NEPAL AWARDED THE RIGHT TO HOST ACC U-19 CUP

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) will host the Asian Cricket Council’s U-19 Cup in Kathmandu from November 8 – 19, 2005.

“It’s a great honour for us in Nepal and we are certainly very ready”, said ACC Vice-President and CAN President Jai Kumar Nath Shah. “The winner of this tournament goes forward to play in the U-19 World Cup next year and so this event is of major importance to all the countries at this level.”

PAKISTAN TO HAVE MORE ACADEMIES AND GRASS ROOTS DEVELOPMENT

Pakistan's National Cricket Academy in Lahore

During a tour of the provinces, the PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said in order to further develop cricket in Pakistan, academies would be set up in Karachi, Hyderabad, Nawab Shah, Multan, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Dera Ghazi Khan and other regions.

He also said that the PCB is taking constructive measures to improve the standard of cricket grounds and stadia throughout the country, particularly in the north-west as a significant number of talented cricketers were emerging from that region.

Addressing a gathering in Sialkot, Mr. Khan has said the PCB is very much behind a program to revive schools cricket in Pakistan. "School level cricket had totally vanished in the past fifteen years", he said.

Shaharyar Khan with the ACC Select U-15 team in Karachi, May 2005

Close to 500 teams will be taking part in a National Schools Cricket Championship next year in which government and private schools would be involved.

The PCB has registered as many as 800 cricket clubs in the country, paving the way for the promotion the domestic cricket, he added. Mr. Khan called upon local businesses to support their teams through constructive sponsorships.

BRUNEI COULD BE ON THE RISE

Of the country visits made by the ACC's Development Officers in September, Roger Binny's trip to Brunei best brought into focus the challenges that cricket faces in asserting itself as a sport in a country in which it is not yet a major force.
Roger Binny reported that at the Ong Sum Ping the playing area allocated for cricket by the Ministry of Youth Affairs is regularly encroached upon by footballers as well as baseballers. "Once the nets come up and the pitch is laid people will stop using the ground for other games," he said. Indeed, in October the first embedded Astroturf pitches are being laid by the Brunei Darussalam Cricket Association.

"There is a big pool of players who have very little experience at the game. They will come good with time like they showed at my program," says Roger Binny.

MALAYSIA CATCHES THEM YOUNG

THE Sekolah Kebangsaan Dato Ishak held a 'Catch Them Young' cricket development clinic at their school in Lumut, eastern peninsular Malaysia in September.

Jointly organised by the State Education Department, Manjung District Education Office, State Sports Council, State Cricket Association and Active Junior Sdn Bhd, children of 18 local schools took part.

The Lumut initiative follows on from the successful Kinta district schools program started in March 2005.

CAT GETS THE CREAM

S.K. Parthasaradhy		Ravi Sehgal

28 of Thailand’s top local umpires were led by international umpire and ACC Resource Person S. K. Parthasaradhy through an Umpiring and Scorers Course in Bangkok in August.

Participants came from all over Thailand for the week-long course. Ravi Sehgal, President of the Cricket Association of Thailand, said “as our players improve so the need for better standards of umpiring increases. League tournaments are being started in Chiang Mai, Phuket and Khon Kaen and qualified umpires from this course will be officiating in all the fixtures.”

Local Thai Umpires Prakash Malani and Ajay Pratap were instrumental in assuring the success of the course.

MALAYSIAN PLAYERS TAKE ON CONTRACTS

In an enterprising move at Associate level in Asia, the Malaysian Cricket Association has offered contracts to fifteen national cricketers.

"It is not only directed for players to make money although there are monetary benefits if they perform well," said MCA Vice-President Mahinda Vallipuram."It is also a form of development process for elite cricketers. National players would have to earn the contracts and stand a chance to lose it if their performances drop."

National Captain Suresh Navaratnam welcomed the contract system, saying that it will benefit both the players and the MCA. "The Association will get a competitive pool of national players seeking the contract while players will benefit in terms of the bonuses which are stated in the contract," he said. "The contract also ensures players earn their place in the squad and pressure current players who have to maintain their standard and place in the national side."

MALAYSIA'S AMBITIONS MANIFOLD

In a further move to ensure national peak performance, the Malaysian Cricket Association have embarked upon a program to register 10,000 junior cricketers by the end of 2006. The project is part of the MCA's grand design to make cricket a major sport in Malaysia on a par with football and hockey. "We currently have about 4,000 players in the U-19 pool which we plan to double by the end of next year," said MCA President Tunku Imran. He State associations will be encouraged to introduce cricket into schools.

Youth development will go hand in hand with the furthering of umpiring, coaching, curatorship and infrastructural resources. Another step taken by the MCA to increase cricket activity is the introduction of a National Inter-Club competition. "The Inter-Club will cater to those who do not know where to play after finishing school", affirmed Tunku Imran, who added that State or even National selectors would be able to use the competition to pick their players.

SAUDI ARABIA LAYS DOWN THE LAW

There were three ACC Umpiring Courses conducted during September, in Malaysia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

In Saudi Arabia, ACC Umpiring Resource Person Mahboob Shah took 20 coaches from Jeddah, Riyadh, Yanbu, Damman and the south, through a Level 1 Umpiring Program. The six-day course included one-day's practical work in the field.

Nadeem Nadwi, Development Manager at the Saudi Cricket Centre, said, "The local umpires had their understanding of the game lifted and picked up much useful new information. It will undoubtedly help further the game in Saudi Arabia."

On behalf of the ACC, the Saudi Cricket centre are also working on a translation of the Laws of Cricket into Arabic.