Africa-Press – Rwanda. British High Commissioner to Rwanda Omar Daair has said that Cricket can play a role in strengthening ties between his country and Rwanda.
He made the comments on Friday, February 23 during an event where he hosted members of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at his residence.
The London-based club is a major cricket entity with up to 18,000 full and 5,000 associate members. The club invests around 2 million pounds in the game each year, funding elite youth cricketers, and so on.
The team is visiting Rwanda for 12 days during which they will play against the U19 national cricket team and provide training to coaches.
Daair noted that aside football, cricket is also a sporting discipline which can drive Rwanda forward.
“Rwanda’s cricket, especially the women are doing very well. The country has huge potential in cricket and they are a great force on the African continent,” he said.
“The UK already has great relationship with Rwanda and the sporting sector is one of the areas worth exploring. Sporting disciplines bring people together,” he added.
He also mentioned that the UK has strong ties with Rwanda in the areas of trade, economy, health among others.
Angus Berry, the head of operations at the MCC Foundation highlighted that they seek to use cricket to transform lives as he talked about some of the projects they have in Rwanda.
“We have three main projects in Rwanda which include training and supporting coaches and young people interested in cricket, setting up a national U15 competition to train cricketers who can graduate into the national team as well as working with the UNHCR to help children at Mahama as a tool for social change,” he noted.
Abeed Janmhammed, the captain of the MCC tour team praised Rwanda, noting that country aside the cricket schedule, they are learning about the culture.
“It is not only about cricket. We are immersing ourselves into the country’s culture and we are learning a lot. There are really lovely people here,” he said.
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