selecting players who would be their puppets", while Odoyo opined that "it was malicious and not done in good faith". According to them, it was fast-tracking the death of Kenyan cricket. They were also supported by the Kenyan media. Among the 20 cricketers offered contracts, 13 of them were offered central contracts. To complicate things further, five players turned down those contracts: Alex Obanda, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche, Nehemiah Odhiambo, and Elijah Otieno. Sears said that they were pleased with the group of seven players who committed to Cricket Kenya, while equally disappointed with those who refused contracts. Accordingly, they were left out of the squad to face the UAE in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. Cricket Kenya offered contracts to more deserving young, talented players, such as opening batsman Runish Gudhka from Nairobi, the Australian-born all-rounder Duncan Allan, wicketkeeper Irfan Karim, and impressive fast bowlers such as Emmanuel Ringera, Ibrahim Akello, and Dominic Wesonga, who had performed exceedingly well in the regional NPCA and East African leagues. However, the eight players who had refused the contracts offered by the board, with former skipper Morris Ouma, Alfred Luseno and Nelson Odhiambo being late inclusions, asked their views to be heard, and despite the board granting them another chance, they finally took a firm stance against them. While Obanda, Shem and James Ngoche, Odhiambo, and Otieno were made renewed offers, while Ouma, Luseno, and Nelson had a three-month agreement till March 2012 subject to performance. If they could do something good, they could retain their spot in the team. Sears said of this debacle,"It's a shame that yet again some of these players have turned down their contracts but that is their choice. We met with these players as we promised we would, we listened to their views and made them offers that reflected what they wanted – an agreement that would run until the end of the contract year in May 2012 if they met certain performance criteria which all players have to meet. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect was that they refused to represent their teams in the East African Competitions last weekend pulling out at the very last minute. Again sadly it calls into question the professionalism of these players, how committed they are to putting in the effort, their application in fulfilling their potential and the advice they have been getting from their advisors." Another reform was to