If one were to sketch the graph of Kenya’s rise and fall in cricket, it would be uncannily similar to that of Maurice Odumbe’s career. In only the second international match, he hit a half-century against Australia in the 1996 World Cup. A few games later, debutants Kenya created a flutter by beating the West Indies. They peaked in the 2003 World Cup, with the all-rounder averaging 42 and picking up nine wickets and his team exceeding all expectations by making the semi-finals.

After the crest came the trough. Odumbe’s career came to an unceremonious end in 2004 following match-fixing allegations, while Kenyan cricket went into a freefall. It hit the bottom in 2009 when the team failed to qualify for the World Twenty20 in England.

“I would like to think it has something to do with my exit,” chuckles Odumbe, who is in the Capital on a business visit. “On a serious note, it’s because of the way cricket is being managed there. After our dream run in 2003, we should’ve become an even better outfit. Clearly something went wrong along the way. These days we’ve all sorts of people running the show, except for those who know the sport. Imagine our manager during the 2007 World Cup was a former hockey player. What could he possibly tell a Ravindu Shah about the sweep shot?

“This despite the fact that we’ve people such as Steve Tikolo, Asif Karim, Shah, who can give back to the game. But then they would talk, and question, and hence aren’t required.”

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