Collins Obuya
Collins Obuya – Kenyan all-rounder
Collins Obuya was born on July 27, 1981, in Nairobi, Kenya. One of the most notable all-rounders of the country, in the past, he served as the captain of the national team in ODI competitions.
Collins Obuya: career
Obuya attracted the attention of selectors in 2003 when the Kenyan national team performed brilliantly at the Cricket World Cup. Collins’ convincing and versatile performance was the decisive argument for Warwickshire, who offered him a one-year contract. Despite the fact that the season was not very successful for the all-rounder, he took part in several important T20 games and recorded 50 runs in the County Championship.
2004 was one of the worst in Obuya’s career. Due to appendicitis, he was forced to miss the ICC Champions Trophy, and on his return, joined the players’ strike, which led to a drop in demand for him from the Championship clubs. Collins left England and moved to South Africa, but even there he did not manage to get the necessary playing practice. The decline was becoming so obvious that he had to resort to the services of Australian spin bowlers coach Terry Jenner. However, the temporary cooperation did not bring the expected results, so Collins switched to defense, starting to hone the batsman’s skills. Subsequently, he managed to continue his career at home.
Thus, at present, there are only two clubs in the Kenyan’s track record:
- Warwickshire (2003);
- Kenya Select (2006-2007).
Collins Obuya: performances at the international level
Collins Obuya made his debut in the national team in the summer of 2001. His finest hour came two years later when the Kenyans managed to make it to the semifinals of the World Cup. They could not pass the Indians, but they made a favorable impression on the public, and Obuya set a record that has not been surpassed by any of his countrymen since: in the match against the Sri Lankan national team, he took 13 wickets (28.76), and his 5/24 is still the best result among Kenyan bowlers.
After several unsuccessful seasons, Obuya was back in the game again. At the 2011 World Cup, he demonstrated impressive statistics in the match against Australia, setting another record – 98 innings.
“I am very proud that I was able to record such a number of innings,” the cricketer admitted. – They are world champions, so it is very cool to perform runs in a match against them, and if there are also not outs, it is quite good. Of course, I dreamed of a hundred, but I will remember this moment forever because we played with Australia.”
After the failure of Jimmy Kamande, Collins was appointed captain of the national team. He led the team to several important victories, but it was not without misunderstandings: after an argument with Irfan Karim, he was suspended for two matches, and Rakep Patel took his place. At the end of 2013, Collins decided to give up the position of captain in his favor.
However, the career of the all-rounder in the national team did not end there. In the winter of 2018, he received an invitation to the ICC World Cricket League (second division), and in September, he got into the main application for the Africa T20 Cup. Around the same time, Obuya was on the verge of returning to the position of captain, this time at the ICC World Cricket League (third division), but at the last moment, he had to leave the team due to previously assumed personal obligations. Narendra Kalyan took the place of an all-rounder in the team, and Shem Ngoche became the captain.
Nevertheless, in 2019, Obuya was called up to the national team several more times. In May, he was included in the main squad for the regional finals of the ICC T20 World Cup Africa qualification in Uganda. In September, he received an invitation to participate in the qualifying matches in the UAE. Soon, the ICC returned Collins to the status of a key player, and the all-rounder did not let the team down, becoming the best wicket-taker of the tournament.
Obuya got into the basis for the Cricket World Cup Challenge (B League) at the end of the season.
Collins Obuya: game statistics
| Competition category | ODI | T20I | FC | LA |
| Matches | 104 | 35 | 53 | 190 |
| Balls | 1818 | 314 | 4185 | 3315 |
| Average performance | 46.77 | 14.52 | 38.39 | 38.35 |
| Best Score | 5/24 | 4/27 | 5/97 | 5/24 |
Collins Obuya: interesting facts
- Nickname – Collo;
- Collins’ middle name, Omondi, means “born at dawn” in the Luo language;
- His brothers Kennedy and David played professional cricket in the past. In 2018, David led the Kenyan national team.
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