MCC embarked on its first overseas tour of 2024 today, as a men’s squad departed for Rwanda.
A 13-man squad left Lord’s on Tuesday morning to travel to Kigali, the capital of the country, where all of the Club’s matches will take place on the tour.
The trip has been organised in conjunction with the MCC Foundation (MCCF), who work with around 100,000 young cricketers across East Africa each year.
Over the next few days, members of the MCCF will be in Rwanda where, alongside the MCC squad, will be visiting beneficiaries to provide equipment and coaching, before heading to Uganda to continue their programme of providing opportunities to youngsters through cricket.
MCC’s first fixture of the trip takes place on Saturday against Rwanda Under-19s at the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium, which will host all of the Club’s matches on the tour.
Rwanda became an ICC Associate Nation in 2017 and have played T20 Internationals since 2021. They competed against a Full Member for the first time last year, when they faced Zimbabwe.
MCC will be captained by Abeed Janmohamed, a wicketkeeper-batter who previously represented Kenya at the Under-19 World Cup, before going on to play for their senior side in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.
As well as Janmohamed, several other members of the squad can boast first-class experience, including former Worcestershire offspinner Shaftab Khalid (pictured), Oliver Bocking, Pieter de Vos Daneel and Jonathan Dewes.
The remainder of the squad comprises players from the National Counties system and various ECB Premier League teams, which will provide an excellent standard for the opposition which include Rwanda’s senior, ‘A’ and Under-19 sides.
Tour Manager for the trip is Dr Samir Pathak, who sits on MCC’s Cricket Committee. He has been a Full Member of the Club since 2015, having qualified as a Playing Member, and represented British Universities as a wicketkeeper-batter. He is a Trustee of the MCCF.
Aside from the playing and coaching element of the tour, there will be an important trip to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a place of remembrance and learning dedicated to the victims of the Rwandan genocide three decades ago.
"Overseas touring is a big part of the Club’s commitment to growing cricket on a global basis"
James Overy, Head Cricket Projects, said: “Overseas touring is a big part of the Club’s commitment to growing cricket on a global basis, and we are pleased to be sending a squad to Rwanda.
“With the help of the MCC Foundation, which does such great work in this area of Africa, this selection of Playing Members will be leading several coaching sessions with children from local schools and clubs to help develop the game, and we hope that all involved benefit from this.”
There are further men’s tours planned in 2024 to the Netherlands, Estonia and Canada, as well as a women’s tour to Malta.
Overseas Tours
The squad for this tour is: Samir Pathak (Tour Manager), Oliver Bocking, Jed Cawkwell, Pieter Daneel (wk), Jonathan Dewes, Darren Eckford, Ben Figueiredo, Abeed Janmohamed (c/wk), Shaftab Khalid, Scott O’Leary, Ben Shepperson, Thomas Simeons, Ashley Sivarajah, Michael Wood, Vinoj Srinivasan (Umpire).
Fixtures:
Saturday 24 February
Rwanda Under-19s v MCC
Gahanga International Cricket Stadium – 20 overs
Sunday 25 February
Rwanda Under-19s v MCC
Gahanga International Cricket Stadium – 50 overs
Tuesday 27 February
Rwanda Under-19s v MCC
Gahanga International Cricket Stadium – 50 overs
Wednesday 28 February
Rwanda U19/U17/U15 MCCF Select XI v MCC
Gahanga International Cricket Stadium – 20 overs
Saturday 2 March
Rwanda ‘A’ v MCC
Rwanda Senior National Team v MCC
Gahanga International Cricket Stadium – both matches 20 overs