AfricaPress-Tanzania: NATIONAL cricket team Head Coach, Steve Tikolo has highlighted his plans on strengthening the squad soon after cricket activities resume in the country.
Sports activities that were suspended due to coronavirus pandemic could to return to normalcy as the government stressed that it is in the final stages to flag off football leagues in the country.
Recently, the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Hassan Abbasi, insisted that they are just waiting a go ahead from President John Magufuli for sports activities to resume.
And, the Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) received the news positively, with coach Tikolo looking forward to build a strong team of 14 players, who will compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup African Qualifiers.
“We started training with a group of about 37 players, the idea was for me as a coach being new to have a look at the players we have and we can now select the best from the pool.
“That process went well until we trimmed the squad to remain with 18 players that camped in Zimbabwe and obviously from there, you tend to have your best first 14 players after having seen them in training and build up matches.
“When we resume, we will keep training with the 18 plus four who we left behind and make a total of 22 players … and from that we make sure that we have a good solid squad,” he said.
He added that on their return, it will be essential for the team to be engaged in more friendly games, as they will forecast how good and focused the players are ahead of big competitions.
“We have to keep reminding our players on the tactical disciplines of the game… such things come by playing more games. I believe as we keep on playing more games and do the right training we are going to build a good and strong team,” said the Kenyan trainer.
Also, he added that they will work on all areas of technical weakness observed previously and make sure his players are more confident and efficient.
“It was a practice tour in Zimbabwe, so there was a lot for the team to learn while going forward … I am very confident that as soon as we resume training after the pandemic, we will work in those areas that are lacking and obvious strive to see we have a solid team,” he said.
The coach believes with the talents he has seen and the efforts shown by players; it is promising that they will do well in the coming competitions, as they only require focus in the games.
TCA as the guiding board of cricket has been supportive to the Tikolo’s efforts and the association is committed to assist him in ensuring that the team plays more international friendly games but also strengthening the domestic leagues.
“Most important thing is regular international friendlies for the national team and strengthening of the domestic leagues. The exposure to more competitive cricket will help players to vastly improve their skills,” said the TCA Communication Officer, Atif Salim.
Salim also added that “The other area is the mental strength and due to lack of international matches we enter tournaments with the self-confidence we gather by playing against each other. The confidence that is built by playing and winning games in international friendlies or tournaments cannot be compared to when you play against each other,” he said.
