Franco "Frank" Nsubuga (born 28 August 1980 in Uganda) is a Ugandan cricketer. A right-handed batsman and off spin bowler,[1] he has played for the Uganda national cricket team since 2001.[2] His matches include seven first-class matches[3] and fifty-two List A matches.[4] He has also developed a cult following especially with this participation at the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup also enhanced his reputation.
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| Full name | Franco Nsubuga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 28 August 1980 Nsambya, Kampala, Uganda | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right arm off break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National sides |
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| T20I debut (cap 7) | 20 May 2019 Uganda v Botswana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last T20I | 29 November 2023 Uganda v Kenya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricket Archive, 25 December 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biography
editHe was born in a family of seven other siblings in the Lugogo neighborhood in the Uganda capital city of Kampala. He took inspiration to take up cricket from his parents. His father worked in Lugogo area as a bar man and his mother was also employed serving lunch to cricket clubs in the area.[5]
He was initially bowling medium pace, but he later transformed into a spinner after being convinced to do so by Samuel Walusimbi who had represented East Africa at the 1975 Cricket World Cup. He insists that he never had an intake of alcohol in his lifetime, which has kept him fit and healthy to prolong his cricketing career. He also engages in 8-10K run everyday and hits the gym prior to engaging in net training practice sessions.[5][6]
Playing career
editNsubuga made his international debut playing for East and Central Africa in the 1997 ICC Trophy[7] when aged just 16.[1]
He played for Uganda in the 2001 tournament.[7] His first-class debut came in April 2004 against Namibia in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.[3] Uganda won the match, with Nsubuga being named man of the match.[8] He also played against Kenya later in the year. He again played against Kenya and Namibia in the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup.[3] He made his List A debut in 2005, representing Uganda at the 2005 ICC Trophy.[4]
He has continued to play in the Ugandan team and represented them in Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin, Australia in 2007. Uganda won the tournament, with Nsubuga named man of the match in the final against Argentina after scoring 55 from 38 balls and taking 4/27.[9]
In April 2018, he was named in Uganda's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Four tournament in Malaysia.[10] In July 2018, he was part of Uganda's squad in the Eastern sub region group for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Africa Qualifier tournament.[11]
In September 2018, he was named in Uganda's squad for the 2018 Africa T20 Cup.[12][13] The following month, he was named in Uganda's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Oman.[14]
In May 2019, he was named in Uganda's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier tournament in Uganda.[15][16][17] He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Uganda against Botswana on 20 May 2019.[18] In July 2019, he was one of twenty-five players named in the Ugandan training squad, ahead of the Cricket World Cup Challenge League fixtures in Hong Kong.[19] In November 2019, he was named in Uganda's squad for the Cricket World Cup Challenge League B tournament in Oman.[20]
In November 2021, he was named in Uganda's squad for the Regional Final of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier tournament in Rwanda.[21] In May 2022, he was named in Uganda's side for the 2022 Uganda Cricket World Cup Challenge League B tournament.[22]
In May 2024, he was named in Uganda’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.[23] He was also the oldest player to feature at the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the age of 43.[24][25] On his first T20 World Cup match against the Papua New Guinea, he displayed a scintillating bowling performance restricting the opponents to just 77 runs with a tight bowling spell giving away only four runs in his four overs and also captured two wickets in addition to two maiden overs, giving no room for the batsmen to work with.[26][27] His bowling eventually helped Uganda to record their historic first ever win in any senior ICC tournament as well as in the ICC T20 World Cup.[28] His spell of 4-2-4-2 also eventually became the most economical bowling spell by any bowler in the history of ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[29][30][31][32]
References
edit- ^ a b Cricket Archive profile
- ^ Teams played for by Frank Nsubuga at CricketArchive
- ^ a b c First-class matches played by Frank Nsubuga at Cricket Archive
- ^ a b List A matches played by Frank Nsubuga at Cricket Archive
- ^ a b "Mom served lunch to cricket clubs, dad was a barman: How Uganda's certified legend Frank Nsubuga took to cricket". The Indian Express. 2024-06-06. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "Introducing Uganda: Meet the Cricket Cranes ready to soar at T20 World Cup 2024".
- ^ a b ICC Trophy matches played by Frank Nsubuga at Cricket Archive
- ^ Scorecard of Namibia v Uganda, 23 April 2004 at Cricket Archive
- ^ Uganda lift Division Three title Archived May 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
- ^ "Karashani has faith in Malaysian charge". Daily Monitor. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ "Uganda Squad: Players". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ "Uganda Cricket names Africa T20 squad". Kawowo Sports. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "Team Uganda preview". Cricket South Africa. Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "Otwani gets nod ahead of Achelam on final 14 for Division 3 Qualifiers". Kawowo. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ "Uganda Cricket names squad for Africa T20 World Cup Qualifiers". Eagle Online. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "Arinaitwe named in Cricket Cranes squad for Africa T20 World Cup Qualifiers". Kawowo Sports. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "African men in Uganda for T20 showdown". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ "6th Match, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Region Final at Kampala, May 20 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- ^ "Paternott Called To Cricket Cranes Squad For World Challenge League". Cricket Uganda. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
- ^ "Brian Masaba To Lead Cricket Cranes, Hamu Kayondo Misses Out On Final 14". Cricket Uganda. Archived from the original on 26 December 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Brian Masaba to lead Cricket Cranes In Kigali". Kawowo. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ @CricketUganda (18 May 2022). "Our final 14 for the ICC Cricket Challenge League Tournament" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Uganda's 15-Player Squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024". ScoreWaves. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
- ^ "43-year-old Frank Nsubuga in Uganda squad for 2024 T20 World Cup". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "T20 World Cup 2024: Uganda's Frank Nsubuga, 43, set to become oldest player at tournament". Firstpost. 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "T20 World Cup: 43-year-old Uganda spinner Frank Nsubuga creates history". Firstpost. 2024-06-06. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ icc. Frank Nsubuga's sensational spell of 2/4 | T20WC 2024. Retrieved 2024-06-15 – via www.icc-cricket.com.
- ^ "Uganda's bowlers and Riazat seal their first win in T20 World Cup history". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "fewest runs conceded by a bowler in an innings min: 24 balls". www.espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "Nsubuga's bowling, not his age, takes him into the record books". ESPNcricinfo. 2024-06-06. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "Uganda's Frank Nsubuga bowls most economical four-over spell in men's T20 World Cup history". The Times of India. 2024-06-06. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
- ^ "43-year-old Frank Nsubuga breaks most economical spell record in Uganda's maiden World Cup win". Wisden. 2024-06-16. Retrieved 2024-06-15.