Kuwait's Girls Aim To Be Great

36 school-girls from across Kuwait have started attending a coaching camp in Kuwait Entertainment City in order to prepare for the ACC U-19 Women’s Tournament in December. Kuwait Cricket officials were delighted to see a couple of Kuwaiti nationals amongst the hopefuls looking to make it into the final squad of 14.

“Irrespective of whether the girls get through to the national team in December, that so many have come and so many are showing interest is a very good sign for future tournaments” says Kuwait Cricket Director General Asad Baig.

CAT Spins A Web

The Cricket Association of Thailand have created a new website to showcase activity in their kingdom, www.cricketthailand.com.

The site is a significant step forward from the previous  web presence of the Association (CAT) and as such is already attracting considerable attention.  “One of the main objectives of making this website was to highlight the work being put in by the Cricket Association of Thailand for the development of the game,”says CAT Honorary Secretary Zeeshan Khan.

MCA and WACA: The Impact Of Association

Malaysia showed considerable initiative by entering into a four-year partnership with the Western Australia Cricket Association earlier this year, where "both organizations (pledged to) cooperate and work towards their respective cricketing excellence," as stated in the agreement's Memorandum of Understanding.

Now, with the Australian playing season about to start, Malaysia (MCA) and Western Australia (WACA) are close to putting their strategic plan into practice. "Australia has long been close to Malaysia, with this agreement we bring our cricketers closer for mutual benefit," says Malaysia Cricket Association Deputy President P. Krishnasamy, "we're going to have much better cricketers as a result."

UAE Girls Getting Ready

They take women’s cricket seriously in the UAE. With the ACC U-19 tournament coming up in December, the UAE are holding a weekend coaching camp at Sharjah Stadium to select the fourteen-strong squad.

According to the Emirates Cricket Board "the team, comprising school girls, made a quiet debut in the premier tournament held in Malaysia last year, but since has worked hard to hone their competitive edge."

Aminul Islam, The CCA And The Quest For The Holy Grail

China, where so much attention is being focussed on the Guangzhou Asian Games in November 2010, is looking for a place to train its players to reach a credible international playing standard.

It's like the rest of us having to be fluent, even skilled, in Mandarin within the space of 24 months. From a standing start. If we didn't have access to teachers, libraries and our fellow students for ten of those sixteen months, we'd be struggling. So the Chinese Cricket Association are looking for a place where their players can learn, train and play outdoors for as many days as possible before the 2010 Asian Games: The Holy Grail. They just may have found it in Chengdu.

A New Afghanistan, A Fresh Hong Kong

Afghanistan’s and Hong Kong’s promotion to the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3, as a result of being first and second in Division 4, has immeasurably boosted their credibility as potential World Cup 2011 participants.

They are potentially just ten more World Cricket League (WCL) wins from playing in the next World Cup. Afghanistan and Hong Kong have proved their recent successes (WCL Division 5 and ACC Trophy Elite champions respectively) were not just one-offs. Development has been sustained.

New ACC President

The new Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt, is in line to become the 20th President of the Asian Cricket Council. He will replace the former PCB Chairman Dr. Nasim Ashraf.

Mr. Butt, 70, steps up from the PCB governing body. He has chaired Pakistan’s selectors and is a former Secretary of the Board during which time he served as the ACC Honorary Secretary from 1987-1988.

China Camp It Up

"The execution of the program designed for the 2010 Asian Games has started," says ACC Development Officer for China Aminul Islam. In China to prepare teams for three upcoming ACC events, the U-17 Challenge Cup, the ACC U-19 Women’s Cup and the ACC Trophy Challenge, Aminul has been seeking out new talent and training the established corps.

Kuwait Regenerates

Growth, pruning, regrowth: the Kuwait Cricket Association (KCA) has re-modelled itself in an effort “to streamline and cater the growth of cricket in Kuwait, both on domestic as well as at international levels” says General Secretary Haider Farman. First comes a name-change: the Kuwait Cricket Association will be known as Kuwait Cricket from now on.

More significantly, substantial changes have been made to the governing structure of Kuwait Cricket.

Afghanistan and Hong Kong Aim For World Cup

Afghanistan and Hong Kong continue their quest for a place in World Cup 2011 when they take on Fiji, Italy, Jersey and home-team Tanzania in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 4 from October 4-11.

"It means everything to us," says Raees Ahmadzai, Afghanistan’s former captain.