The 'home factor' will motivate Victoria Pearls – Mahatlane

The Uganda Cricket Cranes head coach Lawrence Mahatlane has rallied the Victoria Pearls to take advantage of their home ground to win the Victoria series.

Uganda will be hosting neighbours Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates at the Lugogo cricket oval, and Mahatlane says playing at home will be a substantial motivating factor for the team.

"Playing at home is a big factor; whenever we (Cricket Cranes) have played at home, we have been supported well, and it motivated us to perform better," Mahatlane said.

The South African-born coach goes on to describe the atmosphere during the ICC CWC Challenge League B game against Kenya; the Cricket Cranes won by seven wickets as the fans spurred on bowler Cosmas Kyewuta during his innings.

"One of best moments in my life was against Kenya when the stands were full, and they were screaming 'Kyewu' (Kyewuta), so I hope that atmosphere returns for the girls because it will push them."

Mahatlane has been slotted into the Victoria Pearls coaching team but mainly to handle the high-performance programme, something he says is vital for all national teams.

"One of the things we have tried to work hard on is to ensure a high-performance programme cuts across all national teams, including the U-19 boys and girls," Mahatlane noted

"So, for me, it's really about sharing more information amongst us to help take Ugandan cricket to a better place- from where we are," he added.

The Victoria series gets underway on April 18th, and the Victoria Pearl will be hoping to win the tournament, which will help them earn a better ranking in Women's T20I cricket.