As the Cricket Cranes prepare to face Namibia in their second Castle Lite Series T20 game this afternoon, Joseph Baguma will be getting set to leave the country for the Southern African nation.
The 17-year-old has been identified as Juma Miyaji’s replacement, and is set to travel tonight. Baguma will replace Miyaji who suffered a recurring back injury on Wednesday in the opening game of this bilateral Series.
Baguma made his senior national team debut in September last year in South Africa, but since the East African Cup that was held in Rwanda in December, he has not had an outing with the Cricket Cranes since. His most recent action was with the U19 team that toured India as part of preparations for the U19 World Cup Regional Qualifiers scheduled to take place between July 23rd-29th in Tanzania.
Since making his debut on 18th September 2022, the teenager has taken 18 wickets from the 13 games he’s featured for the national team. This will be only his third outing with the national team, and the second outside the East African region.
Baguma will become the third replacement for the Cricket Cranes. He joins Fred Achelam and Pius Oloka who are already enroute to Windhoek. The duo was called in to replace Simon Ssesazi and Henry Senyondo who unfortunately lost their mother on Wednesday.
The other player that is expected to join the team is Riazat Ali Shah. The all-rounder travelled with the team on Monday for Namibia, but lost his passport during transit. He was made to return home, but the local cricket governing body, Uganda Cricket Association is working on his passport replacement, and will soon rejoin the team.
