One big prevalent challenge in talent monitoring and development is found at the under-13 level skill building as well as the retention stage in any sport after secondary school.
Cricket Uganda has laboured with those grades, especially the latter as a lot of talent matches away from the semi-professional pursuit to corporate life.
But Cricket Uganda’s partnership with BatBall Uganda Limited is helping to close out that gap. Batball, an organisation focused on developing youth cricket through a structured pathway of tournaments, staged a pivotal Batball X Jinja T10 Championship for teenagers in Jinja recently.
With four franchises Bulls, Elephants, Leopards and Rhinos, a group of youngsters competed over 16 matches in a 10-over per innings format at Jinja Secondary School Cricket Ground with the competitors picked from the Cricket Uganda Boys’ schools’ development program.
‘The purpose of this tournament was to give talented young Ugandan cricketers a professional stage to shine while strengthening the full pathway from school cricket to elite cricket,’ remarked Batball Uganda CEO Aakarshit Madaan.
Batball partnered with Cricket Uganda and identified promising talent from the Boys Schools Cricket Week this year and merged them with university-going players as well as some faces from the country’s U23 pool.
‘From this, 56 players were selected purely on merit, in addition to availability, and recent performances,’ said Madaan. ‘Batball X delivered global visibility through free worldwide streaming, secured sponsorship to ensure financial sustainability, and produced high-octane, competitive games with thrilling results.’
On the pitch, Elephants led by Hassan Bagaga, from the Jinja SS system, defeated the Bulls by 18 runs after setting 69-6 with Ronald Magezi stroking 32 runs off 23 balls including three boundaries.
Daniel Keith Amani of the Bulls had picked figures of 3/5 and five dots in two overs but it did not seem enough.
The Bulls struggled to bat to their target, Amos Luhakana top-scoring with 14 off 21 while Amani made with 13 off 15 as Elephants’ Elvis Chomba produced a spectacular over of 2/4 and three dots.
Another trumpet soundly bowling from Abraiz Ali Mir of 1/10 and eight dots with a maiden over of two just had the wheels come off the charging Bulls’ feet to take home the prize money of Shs2m.
Amani finished as the tournament’s best batsman with 159 runs while Bagaga wrapped up the showpiece with 11 wickets but the more familiar Pius Oloka finished as the player of tournament for the Leopards with 112 runs and 11 wickets.
‘This tournament adds value to Uganda’s entire grassroots ecosystem – more competition, more visibility, more commercial interest, and a stronger pipeline feeding into national pool and international cricket,’ added Madaan.
The senior players will feature at the forthcoming Batball Maxx Challenge Cup, which serves as grading qualifiers for the Maxx T20 main event due next year.
Batball was supported by Bellevue Hotel, Saffron, Dafabet, Minhas Motors, Mayuge Stones, Roke Telkom, Keshwala Group and the Jinja Association of Cricket Clubs (JACC).
2025 BATBALL X JINJA T10
TOURNAMENT FINAL
Elephants 69/6 Bulls 51/8
(Elephants won by 18 runs)
3RD PLACE PLAY-OFF
Leopards 94/3 Rhinos 81/5
(Leopards won by 13 runs)
SEMIFINAL RESULTS
Rhinos 37/10 Elephants 38/2
(Elephants won by 8 wickets)
Leopards 87/5 Bulls 88/5
(Bulls won by 5 wickets)
INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
Best Batsman: Dan Keith Amani (Bulls) 159 runs
Best Bowler: Hassan Bagaga (Elephants) 11 wickets
Player Of The Tournament: Pius Oloka (Leopards) 112 runs and 11 wickets