Fourteen players have been named on the Uganda women’s senior cricket national team, Victoria Pearls’ travelling squad for the inaugural edition of the ICC Women’s T20 Emerging Nations Trophy.
The tournament will be played from November 20-30 at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Ground and the Terdthai Cricket Ground (TCG) in Bangkok, Thailand.
Captain Janet Mbabazi leads the squad, which has seen two changes from the one that hosted Canada during the Victoria Series.
Malisa Ariokot and Irene Mutonyi, fresh from sitting their UCE (O-Level) final exams, are on the list. Both Ariokot and Mutonyi are bowlers.
Victoria Pearls Squad for 2025 ICC Women’s T20 Emerging Nations Trophy:
1 Janet Mbabazi (captain), 2 Esther Iloku, 3 Rita Musamali, 4 Immaculate Nakisuyi, 5 Kevin Awino, 6 Stephanie Nampiina, 7 Proscovia Alako, 8 Malisa Ariokot, 9 Consy Aweko, 10 Sarah Akiteng, 11 Kevin Amuge, 12 Irene Mutonyi, 13 Naume Amongin, 14 Teddy Oyella.
The Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy was introduced earlier this year as part of the ICC’s plans to expand the women’s T20 Cricket World Cup to sixteen teams from 2030.
The inaugural edition will feature the five women’s associate members with women’s ODI status— Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates; plus the best three teams from the T20i rankings— Namibia, Uganda and Tanzania.
Only Tanzania is ranked lower than Uganda; which means any positive result against the rest of the participating countries will be worth a great deal of ranking points.
Uganda’s Schedule at the Tournament:
• November 20: Uganda vs Scotland
• November 21: Uganda vs Namibia
• November 23: Uganda vs PNG
• November 25: Uganda vs UAE
• November 26: Uganda vs Thailand
• November 28: Uganda vs Tanzania
• November 30: Uganda vs Netherlands
