Rwanda dubs its first international stadium as the "Lord's of Africa"
The stadium has taken shape on the site of a school where a massacre took place in the year 1994.
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Rwanda witnessed a historic moment as their first cricket stadium was inaugurated on Saturday by President Paul Kagame. The Gahanga Cricket Stadium in the capital Kigali is built on a 4.5 hectare (11 acre) ground and cost $1.3 million (1.1 million euros). The stadium has been dubbed as the ‘Lords of Africa’. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan and South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs along with the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson were present at the reception.
Legendary West Indies cricketer Brian Lara along with Vaughan and current England player Sam Billings will take part in the charity T20 match. Vaughan recently tweeted a picture of the new stadium along with a caption that read “330am Wake up call set …. The vision and commitment @rwandacricket have shown has been remarkable …. Will be a huge honour for my to visit #Rwanda and help in a small way to open this incredible facility”
The Rwandan Cricket Stadium Foundation was set up by Alby Shale, the son of a late British politician and cricket lover who visited Rwanda to do aid work. “We are very happy to have this cricket pavilion and ground built, and by that we remember Christopher Shale, in whose memory this has been built,” Kagame said at the opening.
Exciting development
“It is a great pleasure for us to have this facility which will see more young men and women playing and improving their skills. It is also good for us to have partners in the United Kingdom,” he said. Eric Dusingizimana, the national team captain, helped raise funds for the stadium by setting a Guinness World Record by batting for 51 hours straight last year.
“This is an exciting development for us and the younger generation is going to benefit heavily from this,” said the 31-year-old captain. Rwanda also holds the world record for women after Cathia Uwamahoro, a national team cricket player, became the first woman to bat for 26 hours. Rwanda’s national cricket association estimates that only around 4,000 people currently play cricket. The new stadium has been built to international standards, making it a rarity in east Africa.
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