Growth of Cricket in China

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As is de rigueur with sports and China, the country’s plans for cricket are strikingly ambitious. The China Cricket Association thus aims to have 15,000 players by 2009 with the number rising to 60,000 by 2012, writes Pallavi Aiyar. More... China picking up fast As is de rigueur with sports and China, the country’s plans for cricket are strikingly ambitious. The China Cricket Association thus aims to have 15,000 players by 2009 with the number rising to 60,000 by 2012, writes Pallavi Aiyar. It’s all about weightlifting and discus throws in Beijing as the Olympic Games continued into the second week. But away from this limelight, discussions are also taking place in the Chinese capital about a sport that is both distinctly un-Chinese and un-Olympic — so far. Twenty-twenty crricket at the 2020 Olympics. The idea has a certain ring to it and it is what the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC), David Morgan, is in Beijing to discuss the possibility of, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). A first step down the road to the Olympics was made by cricket in December last year when it was granted the status of a “recognised sport” by the IOC. After a two-year period this status is likely to be confirmed, explains Morgan in an interview with Sportstar. Following confirmation cricket will finally become eligible to be part of the Olympic Games. Given this time schedule 2020 is the earliest that the sport could make an appearance at the Games although an effort is also being made to showcase cricket in some way on the fringes of the 2012 London Olympics. Cricket is a sport that is seen by the majority of the world as an overly long and esoteric activity, but it is a virtual religion in the few countries where it is played seriously. Its potential Olympic status has already been engendering considerable controversy. Morgan is cautious when it comes to the ICC’s stand on the matter. “We (the ICC) have to still weigh the pros and cons of making a formal application to the IOC.” He adds, however, that “on balance the ICC believes the Olympics present more of an opportunity than a risk,” and discloses that “after assessing the level of interest that exists amongst IOC officials during our meetings, suffice it to say that there is a significant level of interest.” Cricket has only been played at the Olympics once, in 1900, when Great Britain beat a French team to take the gold medal. The location of the ICC’s latest round of meetings with the IOC is significant. China, the world’s most populous country, has also emerged as one of the world’s great sporting nations. As a result, the ICC and ACC (Asian Cricket Council) have in recent years increasingly zoned in on China as a country that could determine the future course of the sport. The ACC organised its first batch of umpire and coach training courses in China only three years ago. Liu Rongyao, Secretary General of the China Cricket Association (CCA) reveals that even in this short time, the country already boasts over 140 certified umpires and coaches. The game has been introduced into some 100 schools and the CCA estimates that around 10,000 students have had an opportunity to learn to play it. As is de rigueur with sports and China, the country’s plans for cricket are strikingly ambitious. The CCA thus aims to have 15,000 players by 2009 with the number rising to 60,000 by 2012. Much excitement is centred on the 2010 Asian Games that will be held in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where cricket will feature for the first time. As the host China is guaranteed entry into the competition. Liu explains that the Chinese sporting establishment’s bias towards developing sports that are part of major multi-event international competitions means that cricket’s inclusion in the Asian Games is already opening up some funding opportunities from the government. So far, the funding for the sport in China has come primarily from the ACC’s coffers. “If cricket can become an Olympic sport that will really make a big difference to its popularity in China as well as to the level of government support,” the CCA secretary general added. For the moment the focus of the CCA is on developing a strong national team, for which they have recruited a former Pakistan Test player Rashid Khan as coach. The other priority is to excel in women’s cricket. It is here that an Indian helping hand has been extended by the BCCI. A coach for the ladies team will thus cross the Himalayas from India into China later this year. For the moment the word ‘cricket’ in China still tends to conjure up images of small, green, singing insects rather than bats and balls. However, the country’s sporting history clearly suggests that were the sport to become part of the Olympics, this could change overnight. Liu concludes, “If we (the Chinese) can become good at baseball and softball (both Olympic sports), then why not cricket?”

[Shane]

1970-1990 West Indies 1990-2010 Australia 2010 - China ????

[DadaRocks]

Chinese r short & weak...they will not produce real fast bowlers like Pakistan.

[Laaloo]

Chinese r short & weak...they will not produce real fast bowlers like Pakistan.

They wont need to.

[Desi Cartman]

no shortage of chinaman bowlers :haha:

[DomainK]

Chinese r short & weak...they will not produce real fast bowlers like Pakistan.

Short yes, but definitely not weak. They will introduce kung-fu cricket. I remember some movie in which they played some kung-fu scoccer. Cant remember the name.

[ludhianvi]

While the general perception may be the Chinese are short, their basketball team has some giants like Yao Ming. Fast bowlers like Fidel Edwards are not that tall, and he can bowl at some pace. Even someone like Shoaib Akhtar is about 5'10 or 5'11. I like/envy how the Chinese do things systematically. I remember reading another article that had expressed similar points how China is preparing to spread the game of Cricket in its schools. Once it is introduced in the schools, its fruition will yield at one time eventually. Sure, it will take some time but they will improve for sure. Waiting for a Chinese team in in next 5-10 years.

[bharat297]

Chinese have something that will give them the edge over other nations and thats discipline ... I have no doubt that if the Chinese get serious about cricket, they will train harder than any other team in the world.

[nospam]

Short yes' date=' but definitely not weak. They will introduce kung-fu cricket. I remember some movie in which they played some [b']kung-fu scoccer. Cant remember the name.

Shaolin Soccer

[sharma]

Shaolin Soccer

nice movie that one, loved their stunts lol back to topic, they do train hard yes. and i feel they would be even more wristy than our batsmen and spinners. only heart can be taken from the fact that they havent yet been world beaters in soccer, so that makes cricket second priority.

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ICC moves into China Inderjit Bindra has been tasked with developing cricket in China as part of his role as the International Cricket Committee’s principal advisor. More... ICC moves into China 31 August 2008 Inderjit Bindra has been tasked with developing cricket in China as part of his role as the International Cricket Committee’s principal advisor. Bindra, a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and a key figure in the success of two ICC World Cups in the Asian sub-continent in 1987 and 1996, has been working for the world governing body since July, initially on a two-year consultancy agreement. ICC president David Morgan has now handed Bindra his tasks: to focus on the growth of the game in China as well as implementing the ICC Vision - to “captivate and inspire people of every age, gender, background and ability while building bridges between continents, countries and communities” - assisting relations between the ICC and its members and ensuring the success of ICC events. Morgan said: “We have already made strides, alongside the Asian Cricket Council, in developing the game in China and realise it is a long-term project rather than something that will come together in just a handful of years. “With Inderjit now joining us to provide added impetus in this area we have the chance to take the game in China to the next level.” Bindra is relishing the challenges that lie ahead, saying: “The work in developing the game in China is exciting. “It has a huge potential for growth and, with the Asian Cricket Council, we will explore ways of ensuring cricket is able to get a secure foothold within the country that we can continue to build upon.”

[CC1981]

Chinese r short & weak...they will not produce real fast bowlers like Pakistan.

Yet Yao Ming is taller, stronger and fitter than any Pakistani alive. :hysterical::hysterical:

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Why cricket in China means six short legs The ICC is eager to spread the word in the world's most populous country but - for the Chinese - cricket means something else entirely. More... September 4, 2008 Why cricket in China means six short legs The ICC is eager to spread the word in the world's most populous country but - for the Chinese - cricket means something else entirely Wall game: children play a game of cricket on the Great Wall of China Mike Atherton Maybe my eyes were missing the signs, but as thousands of spectators participated in the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Beijing last month, enthusiastically banging the drums and waving the flags that had been so helpfully provided, then imitating the movement of doves with their flapping hands, China did not resemble a nation pining for cricket. Then again, any country that can go from brutally cutting short a student demonstration to talking of “one dream, one world” in two decades can probably find within itself a capacity for mastering even the most arcane and least adaptable of sports. That is what the ICC is hoping, at any rate. China is the holy grail for sports administrators and cricket is no exception. This week, like an old imperialist poring over a map and carving up the possibilities, David Morgan, the president of the ICC, handed the responsibility for China to his principal adviser, Inderjit Singh Bindra. “We have already made great strides in developing the game in China,” Morgan said. “With Inderjit now joining us we have the chance to take the game in China to a new level.” Off you go, mate, bring back the spoils and try not to upset the natives along the way. Bindra came over all enthusiastic: “China has huge potential for growth and we will explore ways of ensuring cricket is able to get a secure foothold within the country,” he said, sounding like Napoleon must have felt before setting off to conquer Russia. But China, like Russia, is an inhospitable place and it is likely that Bindra's army will suffer the same fate, falling well short of its target as the first snowfall of winter arrives. There have been targets in China for a while and these have ebbed and flowed according to the success of the mission. When investment began in 2004 the idea was put forward that China would be good enough to qualify for the 2019 World Cup and achieve Test status by 2020. Now, mere exposure to the sport is the aim: 60,000 by 2012, the Chinese Cricket Association says, rising to 150,000 by 2020, fuelled by cricket's presence in the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010. At the heart of these optimistic targets is cricket's desire to globalise and China's capacity for change, renewal and, in particular, the belief that, when the Chinese set their hearts on something, nothing can stop them. This is, after all, a country that won its first Olympic gold medal in the 1984 Games. But even if China wants to take cricket to its bosom, the fate of the China men's football team at the Olympics should sound a cautionary note: that when it comes to team sports that rely on a degree of instinct and lateral thinking, China's “training methods” are not that successful. Two defeats and a draw against mighty New Zealand prompted an unusual degree of criticism, so much so that, according to two Chinese journalists, the Central Propaganda Agency ordered main news organisations to cease carping. This did not stop Li Weifeng, who captained the team to defeat by Brazil: “We play soccer like the Brazilians play ping-pong,” he said (which provoked another round of criticism from the Chinese coach of the Brazilian ping-pong team.) China bends its knee to no one where individual pursuits such as diving, weightlifting and shooting are concerned, but it has not yet got the team thing. The Asian Cricket Council's website indicates where the mission to inculcate “shen shi yun dong” (“the noble game”) into the hearts and minds of the Chinese stands: against a population of 1,321,851,888, it lists zero turf pitches, zero cricket clubs, four cricket grounds and a blank next to the name of the national captain. There are 153 coaches who have a “Level 1” certificate, which allows them “to assist more qualified coaches developing aspects of coaching under direct supervision”, but there is no information on how many better-qualified coaches there are to supervise them. Still it is good to know, under “recent achievements”, that China won the Global Development Awards photo of the year in 2005, a sweet, staged picture of three Chinese children playing soft-ball cricket on the Great Wall of China. The push into China is part of a wider drive for globalisation, as if the ICC believes that the sport cannot be successful unless it is constantly stretching the boundaries, despite the problems closer to home. Enormous sums are spent on development - $13million (about £7.3million) from the ICC coffers last year alone, alongside the $300million that was pledged in July for the next seven years. Yet figures recently released suggest that the rewards for such investment are often meagre. In Kenya, for example, the numbers of senior cricketers has fallen in the past five years. This is unsurprising. Cricket's great expansion came in colonial times. It was a point of contact between the colonisers and the colonised, offering a vehicle for the missionary zeal of those spreading British values and a focus for those determined to resist them. Without that extra spice, it is just another sport. Cricket-watching may be a popular pastime in China in 2020, as it is now. For the uninitiated, cricket fighting is a hugely popular sport in China - the champion insects are given almost royal treatment - fuelling a passion for gambling. No sum of money spent by a sport intent on spreading its wings is likely to change the fact that by 2020 the participants will still be of the six-legged kind.

[cowboysfan]

who cares what these stupid british people and their stupid insular people think?.cricket would be a better if we completely isolate these idiots who had 250 years to popularize cricket and could never manage it beyond their "kingdom"-this is our time and I for one want cricket to be a global sport.

[Predator_05]

Miandad to help Chinky cricket

If Javed Miandad’s efforts pay off, former Wisden editor Matthew Engel might be forced to live up to his famous pledge of having a plateful of sweet-and-sour hat when Engel got a chance to report on England-China Tests. Miandad, the former Pakistan captain and recently appointed cricket ambassador to China, has promised his full support in promoting the game in China. “We will extend our expertise to China in developing their cricket infrastructure besides training them in bowling, batting and fielding,†he told the Dawn. “I have prepared a plan for the development of the game and I will start it very soon.†In return, China has been supporting Pakistan in training their players in badminton, volleyball, table tennis, athletics and other Olympic games. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/thebuzz/

What exactly is Miandad going to teach them ? How to cheat ? How to flap your arms around when your team is losing ? Does this mean Pakistan will finally win something at the Olympics ?

[Mr. Wicket]

Does getting a wooden spoon count as winning?

[Sachinism]

I guess its a matter of we help you with cricket, you help us when our *****e$ are about to be invaded

[Laaloo]

What can the balcony dancer possibly do to persuade China?

[Predator_05]

Cricket: Pakistan wants to turn China into global force 9:00AM Tuesday Dec 16, 2008 ISLAMABAD - Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad can see a day when China will have a place among cricket's top-tier, test-playing nations. Miandad, who was last month appointed the Pakistan Cricket Board's director general, has also been named as the country's cricket ambassador to China. At a time when other countries have postponed cricket tours to Pakistan because of security concerns, Miandad's bid to branch out to new markets could ultimately lead to more and broader competition. Chinese athletes "have proved their supremacy in other sports like this year's Olympics at Beijing, and I have no doubt that if guided properly they could even excel in cricket," Miandad told The Associated Press. China is one of 57 affiliate members of the International Cricket Council and Pakistan has already sent former test fast bowler Rashid Khan to coach Chinese players. "I have spoken at least three times with Rashid in China and have got a very positive feedback," Miandad said. "China is a very good friend of Pakistan and we have already guided them in developing their field hockey team." China got serious about field hockey after it won the right to host the 2008 Olympics. By 2006, it had defeated traditional power Pakistan in the men's semifinals at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar before going on to win the gold medal. Miandad said he had already advised the Ministry of Sports in Pakistan to arrange a visit for Chinese cricket officials and their players to Pakistan. "I will surely visit China, but first I would like their players and officials to visit Pakistan and see how the infrastructure of cricketing venues could be made," Miandad said. "What I believe is that they are still playing on synthetic turf and they need to know how the turf pitches are made, and what skills are required to play the real form of cricket." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10548277

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: These inbred ********s can't even make THEIR OWN SH[iTTY MINNOW TEAM into a global force, and they are already harboring ambitions of turning of other countries into global forces ? ROFLMAO

[Sachinism]

Maybe they've realised there is not long left for Pakistan, we can slowly get our players into the China team