Brian Masaba on Uganda v Afghanistan
Brian Masaba on Uganda v Afghanistan
02/06/2024
Guyana National Stadium, Providence, Guyana
02/06/2024
Guyana National Stadium, Providence, Guyana
Category
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SportTranscript
00:00Good evening.
00:03No ladies?
00:05Good evening, gentlemen.
00:06After all, it's a gentleman's game anyways.
00:08Good evening, gentlemen.
00:09Welcome to the press conference.
00:11This is Brian Makumasawa, the captain of the Cricket Cranes.
00:15That's the name of Uganda's men's national senior team of cricket.
00:20A very successful team.
00:22As you know, he's got a few records coming his way.
00:25The most wins over the last year, only second to Babar Azam
00:29with Uganda winning 63 of the 91 matches that played over the year.
00:33And Brian is here.
00:36Let's get this press conference underway.
00:42Thank you very much, Innocent.
00:44Brian, big day tomorrow, of course, for Uganda taking on Afghanistan.
00:49How are the nerves?
00:51How excited is the whole squad for this monumental occasion
00:54in Uganda cricket history?
00:57Yeah, absolutely.
00:58Huge game for us.
01:00Our first game at the World Cup.
01:02You know, first ever for Uganda in our history.
01:05So we are very excited to get going.
01:07Obviously, there's a bit of nerves.
01:10But we've got to keep focused on the game,
01:13try and get the result that we need, because we
01:15need to kick off the tournament in the right way with a good result.
01:19So we are very focused on that, but also very excited to get going.
01:25Brian, you have one of the, I think, the oldest player on your side
01:29playing in this World Cup.
01:30And I was reading an article where he said
01:33that he's looking forward to get the wickets of Kane Williamson
01:36and Andre Russell.
01:37And that would make him the happiest man in the world.
01:41What are some of the things you guys hope to achieve personally
01:44and from a team perspective at this World Cup?
01:47Yeah, I believe you speak of Frank Nsuga.
01:52He's obviously been a mainstay for us over the years.
01:54He's been a very consistent performer for Uganda,
01:57a great servant of the game.
01:59So yeah, we're very happy that he's with us at this tournament.
02:03I think it's the least he deserves for all his years of service.
02:06But there's a couple of guys that have some milestones lined up.
02:11I think Henry's a couple of wickets to 100 T20I wickets for Uganda.
02:16But at the end of the day, personal milestones
02:19come second to the team's goals.
02:21So, you know, the bigger picture is for the team to do well,
02:24play good cricket, compete.
02:26If we can pick up the result as well, that would be a huge bonus for us.
02:30But yeah, I'm very happy for Frank being here at the World Cup.
02:35He spoke about you guys' success.
02:38Tell us a little bit about your team preparation for this tournament.
02:42And what are some of the challenges you expect in this group C?
02:47Yeah, after our qualifier last November,
02:53we obviously realized we needed to play a lot of cricket
02:55to prepare ourselves for this World Cup.
02:57It's a different level for us.
02:59And it was very important for us as a team to make sure we come here
03:02well prepared and having got the right kind of practice.
03:05So, you know, it was a couple of tours to Sri Lanka, India as well,
03:10but a lot of intrascored games as well.
03:12So, you know, we believe we've practiced, we've prepared well for this tournament.
03:16Yes, it's a huge challenge for us.
03:18It's a tough group, but, you know, we look forward to the challenge.
03:21It's a couple of the top teams in the world,
03:24but it's going to be very important for us how we show up tomorrow
03:27and the kind of cricket that we display out there.
03:31First to turn to World Cup, could you shed some light as to
03:34what's happening back home, the excitement,
03:36how much persons are interested in this team's journey
03:40and how far do Uganda want to go in this tournament?
03:43Yeah, there's obviously a lot of excitement back home.
03:47It's not just a first for us in cricket,
03:50but I believe we're the third team in any sporting discipline in the country
03:54to qualify for World Cup.
03:55So, you know, it's not a small feat.
03:57So it's not just the cricket community that is supporting us.
04:01There's a lot of the other guys in all the other sports,
04:04as well as the government back home.
04:06So, yeah, the whole country is super proud of what this team has achieved
04:09and they're looking forward to seeing us going out there
04:12and, you know, representing the country with pride.
04:14So, you know, it's a huge responsibility for us.
04:17It's not just about the cricket anymore,
04:19but, you know, we carry a whole country's hopes on our backs.
04:23Art, we saw what Papua New Guinea did earlier today against the West Indies,
04:27carrying that game very deep.
04:28How much belief has that given you as smaller nations
04:31that you can actually come to this World Cup
04:33and compete and possibly win as well?
04:35Yeah, we were following that game very keenly.
04:38Obviously, we're not too familiar with the local conditions,
04:40so we needed to pick up what information we could from that game.
04:44And, you know, the way Papua New Guinea went out there
04:47and played, very good signs for us as well.
04:50But, you know, it just shows that the gap is not as huge as, you know,
04:55a lot of people want to believe.
04:57I believe if some of the smaller countries are given the opportunity
05:00to play and the exposure, then they can compete against the top side.
05:03So, you know, we're very happy with the way that game went
05:06and we'll look to come out tomorrow and just try and emulate that.
05:10Brian, any upcoming stars or season performers
05:15that you want to talk about quickly?
05:16Maybe the players that the world should look forward to seeing
05:20in the next two weeks and beyond, hopefully, for you?
05:23Yeah, there's a couple of talents in the team.
05:26There's a couple of young first bowlers, the two opening bowlers,
05:29Juma Miyagi and Cosmas Chiauta.
05:32They've done well for us, you know, over the last couple of years.
05:35And being as young as they are, it's very exciting
05:38to see them do what they do.
05:40And hopefully, this platform provides a bit more opportunity
05:43for them going forward.
05:45But, you know, we've got season performers like Riyazat Alisha
05:48as well, super talented lad, all-rounder.
05:53He's won a couple of crunch games for us as well.
05:55So, you know, it's a very dynamic team.
05:57It's not super reliant on any one person.
06:00More often than not, it's a huge team effort that gets us our win.
06:04So, you know, that's something I look forward
06:06to us doing again in this tournament.
06:08Thank you.
06:14Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for having us here, Uganda.