The Kanto Cricket League held the presentation ceremony at an Indian/Pakistani
restaurant at Koshigaya and the Giants had done elaborate arrangements to
celebrate this occasion, including short-circuit cameras and a free dinner for
the invitees. The chief guest of the night was the Ambassador of Pakistan, who
gave away the trophies. The Ambassador spent more than two hours in the
restaurant mingling with the cricketers and listening to the history of cricket
in Japan and that of the KCL. The surprise guest and speaker at the ceremony was
the CEO of the JCA, Alex Miyaji. Miyaji's appearance was indeed a welcome sign
of thawing relations between the two bodies.
The Ambassador gave away awards to the following cricketers as individual
performers, in addition to the runner up and the winner.
MVP - Ahmad Kamal (Tokyo Giants)
Best batsman - Dhanuka Samaranayake (Serendib)
Best bowler - Noman Iqbal (Lalazar)
Man of the Final - Hameed Saeed (Tokyo Giants)
Date stamped: December 19, 2009
The Tokyo Giants won the KCL Trophy a record 10th time, beating Lalazar by
248 runs. Sent in to bat first by their opponents, Lalazar, the Giants scored a
massive 306/6 in their allotted 35 overs, helped by skipper Mumtaz Alam's
unbeaten whirlwind 69(6x4, 5x6) off 34 balls and Hamid Saeed's 66(7x4 5x6) off
31 deliveries. A huge chunk of the Giants' runs came towards the end of their
innings when the skipper Mumtaz led an onslaught in the last 4 overs which
yielded 77 runs. Lalazar seemingly had situation under control until the 22nd
over when the Giants were at 157/5. Mumtaz joined Munir Ahmed at this stage and
the pair put on 77 runs for the 6th wicket. Mumtaz then put on a massive 72 runs
for the unfinished 7th wicket partnership off 4 overs in the company of Ahmad
Kamal.
Date stamped: November 9, 2009
The MCC toured Japan in October to play two T-20 matches and one ODI. The MCC
team, which included former England Test player Philip Defreitas, played the
first T-20 match aginst Sano CC and the second aginst Japan National team at the
new cricket ground at Sano city. They had such an easy run over the Japanese
teams to the extend that they reported to have reversed their batting order in
the ODI (50-overs) against the Japan National team played at the Fuji cricket
ground. Batting first, Japan scored 137 in 43 overs with Prashant Kale top
scoring with 46 runs. Chasing a modest total, MCC almost paid the price for
their decision as Japan came close to an upset win but MCC eventually won by 2
wickets thanks to some dropped catches(4 of them as report suggested) by the
Japan players.
The tour also included a visit to some Universities in Tokyo and a match against
the Japan Development team.
Date stamped: November 9, 2009
The KCL 2009 AGM held on Sunday February 15 authorised a new T20 tournament
which will be sponsored by Saqib Khan of Cricket Club of Nagoya. The tournament,
to be held at Shizuoka in October and November, accepts only the top 8 teams of
KCL and carries a cash award of JPY 100,000 for the winner. It may be noted that
this is the first time ever in Japanese cricket history a domestic tournament
carries cash award for the title.
Date stamped: February 20, 2009
The KCL 2009 AGM held on Sunday February 15 adopted a mission statement for KCL for the first time. One of the important points in its stated mission is expansion of cricket in Japan both in the foreign and local communities.
Mission Statement:
"The Kanto Cricket League (KCL), now in its 15th year and 3rd year in its
present format, exists to provide the opportunity for all cricketers in the
Kanto and neighbouring areas, regardless of their age, ability or nationality to
play competitive cricket. The KCL places great importance on the playing of
cricket in the proper spirit and in a friendly manner and with strict adherence
to the laws of cricket.
The KCL is also committed to the expansion of cricket in Japan, both in the foreign and local communities, and the sourcing of new cricket grounds and training facilities. The KCL wishes to maintain and improve its relationships with other cricketing organisations inside and outside Japan, and to expand itsactivities accordingly."
In another major major decision, the AGM decided to separate the match rules from constitution to keep the constitution sacrosanct and match rules subject to changed periodically. Click here to download the constitution and match rules. The AGM also elected the following people as the new Committee members:
Bobby Philips
Mumtaz Alam
Tony Fordyce
Robert Gilles-Martineau
T.J Udayaraj
Saqib Khan
Javed Niazi
Date stamped: February 20, 2009