Collins Obuya, hero of Kenya’s 2003 World Cup campaign, has retired after playing international cricket for 22 years.

Collins Obuya, the long-standing Kenyan cricketer, retired from international cricket after the African Games in Accra. He made a duck in his farewell match, against Uganda, after receiving a guard of honour from cricketers of both sides.

Obuya is remembered most for his spell against Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup. After Kenya made 210-9 at Nairobi, Obuya ran through with 5-24 as Sri Lanka collapsed to 157. He was named the Player of the Match.

Kenya made it to the semi-final that year. Till date, they remain the only Associate Nation to reach that stage in the tournament. That summer, Obuya became the first Kenyan to play in the County Championship, for Warwickshire.

Obuya continued to play ODIs until 2014, before Kenya lost their ODI status. He went from being a leg-spinner who could bat to an upper-order batter who seldom bowled, and finished with 2,044 runs and 35 wickets from 104 ODIs.

In a 2011 World Cup match at Australia in Bengaluru, Obuya made 98 not out when Kenya ran out of overs. Had he got the two runs, he would have achieved the rare double of a hundred and a five-wicket haul in World Cup cricket. Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Singh, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mitchell Marsh are the only ones to have done this.

From 76 T20Is, Obuya had 1,794 runs (strike rate 120) and 25 wickets (economy 6.92).

As of today, James Anderson is the only active international cricketer to have appeared at the 2003 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/8LQDkSJ3KZ

— Bertus de Jong (@BdJcricket) March 23, 2024

In all, Obuya’s international cricket career lasted 22 years 221 days. Among men, his career is the eighth-longest, 12 days fewer than seventh-placed Jack Hobbs’ 22 years 233 days. The top six are Wilfred Rhodes (30 days 315 days), Brian Close (26 years 356 days), Frank Woolley (25 years 13 days), George Headley (24 years 10 days), Sachin Tendulkar (24 years 1 day), and John Traicos (23 years 48 days).

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