Rwanda may historically be a French-speaking nation, but their increasingly close ties with England has resulted in an upsurge in cricket being played. Murad Ahmed has a fascinating article in today s Times on Rwanda s decreasing relations with France and how cricket is just one symbol of the country s growing affinity with Britain.
Cricket is also a powerful symbol of Rwanda s shift towards all things English. On a day off, the Conservative volunteers take on Rwandans at the game. Francis Maude, the Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, and opener for the British team, describes Rwanda as a success story, from a country hollowed out, to a proper functioning state.
Mr Maude top scores in the match with 20, but his wicket leads to a batting collapse, finishing with yet another English defeat at African hands.
Cricket is taking off here. In April Rwanda made the semi-finals of an International Cricket Council tournament in South Africa, beating Lesotho and Mozambique before falling to Ghana, in its best performance yet.
With Rwanda being a Francophone country, it used to be hard to get the Ministry of Sport to be interested in the game, says Julius Mbaraga from the Rwandan Cricket Board. Now, it s not a problem.