NAIROBI (Reuters)
Kenyan cricket chiefs have asked the sport's world governing body for more international matches following the recent West Indies tour of the country, officials have said.

"We have said it during our meetings and we are appealing again to the ICC (International Cricket Council) to give us more cricket," Kenya Cricket Association chief Jimmy Rayani told Reuters. "In the past 700 days, we have played seven one-day international matches, which certainly doesn't augur well for our development. We need more quality matches, especially in the longer version of the game."

West Indies' tour was a valuable learning experience for Kenya's players, even though the visitors won all three one-day matches. The West Indians also beat Kenya by an innings in a three-day game, while a four-day match was drawn because of bad weather.

"It's unfortunate that, just as we were picking up, the Windies tour is over," said Kenyan captain Maurice Odumbe. "We have to wait until October for the tri-nations tournament in South Africa (which also includes India) to face some quality opposition."

West Indies coach Roger Harper agreed, saying Kenya could only develop its cricket to Test status if they playedmore games. "Kenya needs more competitions in the longer version of the game to acquaint themselves with Test cricket," Harper said before West Indies returned home on Monday after their three-week tour. "The ICC should help Kenya develop its cricket by sending more A sides from Test nations to Kenya for the longer version of the game and one-dayers."

Kenya has full one-day international status and applied for Test status in June. An ICC inspection team is expected in the country soon to review the country's application.

Many observers were disappointed at the crowds for the West Indies tour, with anything from just 100 up to 1,000 people watching the games, mostly schoolchildren who were let in free. While visits from India and Pakistan regularly draw big crowds from the country's Asian community, the sport has never really taken off among most Kenyans.

But Rayani insisted that was changing slowly. "We are beginning to implant cricket culture in children's minds," Rayani said. "It will need a long-term cultural revolution to get crowds into the grounds."

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