Uganda’s Dhoni, Frank Nsubuga, stars in a special T20 World Cup win at age of 43 | Cricket News

Four overs, two maidens, four runs conceded, and two wickets. Franco Nsubuga was only playing his second World Cup game when he eked out the most economical bowling figures in T20 World Cup hory. This, to inspire a horic first win for Uganda on Thursday. But at the age of 43, the road to a World Cup debut for the second oldest player in the tournament’s hory has taken much longer.
Nsubuga may have been new to the World Cups but he’s been a constant name in Ugandan cricket over the past four decades. He made his professional debut in 1996. Or rather, here’s a more revelatory picture of the sport from back then: when Nsubuga went on his first tour, the term T20 was still half-a-decade away from being thrown in the ECB boardrooms. Uganda wasn’t even an ICC-recognized team back then. In the 1999 ODI World Cup qualifiers, Nsubuga had represented East Africa. His is a story that runs parallel with the rise of cricket in Uganda.
Born in a family of seven other siblings in the Lugogo neighborhood in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, Nsubuga’s interest in the sport took off from his parents.
“My dad worked in Lugogo as a bar man and my mother was also a working woman, serving lunch to cricket clubs in the area. That’s how I came to be interested in the sport. Our background wasn’t that strong but we were always in and around sports,” Nsubuga told The Indian Express.

The right-arm off spinner who looked effortless with his sliders and zippers on Thursday was far from it when he started out. Nsubuga narrates the tale of an intervention that set him on the trajectory for Thursday’s spell during his teenage years.
“Before bowling spin, I was a medium pacer, but I was chucking. One day, as I was doing so, Samuel Walusimbi saw me.” Walusimbi, who played for East Africa in the 1975 ODI World Cup, is regarded as one of the ‘generous contributors to Uganda cricket’. “He intervened and changed me to bowling off spin.”
Heroes, and being one
What is it that’s kept him going after all these years? “Discipline,” Nsubuga rushes to answer before sharing what his routine looks like at 43.
“Every day in the morning, I wake up six. I do my 8-10K run. After that I prepare for the training, which starts at 9. My discipline is what has kept me going. I sleep early. Alcohol is a strict no. I see myself pushing for maybe a year or two more.”
It’s this work-rate that has made Nsubuga a big source of inspiration in the dressing room.

Ahead of the World Cup, Uganda captain Brian Masaba was asked how big it was for the 43-year-old to finally get to play at the big stage. “Frank is a certified legend in Uganda cricket. He has been doing what he does since 1996. We all have such huge respect for him because of his professionalism and passion for the game. He is indeed an inspiration and a huge role model,” Masaba said.
“He has captained me as well. The pleasure of playing alongside him for quite a while now and seeing him operate the way he has done over the years is truly amazing. He was happy that we qualified for the World Cup in his lifetime and hopefully, it will be a crowning moment for a stellar career he has had,” he added.
As a likely candidate for the crowning moment – his figures vs Papua New Guinea – came on Thursday, Masaba would concede, “I watched Frank play growing up, so to see him do what he does on the biggest stage makes me very emotional.”
This competitive push is something the Ugandan has picked from his idols – old and new. “Ricky Ponting was my idol because at the time he was playing in such a dominating team. I liked him and that’s why I took the jersey number 14,” Nsubuga shares.
But it’s the team Uganda face next that’s had an even bigger impact on their most experienced campaigner during his cricketing run. “West Indies, the way they won the (T20) World Cups, was very gripping to see. The way (Darren) Sammy led them to win. Yes, they’ve been struggling but they’re still a very good side. They play fierce cricket and have a lot of experience in that team. They have been playing good in the IPL.”

Such has been the impact of the Caribbean T20 superstars on Nsubuga in the last decade that he even named his son after one of them. “I also named my son after (Kieron) Pollard because I enjoyed the fierce brand of cricket he was playing.”
Come their game on Saturday, it is the West Indies fan who will be Uganda’s big card against the two-time champions.
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