Our last day of coaching and what a way to finish. We returned to the Kigali Oval for a morning session with Aimees Des Enfants which lasted 90 minutes and saw six games of kwik cricket take place on the dusty surroundings of the national ground.

The main event though took place in the afternoon as we had organized a competitive game of Twenty 20 cricket for the pupils of Kigarama and Aprede….. One of the common complaints we have heard from those involved with Rwandan cricket is that there is a lack of competitive matches between schools so this was a great opportunity to see the benefits of CWB coaching in action.

Both teams took it very seriously and it was clear that Kigarama especially were something of a crack unit. Led by the impressive Francis who opened the batting and scored 44, it was very satisfying to see the batting side running between the wickets and calling superbly.

Kagarama finished on 107 – 3 off their 15 overs with Tito weighing in with a flashy 33*. It was always going to be too much for Aprede but they had a good start with opening bat Didier looking the part.

Sadly though a middle order collapse worthy of England in the early nineties reduced the score to 24 for 8 in the seventh over, thanks mainly due to the off spin of Theo (who was called ‘Walcott’ by all his teammates!) and Kenneth who took two wickets for just two runs. Eventually Aprede were all out for 39 and we treated by a unique celebration led by the ever enthusiastic Tito (check out the video!).

It was brilliant to finish with a contest like this and as I totted up the scores I couldn’t help think how far cricket has come in Rwanda. Long may it continue…