Cricket Uganda has just released their 2026 calendar and after a forgettable 2025 that saw the U-19 boys miss out on the World Cup at the qualifiers and relegated to the second division of African Cricket, the women missed out on the the Global Qualifiers after finishing fourth at the Africa Qualifiers in Namibia while the Cricket Cranes failed to make it to a consecutive World Cup at the Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
In the last five years, the national teams have brought great pride to Cricket Uganda with the U-19 team qualifying for the World Cup in 2022, the Victoria Pearls returning to the Global Qualifiers in 2024, and the Cricket Cranes qualifying for a maiden World Cup in 2024.
The T20 World Cup comes around every two years and that means that there is little time for resting on your laurels. The benefit of qualification for the senior men is that the guarantee of skipping the first qualification rounds because the World Cup ticket earns you a bye to the final round. Therefore, despite success in 2024 and barely a year later in 2025, the Cricket Cranes couldn’t earn consecutive qualification. One of the biggest casualties of that failed campaign was Head Coach Abhay Sharma, and as the team looks ahead, they will need a new director.
In 2026, the Cricket Cranes will want to avoid deja vu by keeping top spot of Group B of their Challenge League, with the final round confirmed to be in Tanzania in August. Two years ago, they failed to consolidate that position, missing out on Net Run Rate to finish just below Jersey. If they can pick up three wins in a group that has Hong Kong, Bahrain, Singapore, hosts Tanzania and close competition, Italy. If the Cricket Cranes are successful in Tanzania, they will get a chance to play ODI cricket at the next step on the qualification pathway to the 50-Over World Cup.
The Cricket Cranes will start their qualification for the 2028 T20 World Cup with their 1st round of qualifiers in October in Nigeria. Uganda will visit Nigeria for the 1st time and will have to find a way past Zambia, Mozambique, Gambia, Lesotho and host Nigeria.
The Victoria Pearls team has a slow year, and their only major outing this year will be the Emerging Nations second round in a yet-to-be-decided host. They are scheduled to host their annual women’s day cup in March as they seek to improve their skills. The Emerging Nations Cup showed them that there is still a big gap between them and those above them.
The junior sides, Baby Cricket Cranes and Baby Victoria Pearls, have a lot more to lose. For the boys, they have to start from the bottom at the Division 2 Qualifiers in August in Rwanda, while the girls will have a shot at the World Cup at their third attempt in Tanzania in September.
The search for a new Head Coach for the Cricket Cranes is yet to start, but the teams are already in training.
A new search for talent for the U-19 has been proposed to make sure the net is cast wide enough for the next generation, and surely for Cricket Uganda, the only way is up in 2026.