Thoughts turn to Kenya's future

Peter Chingoka: arrived in a bullish and uncompromising mood © Getty Images

Few, including myself, held out too much hope that the Africa Cricket Association delegation would come away from their visit to Kenya having made much progress. The problems were deep-rooted and neither side appeared willing to make any concessions.

But 48 hours after arriving they leave town having made a remarkable breakthrough. While this saga is bound to have a few more twists and turns, the old guard appears to have been fatally wounded and it is inconceivable that they can mount any last stand worth worrying about.

Insiders say that much of the credit is down to Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union's chairman, and Percy Sonn, the ICC vice-president. There were fears that neither man had the wherewithal to sort things out. But that underestimated them.

Both arrived in a bullish and uncompromising mood and from the off made it clear to all parties that this was the last chance. If the two factions failed to resolve the situation, then Kenya faced a future in cricketing wilderness.

They highlighted five things which were on the agenda which were not negotiable - the constitution, the need for elections, a resolution of ICC funding, the need to field a team for the Intercontinental Cup tie, and the need for all parties to cease the myriad of court cases pending against each other.

The Kenya Cricket Association came into the meeting as defiant as ever, but as the finality of the situation became clear, it crucially lost the backing of two of its own provinces (Central and Nairobi). That left it too isolated to carry on. Its paper-thin claims to represent cricket in Kenya were finally in tatters.

But Sharad Ghai and his associates are survivors, and they tried to battle their way through much as they had survived many previous challenges to their authority. But Chingoka and Sonn were in no mood to be stalled and after 18 hours an agreement was thrashed out.

A number of the existing board, including Ghai, have indicated in private that they will stand down. Those who have been opposing them for years hope this is the case, but are wary that these individuals will show a Basic Instinct-like ability to come back from the dead. The next few weeks will tell.

The ACA deserve credit, but there is a feeling that it was sold a hospital pass by the ICC who did not want to get involved itself. That may be doing the ICC a disservice, but the fact is that the ACA have made more progress in a weekend that the ICC has managed in more than a year.

If this really is the start of a new era then the ICC can make up for its lack of action by taking positive steps to do all it can to support the task facing those who have to rebuild cricket inside Kenya. The legacy the new board will inherit is one of chaos, mismanagement, empty bank accounts, and sponsors unwilling to touch cricket. They have the enthusiasm and passion to overcome those mountains. A helping hand from the ICC would make that job so much easier.