Ahead of their Tour of Namibia due in less than three weeks time, Cricket Cranes have acquired the services of Strength & Conditioning (S&C) Coach Helen Buteme to bolster Coach Laurence Mahatlane’s training sessions.
Buteme who is currently the S&C Coach for Uganda Premier League side Express FC started her drills with the national cricket team on Wednesday and will have another three sessions before they depart for Windhoek where they are scheduled to play Three T20s and Two Limited Overs (50 overs) game between April 2-11.
“Today I was basically assessing the players to see how far they are with fitness levels, like how much work I have to do. We had a pretty good session. Some of the stuff was new to the guys, we just went through stuff slowly and I think they enjoyed it,” the former Lady Rugby Cranes captain noted adding that she won’t stretch players to their limits since they have games coming up in about three weeks time.
“It’s an interesting challenge! I don’t know anything about cricket but at the end of the day conditioning is conditioning and it’s a matter of getting the players to their best possible shape to deliver on the pitch” Buteme noted adding that she will continue working with the team even after their Tour of Namibia.
The team shall camp in a bio-bubble from March 29.
Also, earlier this month, former Cricket Cranes wicket-keeper batsman Lawrence Ssematimba officially started work as the Uganda A (Cricket Cranes reserve) coach. He works alongside coach Mahatlane and assistant coach Jackson Ogwang. He will handle the players that don’t make the 14-man team to Windhoek.
The Cricket Cranes are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to stay atop the log ahead their trip to Jersey for the ICC World Cricket Challenge League B in September 2021.
On the day; Dinesh Nakrani and Ronak Patel met coach Mahatlane for the first time after flying in from Indiawith the post Covid-19 era travel restrictions relaxed.
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ABOUT BUTEME:
Full Name: Helen Koyokoyo Buteme
Date of birth: May 27, 1980
Profession: Research scientist
Qualifications (sports): World Rugby Level 2 coach, World Rugby Coach Educator, Conditioning Coach B licence from Leipzig University
Qualifications (academic): Bsc in Biochemistry, MSc in Molecular Biology
Sports played: Hockey and Rugby
Current Position: Strength and Conditioning coach at Express FC
