A group photograph of team Uganda and Whakatane Hosts. photo by: Franklyn Najjumba

COMING to New Zealand is a dream come true for Ugandan cricket captain Karashani Davis. The team is in Whakatane preparing for next month’s world cup qualifying tournament. Davis, an off spinner and middle-order batsman, said New Zealand was a great place for his team to prepare for an important tournament. “We expected to get good hospitality and we have had even better.

The guys are going well, we are here for practice games and to get used to the conditions. We are getting what we want. “The pitches are not exactly what we play on back home. “It is a bit quicker, it seems good to bat on and the bounce here is very true. “We want our batters to occupy the crease and they need to spend as much time as possible on the wickets.“We are achieving what wewant off the field as well.” Davis said that it is not commonfor Ugandan players to grow up with cricket.“Most of us pick up cricket at secondary school. The main sports in Uganda are football, athletics, a bit of rugby and boxing. “We don’t always go to test playing nations and the guys were excited about coming here. “Personally, I am the biggest Black Caps fan in the country.

So coming down here is a dream come true. “It is a beautiful place with beautiful people.” Davis has taken 21 wickets in 23 list A matches and said that he believes his side is up to the task of qualification. “I think we can make aworld cup. We have played in two under-19 world cups and Ibelieve the world cup is not too far from us. “All the teams in the qualifying tournament want to play in the world cup, but we all have different objectives.“It is important for us to not look too far ahead. We need to get going as quickly as possible in the tournament. “If we can pick up one or two wins, we can reassess our objectives.” Uganda play their second warm-up game against a Whakatane invitational sideat Rex Morpeth Park today. The qualification tournament begins for Uganda on Monday.