AFRICA must use cricket to take kids from guns

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JOHANNESBURG. Africa must prevent some of the continent’s children from wielding AK-47 guns and “let them hold a cricket bat” instead, says the chief executive of the Africa Cricket Association (ACA).

Cassim Suliman hopes the launch of the continent’s own Hundred competition next year can help deliver this aim.

The ACA has previously used cricket as a social tool, particularly in Uganda where it helped set up an initiative a decade ago to help children recovering from the brutal 20-year insurgency led by the Lord’s Resistance Army in the north of the country.

“The ACA is not just about cricket development, it’s holistic life skills too,” Suliman told BBC Sport Africa.

“Basically, we teach a kid about accountability, responsibility, dedication, determination, and, above all, leadership.

“We also promote prevention of HIV and AIDS, hunger and starvation - and - taking out the kids that are fighting with AK-47s in wars and let them hold a cricket bat. Bring them back to normality in sport.”

A proposed Africa-wide Hundred will be the second time the format will be used following its invention and patenting by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which has run the competition twice since 2021.

It also comes off the back of September’s inaugural T20 Africa Cup for International Cricket Council (ICC) Associate Members in Africa.

Suliman also revealed that a bigger budget T20 Africa Premier League will be launched in 2024 to run every two years, while the Hundred will be played annually with a more domestic-focused agenda in the hope that the shortest formats will unlock engagement across the continent.

Meanwhile, the ACA is also on the verge of reviving the Afro Asia Cup, which ran for two series in 2005 and 2007.