier than the one he moaned about. And it is worth noting that on that occasion Kenya were forced to field a second XI as all leading players were on strike in a long-running dispute with Ghai’s board.

But, as the Nation’s journalists would have you believe, those were the good old days.

Kenya

Martin Williamson is executive editor of ESPNcricinfo and managing editor of ESPN Digital Media in Europe, the Middle East and Africa