Tikolo - class of the squad (Allsport).

By David Clough, PA Sport

One man ensures Kenya stand apart from all the other 2003 World Cup minnows.

He is Steve Tikolo, a world-class player who would push for inclusion in any international team and whose presence means Kenya will be taken seriously this spring.

Tikolo captains a team who otherwise have similar resources to the likes of Holland, Namibia and Canada.

Kenya have one other advantage, of course, over their apparent equals - they already have a World Cup victory to their name against a Test-playing power.

All-rounder Maurice Odumbe was man of the match in that 1996 win over the West Indies for his 10 overs of off-spin which yielded figures of three for 15.

While Tikolo's dashing strokeplay and regular success against the top attacks have proved he is world class, Odumbe has done enough with bat and ball to claim he is an accomplished international cricketer.

Kenya therefore have at least two cricketers capable of competing with the best and giving their team an outside chance of causing a stir in Pool B.

They will mark down Canada as a team they should beat, Bangladesh as one they can beat - and the off-colour West Indies represent opposition who have been vulnerable once and so could be again.

Kenya's World Cup prospects are therefore better than those of the other also-rans this time round.

But their problem is not the current team; it is ensuring there are teams in the years to come who can play anywhere near the same level.

The next Steve Tikolo may not appear for a very long time. But to keep themselves in the reckoning for eventual Test status Kenya need to prove there is the structure and interest in their country to produce a new set of Maurice Odumbes once the current one - now aged 33 - has gone.

A national cricket association recently beset by financial intrigue in charge of a game which has yet to capture the imagination of the population as a whole is a worry for the future.

But in the meantime a team with one outstanding player, a clutch of youngsters both from indigenous and ethnic stock and under charismatic former Indian Test player Sandeep Patil's guidance may just have another surprise World Cup win in them.