The National Council of Sports (NCS) has issued stringent guidelines that include a busy schedule of social and musical events at Lugogo Cricket Oval running from July to December this year, deeming the ground inaccessible for sport.
In a letter dated, July 12, 2022, the NCS ear-marked 66 days, starting August until the end of this year, in which the venue will be inaccessible to the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA).
“This is to inform you that your request to use the Cricket Oval has been reviewed and unavailable dates during which NCS has booked events are as indicated below for the months of July to December 2022 respectively,” reads a letter from NCS to UCA.
The sports council informed the cricket association that the ground should only be used for strictly national team events for the available days.
“Also, the facility is a government facility that has many pre-booked events that take place from time to time,” the letter adds.
This leaves the association with no option but to forego the ground until next year since it requires a good number of days for the field to recover in order for cricket to take place.
The directive leaves the Cricket Association in position to look for other alternatives to host the leagues for both men and women and grass-root events like mini-cricket school competitions.
Cricket Cranes have since found refuge in Entebbe where they are preparing for the third and final round of the ICC League B tournament, a pathway to the World Cup due next month.
As it stands, there may be no more cricket at the oval until the end of this year as music concerts, social events, government events and prayer fellowships will take over the grounds.
