Born: 6 March 1979
Known As: Junior, Afgan
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Fast Bowler 

Warehouse Debut: KRG v The Sleepers at Marchant Park
Latest Warehouse Match: KRG v Everton Comets at 7th Brigade Park

Indoor Debut: KRG v Dimbob at Salisbury SuperSports
Latest Indoor Match: KRG v Far Gone Beauties at Salisbury SuperSports

Career Statistics

Profile

At the end of the 2003 winter season the Kenyan Rain Gods were in crisis, losing players to lucrative interstate contracts as well as from the fallout of bitter internal quarrels mostly arising from a series of dubious umpiring decisions meted out by disgruntled fellow team mates. When the dust settled, only 7 Gods remained and a desperate search was on to find a player who could step up to the mark; someone who could combine the silky batting skills of Tonkes, the cool nerve of Boot, the sharp eye of Jones, the power and grace of Jennings and the dazzling fireworks of Dodson. Rain God stalwart Shane Meng suggested a raw, up-and-coming youngster in the form of his younger brother, Craig. Captain Colvin seemed doubtful - would Meng junior be capable of the level of performance set by his illustrious predecessors? Meng senior, a man of few words had little to say other than, "He won't embarrass himself."

In his first season with the Gods, Meng Jr has gone from strength-to-strength, displacing Ramsay as the team's leading all-rounder and even threatening Meng Sr's tight grip on the batting trophy. Whether turning on a show for the crowd batting in an electrifying partnership with his older brother - a blur of finesse and brute strength; giving his best impersonation of greyhound racing when batting with fellow speedster May (something he has often witnessed, spending many a night at the dog track with Meng Sr); or devastating the opposition score by racking up huge wicket tallies, Craig has made Ramsay look second-rate as the team's stand-out all-rounder. Should Meng Jr's current vein of good form continue and with the assistance of some injuries to key players, he just may enter the selector's minds for promotion to the 2004 warehouse team.

(Brad Tonkes, Sydney correspondent, 05 November 2003)

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