Hello and welcome to this edition of the I.E.C.C. Newsletter.
As reported in this space earlier, Nagoya Cricket Club and Khan Enterprises Inc. are to launch the first ever cash prize T-20 tournament this month. The tournament, named "Nagoya KCL T-20 2009", is open only to the top 8 teams of each group of the KCL competition and carries a prize of JPY 100,000 for the winner and various other cash prizes. The top 8 teams of KCL this year are Al Karam, Giants, Indian Engineers, Lalazar, Nagoya, Serendib, Shizuoka and YC&AC. The competition will be held at Shizuoka. The T-shirts of player are sponsored by Khan Enterprise Inc.
Well, it is an exciting development indeed and we hope that this becomes a tournament that will be known outside Japan sooner than later, which probably will, because of the prize money. However, the challenge will still be the organisation of logistics particularly because of the fact that the tournament will be held in Shizuoka. It wouldn't be a surprise if one or two eligible teams drop out of this tournament because of the distance, despite an attractive prize money.
The KCL competition, meanwhile, saw some usual suspects and surprises in the semi-final lineup. While Lalazar muscled its way to the top by beating the favorites, Al Karam, in Group B, and YC&AC being relegated to third position, a big fall from their top position last year, the Shizuoka Kytes surprised a few (probably themselves too!) in Group A with their semi-final berth. The other qualifier from Group A is the Serendib and Tokyo Giants from Group B.
Kansai Cricket
Jason from Kansai reports:
Jason from Kansai reports that although there are enough number of teams down
there at Kansai, the Kansai Cup doesn't seem to get going mainly due to lack of
grounds and at times teams not turning up for matches. The only regular ground
available is that of KRAC but available only once a month for cricket.
Editor** Kansai needs grounds, supporters and volunteers (and ideas too) to get
the tournament going. If anyone has anything to offer, please contact us.
KCL results are available here
YC&AC Sixes to be a night event on October 4
YC&AC announced that they have postponed the annual YC&AC Sixes to 4th October, which was originally scheduled to be held on September 27. The tournament this year comes in different form - Day & Night cricket. This is a tournament that has its teams based on nationality. The likely teams this year are ANZAC, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, International, England and Japan.
Indian Engineers on Twitter
Well, the Engineers can't be away from latest technology for too long. Follow the Engineers at http://twitter.com/ieccjapan/ for live match updates and other cricket updates.
Pacific Friendship Cup
YC&AC became the first team to qualify for the Pacific Cup finals this year after defeating the Indian Engineers in the semi-final. The second semi-final will be between Paddy Foleys and Tokyo Wombats. Tokyo Giants, the defender and a strong contender for this year too became an unfortunate victim of the rain rules in the league level. According to the rules, which set a deadline date by which league matches have to be finished failing which a coin will be tossed to decide the winner, the Tokyo Giants vs. Paddy Foleys game was decided by the toss of a coin which fell in favour of the Foleys and the Giants were eliminated from the competition. Cruel as that can be.
The history of the PFC can be read here.
Former Jamaica prime minister P.J.Pattersonn lambasted
his cricket board of being too slow in moving to implement
the changes to improve the boards governance and the national
team's performance as suggested by a Committee that included
himslef and others. "It is erroneous to pretend or attempt to
portray the notion that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)
has accepted and is proceeding in accordance with the Report
submitted by Sir Alister McIntyre, Dr. Ian McDonald and
myself." Patterson said in his column. "I challenge anyone to
point out a single iota or even the semblance of change which
has been made to the composition and structure of the WICB as
a result of our Report.", he added.
###
Fashion is an important part of daily life for West Indian
Dwayne Bravo His forearm sweatband is always matching the
colour of his sunglasses. It has reached a stage now where he
is even matching with skipper Chris Gayle’s quirky sunglasses
(the fashion jury is still out on those though many have said
that Chris looks as though he has attended one too many kids
birthday party in recent times). Bravo was recently seen in
pink t shirt, black pants and pink and black sneakers when
the team appeared at the National Stadium in Jamaica to watch
the Usain Bolt v Asafa Powell clash.
###
12 former cricket stars from England and India clashed on
Switzerland’s snow-capped Jungfraujoch mountain in a friendly
match organised by Beyond Boundaries, an Indian sports travel
company, in association with Jungfraunbahen (Swiss Railways)
and Swiss International Airlines. The match was held on
India's Independence Day on a specially made 18-yard strip
with five-overs-a-side at 3,454 metres above sea level. While
Kapil Dev, Roger Binny, Syed Kirmani, Sandeep Patil, Anshuman
Gaekwad and Ajay Jadeja formed Team India, their opponents,
the All Stars, included Alvin Kallicharran, Geoff Howarth,
John Emburey, Chris Broad, Collis King and Neal Radford.
MAK Pataudi and Farokh Engineer donned the umpire's hat.
Combining Swiss scenery and a uniquely English sporting
passion, the event aimed to highlight the appeals of
Switzerland to English cricket fans.
Comment: We had seen cricket at the Himalayas and now this.
What next? Cricket at Sahara? or middle of the Atlantic ocean?
###
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the
schedule for the ICC World Cricket League Division Six, which
offers teams the opportunity to progress to the 2015 World Cup.
The tournament got underway on 29th August and the top two
sides will be promoted to Division Five with such promotions
continuing up until the World Cup Qualifier in 2013. Division
Seven champions Bahrain and runners-up Guernsey are joined by
Botswana, Malaysia, Norway and hosts Singapore.
###
Former South African captain Shaun Pollock has stated that he
believes that One-Day Internationals are the best format of
the game. "Having played a lot (of 50-over cricket), maybe I’m
a bit more of a sucker when it comes to appreciating the game,"
Pollock told the ICC of T-20 game. “The fast 20-over game has
caught the imagination of many but if you get off to a bad
start then you can cost yourself the game. There is a lot of
skill involved in the 50-over game and it’s over a much longer
period, so that allows teams to have a bit of a mishap and
recover from it and you’ve got time to implement tactics.” he
said.
###
Troubled all-rounder Andrew Symonds took a dig at the Ashes
losing Australian team by criticising the world champion's team
culture. "I suppose you like to go out on your own terms. But
the way I was, that I am, and the way the game was headed ...
if you can't sit in the pub and watch a football game over a
beer, if that's upsetting team rules and harmony, there's no
place for me anymore," said Symonds, adding that although he
is upset with the way he was thrown out of the Australian
team, he still desires to wear the baggy green.
###
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden has called for
scrapping the Champions Trophy as there already is a World
Cup in the 50-over format. There's too much cricket, too much
of it is meaningless, and there are just too many different
formats," Hayden wrote in his vision for cricket. He also
suggegsted the T-20 World Cup should be played in every four
years instead of the current two years and a a two-month window
for the Indian Premier League to avoid overlapping of schedules.
###
Former Pakistan batsman Qasim Umar reportedly said on a
television show that Viv Richards took performance-enhancing
drugs during his playing days. According to a Press Trust of
India(PTI) report, Umar said that Richards, "himself confessed
to him that he used to take drugs to release tension and
improve his stamina and endurance levels." Mervyn Richards,
the younger brother of sir Viv Richards, put the allegation
down to jealousy. "This has come up at a time when Usain Bolt
is breaking records. It's funny how allegations are made
against extraordinary players. Yes, Viv was enhanced by
something. It's called passion." Mervyn said.
###
An audio tape which has been leaked by an unknown person
from within the Pakistan Cricket Board has national selector,
Mohammad Illyas talking openly with his close friend and PCB
Chief Operating Officer, Salim Altaf, about how Pakistani
players fixed matches in the first season of the Indian Cricket
League. In the audio tape, Altaf asks Illyas about a fight
between former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and batsman Imran Farhat
(who is the son-in-law of Illyas). Illyas says the fight was
serious during the ICL in 2007 and happened because some
players were fixing matches. Illyas says in the conversation
which a former Board official has confirmed was taped when
former Chairman of the board, Dr Nasim Ashraf had ordered the
telephone lines and the office of Altaf to be bugged at the
Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
###
Cricinfo editor said in his article that the dream that Papua
New Guinea and Estonia would one day play Test cricket was
always a false one.
Comment: Did he miss Japan?
###
Australia losing the Ashes and slumping to number four in
Test rankings is good for world cricket as it gives other
teams the confidence to shine in the future, Pakistan great
Wasim Akram said.
###
Source: Various web and print media
Pepsi ICC EAP Men's Cricket Trophy 2009 to be held in September
The official tournament programme for the Pepsi ICC EAP Men's Cricket Trophy
2009 will be held in Apia, Samoa from 17-25 September with eight national men's
teams competing in both T20 and 50-over cricket.
The 50-over competition will be run in two components:
* Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) teams - Fiji, Japan and PNG will play
each other in a round-robin competition and this will provide those three
Members a great opportunity to play more cricket and hone their skills for
upcoming WCL competitions.
* Non World Cricket League teams - Cook Islands, Indonesia, Samoa, Tonga and
Vanuatu will play each other to earn the right to be the highest-ranked EAP team
and thereby strengthen its case to be elevated to WCL Division 8.
Afghanistan and others qualify for ICC U19 Cricket World Cup
Afghanistan, Ireland, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the USA secured their places
in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup after recording victories in the U19 Cricket
World Cup Qualifier in Toronto.
More news and brief score card at:
http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/the-icc/icc_members/eap/newsdetails.php?newsId=1090
Results as of August 31:
Lalazar gate crashed into the top 10 with some heavy wins against top ranked
teams in the KCL match, which gave them some handsome bonus points. Here is the
list of the top 10 teams(last month's ranking in brackets):
1 Tokyo Giants (1)
2 Nagoya (2)
3 Tokyo Wombats (3)
4 Serendib (5)
5 Wyverns (6)
6 YC&AC (4)
7 Lalazar (19)
8 Adore (10)
9 Indian Engineers (9)
10 Al karam (7)
10 Kansai Lions (8)
See the full list here.
We encourage all teams to send us your result statistics regularly so that your team's rankings remain as accurate as possible. We are in a position to obtain the results of the official tournament matches on our own but we are looking for the results of the friendly matches.
Umpiring opportunity in Japan/EAP
Shizuoka Kytes Lawnmower Drive Unit Fundraising Program
By Neil Harrison:
Do you remember the 2007 Shizuoka Kytes Lawnmower Fundraising ICC World Cup
Extravaganza? Of course you do. You enjoyed it so much you helped me raise
25,000 yen to stop our lawnmowers falling apart. Now you get another chance to
give us yer money with the 2009 Shizuoka Kytes Lawnmower Drive Unit Fundraising
ICC Champions Trophy Extravaganza. Very generous of the ICC to time this
tournament just as we have two mowers in for repair and we are looking at a big
repair bill. The Honda needs a new drive unit and that alone is going to cost us
35,000. Parts for the Yardman will cost us 5,000. Then there's the labour...
What do you have to do? Like last time, the idea is just to have a bit of fun
and hopefully get a bit of cash in towards the cost of our repairs. The rules
are attached. Veterans of 2007 will notice a couple of changes - some due to the
different format of the Champions Trophy, some due to my inclination to fiddle.
Rule 4a: The point is, your 11 should be feasible as a team - not just 10
bowlers and a keeper or whatever.
You can enter teams for people outside the country as long as you're prepared to
pay for them. You can enter more than one team (but pay 1,000 yen per team).
Like last time, I'll send out a full list of everyone's teams and I'll send
updates as the tournament progresses, but you'll have to wait for
the first few matches because I'll be umpiring hard in Samoa. Such a grind, this
international umpiring lark. If possible please send your teams well before the
stated deadline (Sept 21st) so that I can get everything sorted out before
heading to Samoa. You can always tinker with the team up to the deadline.
Links:
ICC: http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/events_and_awards/champions_trophy/index.php
Cricinfo: http://www.cricinfo.com/iccct2009/content/series/374074.html
Squads: http://www.cricinfo.com/iccct2009/content/squad?object=374074
The Rules:
1) You pay 1,000 yen and you enter a team.
2) At least 500 yen of your money goes towards Kytes' mower repair bill.
3) Up to 500 yen of your money goes towards prizes, as follows:
a) Highest Score: 4,000 yen
b) Lowest Score: 1,000 yen
(Assuming I get 10 entrants. Who pay. I might increase these and add more prizes
if I get more entrants.)
c) Best Team Name: Bottle of Hardy's wine
4) You choose a team of 11 players. Give your team a name.
a) The team must consist of:
at least 4 recognised batsmen
at least 4 recognised bowlers
one wicketkeeper.
b) You can choose 4 players from your own country. If your country is not
represented, tough.
c) You cannot choose more than 3 players from any other country.
d) If a player pulls out of the tournament for any reason, his place in your
team is automatically taken by the player called up to replace him in the squad.
e) If any two teams are identical, I'll be in touch.
5) Your team must arrive at neil@jp.fujitsu.com by midnight on September 21st.
6) You score points as follows:
a) For every run scored by one of your players - 1 point.
b) For every wicket taken by one of your players unaided as a bowler - 30 points
(ie. bowled, lbw, hit wicket).
c) For every wicket taken by one of your players as a bowler with help from a
fielder - 20 points (ie. caught or stumped).
d) For every catch or stumping taken by one of your players - 10 points.
e) For every runout effected by one of your players - 18 points, 9 points etc,
as listed on the scoresheet.
f) For every Man-of-the-Match award taken by one of your players - 10 points.
g) To highlight their position as jokers in the pack, scores for West Indies
players count double.
I was very interested to read Peter Roebuck's comment quoted in the
Newsletter issue 98: "To that end, sense the sudden, growing excitement of
youngsters glued to television sets in Papua New Guinea, Japan, Sierra Leone,
Vanuatu and Afghanistan." I read that also in his original article on Cricinfo
and posted the following reply (without a response!) as follows: "I would much
appreciate Peter Roebuck kindly advising to which TV channel viewers in Japan
are tuning in, so that I can do likewise. To the best of my knowledge, cricket
is not televised in Japan (nor is it likely to be in the foreseeable future!).
We have to make do with the internet, or visiting the very few pubs or Sports
Bars which have a (quite possibly illegal) satellite connection."
Tony Fordyce
YC&AC
Editor** We encourage our readers to write back to us with your articles, opinion, feedback and criticism. Feel free to write about anything related to cricket, in Japan or outside.
Here is the last poll result:
Can England wrest the Ashes?
Yes 80%
No 20%
Can't say 0%
(This result was before the final Test)
Take the new poll:
Should the ICC Champions Trophy be scrapped?
A Japan Times article on Cricket in Japan
Gorillas play cricket, a promotional ad for the ICC World Twenty20 released by ICC
Note: Beginning the Issue #39 (May 6, '04), we bring you some interesting snippets from the cricket world, to celebrate the fourth anniversary this Newsletter and first anniversary of our popular "Trivial Facts" series. The same will be published on the front page of our website too.
"The consensus was to bowl in the right areas and the channels" - Kumar Sangakkara revealing a hitherto unknown secret of winning after winning the first Test against Pakistan recently.
1. Malaysian born Lall Singh played for India in 1932 against England at Lords.
2. France is the current Olympic silver medalists in cricket. England had
defeated France at the Paris Games final in 1900, the last time cricket was
played in Olympics.
That's all in this edition!