Three-way battle to succeed Ghai

The race to succeed Sharad Ghai as chairman of the Kenya Cricket Association looks set to be a three-way battle between two leading administrators and a former national captain.

Tom Tikolo, brother of current captain Steve, threw his hat into the ring after being noiminated as one of the Nairobi provinces eight delegates to the 20-man national committee. He has experience on the field and off it. In recent years he has been national coach as well as ICC development officer for East Africa, and also a vice chairman of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association (NPCA). He is currently the chairman of selectors.

His leading opponents would appear to be two administrational heavyweights, Salim Dhanji and Samir Inamdar. Dhanji is chairman of the NPCA, Kenya's leading cricket body outside the KCA, and has been an instrumental figure in bringing to end the Ghai regime.

Inamdar, the chairman of the Coast Cricket Association, has waged an equally vociferous and effective campaign against misadministration in Kenyan cricket. "The CCA council approved unanimously that I contest for the chairmanship but we are not putting my name forward until we hear what comes out of the Nairobi meeting," he told The Standard. "We want to deal with issues maturely. The game is bigger than any of us and our intention is to see that the game develops further."

Jasmer Singh, the KCA's media manager, and a figure involved in Kenyan cricket for more than half a century, threw his support behind Tikolo, saying that he felt "cricket in Kenya should be run by current and former cricketers".

The other persons selected as delegates for the Nairobi region include Sukbhans Singh, the NPCA's vice chairman, David Waters, John Moyi, Nassor Verjee, Shamji Patel and Vidya Chandrashekar. Chandrashekar, the chairperson of the Kenya Women's Cricket Association, will contest the new position of women's representative on the KCA.