New cricket coach checks in as Angara departs
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday July 22, 2023 06:00
Angara had served the BCA since 2015 and ‘quietly’ left his post with no public announcement from the association.
Reports are that the Zimbabwean coach, Timoni has already been roped with the BCA yet to make an announcement. BCA vice chairperson, Sumod Damodar told Mmegi Sport that they parted ways ‘amicably’ with Angara.
“The BCA has engaged the services of a new coach, after due process and the departure of Joseph Angara, which was done on a very amicable and mutually agreed basis. The necessary formal release of further details will be forthcoming in due course,” Damodar said.
Angara, who represented Kenya, guided the Baggy Blues to some memorable moments, particularly defeating Namibia for the first time in 2019. Before his departure, Botswana won a five nations Africa Cricket Association (ACA) tournament in Benoni, South Africa. However, the team suffered losses in a six-nation ILT20 tournament held in Kenya just days before Angara’s tenure came to an end.
However, the national team managed to register a famous victory over former powerhouse, Kenya. During Angara’s time, several players' game grew while others emerged. Notable performers included captain Karabo Motlhanka, Thatayaone Tshose, Mmoloki Mooketsi, Phemelo Silas, Valentine Mbazo, Dhruv Maisuria, and Vinoo Balakrishnan. Angara said his stay had been fulfilling. “I would like to thank the Botswana Cricket Association and the government for the opportunity they gave me. I enjoyed my stay in a very peaceful country.
The success was winning the 2018 T20 ICC Africa southern region qualifiers and my last tournament beating Kenya in my home country was a good finish of the race," he said. "But above all I enjoyed seeing the improvement of the players every single season year by year and the structures that I was putting in place working from the Under-19s moving to Under-23 then to the senior men's squad. I am happy to have left a young competitive squad. They just need exposure and more competitive games and they are ready to go," he added.
Angara said the challenge was that he did not get the squad that he needed due to work or school commitments, forcing him to pick from available players. "Then again after the COVID, our development programme had not picked up so the Under-19s squad was weakened but above all we enjoyed the success together and embraced the failures the same. Another challenge was the facilities. We only have two grounds in Gaborone, which was also used by the clubs so it limits a lot of development programmes."