East Africa Premier League

The East Africa Premier League (EAPL) was a Twenty20 cricket competition covering Kenya and Uganda. The EAPL was founded in 2011, together with the East Africa Cup, in the wake of the Kenya national cricket team's disastrous performance in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.[3] It comprised four Kenyan provincial franchises as well as two teams from Uganda that play each over in a league, culminating in a final between the team that finished top of the league and the winner of a series of playoff matches. Its main objective was to improve the standard of cricket played in Kenya, and spark a revival on the international stage once again.

East Africa Premier League
CountriesKenya
Uganda
AdministratorCricket Kenya
HeadquartersNairobi, Kenya
FormatTwenty20
First edition2011–12
Latest edition2013
Tournament formatRound-robin
Knockout and Playoffs
Number of teams6
Most runsRoger Mukasa (321)[1]
Most wicketsJoseph Angara (16)[2]

Tournament History

The tournament was started in the wake of Kenya's disastrous 2011 Cricket World Cup campaign. Its main aim was to develop the standard of cricket both in Kenya and Uganda. This idea was first believed to be mooted by then Cricket Kenya CEO Tom Sears. The idea had been set out by Robert Kisubi and Colin Macbeth in 2010 after Uganda's Intercontinental Shield draw with UAE in Abu Dhabi. The blueprint proposed four-day games comprising five franchises (three Kenyan, two Ugandan) with a 50-over match tacked on. The aim was to improve the East Africans' long game. Kenya's disaster in Dubai condensed the scope of the idea, which Sears took up, ran with and called his 'brainchild'.

2011–12 season

The inaugural season was dominated by the two Ugandan franchises with Nile Knights defeating Rwenzori Warriors in a final that had to be postponed several times due to weather and scheduling difficulties.

2012 season

In the second season, the Kenyan franchises, especially Coast Pekee showed a marked improvement; however the final was still won by the Ugandan team Ruwenzori Warriors.

2013 season

2013 saw an overhaul for the tournament with Kenyan corporates taking over the Kenyan franchises. The tournament was also compressed to less than one week from one month. Newly created Rising Stars Chuis defeated Ruwenzori Warriors in the final.

Franchises

Four Teams from Kenya and two from Uganda took part in the tournament. They were as follows:-[4][5]

Team Country Captain Head coach
Rising Stars Chuis Kenya Collins Obuya Sibtain Kassamali
Express Ndovu Kenya Rakep Patel Peter Ongondo
Sameer Simbas Kenya Morris Ouma Martin Suji
I & M Nyatis Kenya Tanmay Mishra Lameck Onyango
Rwenzori Warriors Uganda Lawrence Sematimba
Nile Knights Uganda Davis Arinaitwe Martin Suji

Broadcasting

South African broadcaster SuperSport broadcast the inaugural competition,[6] extending the deal following the success of the tournament.[7]

Results
Season Winners Runners-up Teams
2011–12 Nile Knights Rwenzori Warriors 6
2012 Rwenzori Warriors Kenya Kongonis 6
2013 Rising Star Chuis Rwenzori Warriors 6

References
  1. Records / East Africa Premier League, 2011/12 / Most runs Archived 22 January 2013 at archive.today Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 February 2011
  2. Records / East Africa Premier League, 2011/12 / Most wickets Archived 23 January 2013 at archive.today Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 February 2012
  3. "East Africa Premier League, East Africa Premier League 2011/12 score, Match schedules, fixtures, points table, results, news".
  4. http://cricket-kenya.com/index.php?page=news&subpage=cricket&gid=192 Cricket Kenya Launches New Regional Competitions
  5. http://cricket-kenya.com/index.php?page=news&subpage=cricket&gid=194 Cricket Kenya Launches New Regional Competitions
  6. Broadcast boost for new cricket competitions Sports Pro. Retrieved 2 February 2012
  7. Supersport extends deal to cover East Africa competitions Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 February 2012
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