Chinese Cricket Team; an emerging International squad

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Chinese Cricket Team: an emerging International squad

So here we have it, the Chinese cricket team has sprung into action as the People’s Republic of China prepares itself for competitive cricket. What started as a regular promotional concept in China, the ICC has been surprised by the extra-ordinary improvements that have been made in the country.

 

It was in 2004 when the Chinese Cricket Association became an affiliated member of International Cricket Council. Since then, there has been no looking back. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is helping the Chinese Cricket Association (CCA) to establish cricket domestically. Since September 2005, the Chinese Cricket Association in collaboration with ACC has conducted eight umpiring/coaching training courses. About 150 schools have been involved in the campaign of promoting the game and is now played in nine cities of China, which include Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Dalian, Shenzhen, Jinan, Tianjin and Chongqing.

 

However, players from Special administrative region of Hong Kong cannot represent China in international cricket as Hong Kong has a separate membership from the ICC since 1969. Help has come for the Chinese from various corners. Pakistan has helped China a lot to emerge as an international cricketing team. The Pakistan Cricket Board has given cricket equipment worth US$20,000 to the Chinese Cricket Association (CCA) as a token of goodwill gesture to support cricket in China.

 

A director of cricket with the CCA, Jiang Zhenyuan said, “We badly needed this equipment because the CCA wanted to fulfill the needs of different teams for holding tournaments”. The equipment including bats, balls, gloves, pads and stumps was initially distributed to the schools across the country and then what was left behind was used in national tournaments.

 

Pakistan’s former Test cricketer Rashid Khan is coaching China’s national squad for the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Beijing. Khan has been managing China’s junior and women’s sides since 2006. Khan coached the women’s team in the Asian Cricket Council’s women’s event. While talking to a media Rashid Khan said, “To prepare a cricket team for the Asian Games is a big challenge but the Chinese have a lot of pride in what they do, and I have been given this responsibility now”.

 

Rashid Khan, Pakistan’s former fast bowler, said that the country is promoting the game in the right way by focusing on domestic grass-roots cricket rather than depending upon expatriates. “The biggest plus point for the development and promotion of cricket in China is that the locals are taking interest in it,” said the national coach of China.

 

He said that the local young generation has shown a lot of potential and concern in the sport. Rashid was optimistic about the future of cricket in China. He anticipated that China will be a viable growth market for cricket in the next 10 years. Rashid Khan further added that china is the ideal platform to globalize the game of cricket. He said that the Chinese are quite staid about their cricket. Their fantastic sporting customs give them a big edge over other nations where cricket is still being sponsored”.

 

China was included in the 2009 ACC Trophy Challenge, and it was their ever first emergence in a representative event. The Chinese team lost all of its pool matches, including a biggest margin loss of 315 runs against the Maldives. In the seventh place game China chalked its ever first international victory when they thrashed Myanmar by a considerable margin of 118 runs. China participated in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The side lost its first match against Afghanistan by 9 wickets after they were bowled out for at 37.

 

Chinese team lost all of its five group matches by wide margins. In their match against United Arab Emirates they recorded a low total (27 runs) and biggest margin defeat (209 runs) in a representative T20 match. In the game, the Chinese side – after conceding 236 runs – was all out for just 27 runs, with 15 runs coming from the extras. After losing to Bahrain in the eleventh place game, they finished twelfth in the 12 nation tournament. China will participate in the 2010 Asian Games as the host nation. It will play against India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh. The International Cricket Council also perceives China as a key platform for the growth of cricket which is why delegates from the body regularly visit China in order to supporting the CCA in establishing more amenities for Chinese cricketers. Only time will tell if China can do a table-tennis in cricket as well.

 

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