Uganda is the first team to arrive in the Bay of Plenty, to prepare to play in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2014 at the Bay Oval Mount Maunganui during January 2014.

In order to leave no stone unturned as the Ugandan national team prepares to contest the road to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 – the Ugandan side will be based in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, before shifting arriving in Mount Maunganui, to play two warm-up matches and three CWCQ games at the Bay Oval.

Cricket teams are beginning to arrive for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2014 at Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval.

During their time in the Eastern Bay, local residents will have a rare treat of watching international cricket, as the visitors play a Whakatane United Invitation team on January 5 and 7.

The 20 strong Uganda party who arrive in New Zealand on Friday, January 3, will travel directly to Whakatane where they will train and play in the two preparatory matches.

In addition to the two warm-up matches and three CWCQ games in Mount Maunganui, the Ugandan team will sandwich in a visit to New Plymouth on January 16, where the will square off against Papua New Guinea in their second CWCQ challenge.

Ugandan international cricket began in 1951/52, when they took part in a triangular tournament against regional rivals Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda then played international cricket as part of the combined East African and East and Central African teams before they became an associate member of the ICC in their own right in 1998.

The Ugandan team qualified for the CWCQ in New Zealand by way of finishing second to Nepal in the ICC World Cricket League Division Three in 2013.

Uganda CWCQ Matches at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui are:

Warm-up matches

10 January (Friday) United Arab Emirates (UAE) v Uganda

11 January (Saturday) Canada v Uganda (Bay Oval 2)

CWCQ14 matches

13 January (Monday) Netherlands v Uganda

19 January (Sunday) Kenya v Uganda

21 January (Tuesday) Namibia v Uganda

Barry Leabourn BOP Cricket & BOP Cricket Trust Media Coordinator