The Kanto Cricket League awards were presented on Sunday, December 8 at a ceremony held at Samrat Indian restaurant, Roppongi, Tokyo. The ceremony, which was attended by nearly 50 guests, started at 6 p.m. with welcome drinks and fellowship, followed by a dinner. The presentation ceremony started at 8 p.m. and lasted about an hour. Japanese national team captain Tetsuo Fuji presented the KCL Champions trophy to Mumtaz Alam, the captain of the winning team, Tokyo Giants. Aamir Ali of Friends XI received the Runner's up trophy from Fuji.
Other individual prizesThe Indian Engineers lifted the Japan Gold Cup by defeating the Gunma Eleven Stars by 56 runs. Japan
Gold Cup is a 6 team tournament held in Tokyo's Edogawa ground. This was their greatest ever victory
in a multi-team tournament. Read report here.
Date stamped: November 12, 2002
The Indian Engineers retained the Pacific Cup third straight year. In the final they defeated the
British Embassy by 29 runs. Read report here.
Date stamped: November 12, 2002
Minnows Adore stunned the favorites Pakistan Eaglets in the D-II semi-final of KCL. With this, the Adore has gained promotion to the elite D-I and the Eaglets will remain in D-II for one more year.
Brief Scores:In a repeat of last year's final, Tokyo Giants and the Friends XI fought again for the coveted trophy. But again the Giants emerged as the winners by defeating the Giants by a slender margin of 7 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Giants found themselves 7 for 65 at around the 25 over mark against an accurate attack of Friends and were in danger of posting a target of less than 100 runs when the number 9, 10 and 11 batsmen(Malik Naseem, Naoki Miyaji and Qaisar Mahmood) put on 79 runs to score a total of 157 runs.
Chasing a modest target, Friends plundered the Giants attack and scored 38 runs from the first 3 overs and were 82 for no loss after 11 overs before Hamid Saeed and last year's bowling hero Tauseef Azhar came to the attack. Friends were soon reduced to 4 for 122 in a matter of few overs and then eventually bowled out for 150 runs. Thus, Giants once again put paid to Friends' hopes of the prestigious trophy.
Brief Scores:An exciting and challenging opportunity exists to fulfill a professional sports administration role in Japan. The Japan Cricket Association is seeking applications for the new full-time position of Operations Manager. Employed and empowered by the JCA, the Operations Manager's responsibilities will include:
A provisional squad of 20-member Japan National team for 2002 has been announced by the coaches-selectors, Mark McTamney and Robb McKenna. six foreign players (having fulfilled the conditions advised by the ICC) and nine clubs have been represented. The trials for the team selection, which was a first in Japan, were held at Fuji on June 1st and 2nd this year. This was also the first time foreign players were allowed to take part and selected for the national squad.
Tetsuo Fuji(c) (Millennium)Date stamped: July 23, 2002
Arthur Harrison, a 12 year old boy, made history in Japan by making his first class debut in the KCL match between
Indian Engineers and Shizuoka Kytes. There is no information available to suggest that he is not the youngest ever to make
first class debut in the history of the game. You may have heard about the Flower brothers of Zimbabwe or the more famed
Waugh brothers of Australia but this may be the first time a father and son duo batted in the same innings! Is the ICC
listening? Read the report of the match here.
Date stamped: July 16, 2002
Friends XI clobbered the Shizuoka Kytes in a KCL match on June 9 to set a new KCL record for highest innings total. Friends batted first and scored 371(Munir Ahmed 164, Aamir Ali 71) and then bowled out Shizuoka Kytes for 101 to win the match by a huge margin of 270 runs.
In what can be termed as an upset victory, YC&AC defeated last year's champions Tokyo Giants by 4 wickets with
a bowling burst of 6/40 by Andy Coles which included a hat trick. The Giants batted first and scored 248 and then YC&AC coast home
in the 40th over. For YC&AC, Avinash Jadhav top scored with 98.
Date stamped: June 11, 2002
In a major policy decision, the Japan Cricket Association has decided to accept expatriate cricketers in its national
team. Read our Newsletter Issue 18, dated march 30, for details. The first trial for the
selection of the Japan National cricket team will be held June 1st and 2nd (Saturday and Sunday) at a yet to be determined
facility (but probably in the Fuji area).
Date stamped: May 10, 2002
For the first time in Japan, a bowling machine is available for aspiring cricketers.
Click here for details.
Date stamped: January 10, 2002
The KCL Champions Trophy and various other individual prizes were presented on December 29, 2001. The winner's trophy was presented to the Tokyo Giants captain Mumtaz Alam by Kei Imamura, the KCL Treasurer. The Runners-Up trophy was presented to Aamir Ali, the captain of the losing finalist. Man of the Match of the final was awarded to Tauseef Ahmed of Tokyo Giants.
Other individual prizesThree best Japanese players of the league were given to 1)Hirayama of MAX C.C. for most runs 118 in 5 innings, 59
being his highest, 2)Kawashima of Fuji Far East C.C. for his 98 runs and 7 catches as a Wicket Keeper and 3)Kojima of
Wyverns C.C. for his 11 wickets, 4 for 7 being his best.
Date stamped: January 10, 2002