Nairobi, Feb 17 (IANS): During recent World Cups, the cricket fraternity in Kenya would be on tenterhooks as they cheered their national team wholeheartedly.

But the ongoing 2015 edition of the global event that is being co-hosted Australia and New Zealand is being played without the East African nation participating for the first time since 1996, when the country qualified on merit and thereafter featured at the event on five occasions till 2011, reports Xinhua.

Kenya qualified for the 1996 tournament which was held in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a feat that was made possible after the country qualified by being runner-up at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Associate Trophy played in Kenya in 1994 where 20 teams participated out of which three teams were to qualify.

The United Arab Emirates won the tournament after beating Kenya in the final.

The 2015 event is the 11th tournament since the first World Cup was first played in England in 1975.

Kenya's pinnacle performance at the world stage was at the 2003 edition of the Cup, held for the first time in Africa with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya co-hosting the event.

Kenya reached the semi-finals after they beat three Test-playing nations - Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

"The performance of the team has of late been poor and wanting. Deep scrutiny reveals that Kenyan cricket has no depth or a bright future due to incompetence and problems stretching from the administration to the playing situation and structure," former Kenyan national team captain, Aasif Karim said Monday.

Kenya has since been relegated to the associate level and currently plays in the lower division alongside teams like Namibia, the Netherlands, Canada, Nepal and Uganda; teams that Kenya didn't have to play at their zenith.

Karim said that with the poor cricket structure in the country coupled with an impractical administration, the country is headed further down in the cricketing ladder.