Kenya’s sports development company, Star Field Sports formed a partnership with South African coach Gary Kirsten in a move to help develop cricket in the East African region. Kirsten, a renowned South African cricket legend, will liaise with Star Field Sports in high profile sports events including High Performance Coaching Camps, Coach Education Courses and private academies.
Speaking at the conclusion of the negotiations, Director of Star Field Sports, Karan Kaul said: “We believe this partnership will double down on the strengths of each organisation – Gary Kirsten Cricket’s expertise, experience and reputation combined with Star Field’s market knowledge, work ethic and drive is a perfect fit to take over the East African market and develop the game of cricket.”
The former South African cricketer has a vision to develop an internationally renowned cricket services business to develop the game and help spread his coaching legacy globally. East Africa is privileged to be part of the legend’s plan as local cricket has been very dormant in the recent years.
Speaking to Business Today, former Kenyan cricket captain Aasif Karim, hailed the move saying it will definitely improve the sport in the country but challenged the ministry of Sports to chip in money and make it affordable for many.
“Kirsten is a great coach and Star Field Sports have done a great thing for Kenyan cricket but it should not be a one off thing. We should have more of these forums where the players have to pay the least amount of money as it will help cricket grow even more,” the former Kenyan right-handed batsman said.
Read: Sleeping on the job could boost your productivity
The partnership will officially take effect in April with high performance training camp and coach education workshop run by GKC at The Nairobi Gymkhana. The camp will be open to both professional cricketers and aspiring ones as Kirsten’s organisation begins its cricket development goal.
Star Field has in the past, organised highly successful Youth Cricket Tournaments that attracted players from East Africa, India and South Africa – the most recent of which was the Hayer One Starfield Youth League in August 2018.
