Howzat? (ƒnƒEƒUƒbƒg?)

[Mulboyne]

News24: Japan ICC associate member
Sydney, 30th June, 2005 - Japan has been upgraded to associate member status of the International Cricket Council, in a boost for the ICC's East Asia-Pacific (EAP) development programme...Japan, who received their ratification at this week's ICC annual conference in London, join new affiliate members Jersey, Guernsey, Mali and Slovenia, taking the total membership of the ICC to 96 countries.

Laws of Cricket (Japanese Only)

[Samurai_Jerk]

Maybe this will appease them when they don't get a seat on the Security Council.

[kurohinge1]

... News24: Japan ICC associate member
Sydney, 30th June, 2005 - Japan has been upgraded to associate member status of the International Cricket Council ...

... There are now 915 senior and 2 896 junior players playing in organised cricket activities in Japan with 22 grounds used for regular competition including a facility at the base of Mt Fuji, the EAP said ...

And for those in country and interested in the game, don't forget this previous thread about the Ichihara Sharks & Tokyo Wombats: Cricket in Japan

Nice one, Mulboyne-san

[dimwit]

We have a team in Matsuyama as well, but the majority of players are either Aussies or South Asians.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Beauty and cricketers prepare to bat

Kurara Chibana probably doesn't know a googly from a silly mid-on. But the Miss Universe runnerup will have plenty of opportunity to find out when she attends a charity cricket game at the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club on Oct. 1. Chibana is just one of a number of celebrities who have offered to donate their services to a sporting weekend organized by the Tyler Foundation for Childhood Cancer -- though the other stars have a slightly better understanding of what it is to play a chinaman on a sticky wicket. England's Mike Gatting and Devon Malcolm; India's Kapil Dev; Australia's Ray Bright and South Africa's Barry Richards and Clive Rice head the list of former players coming to Japan for the sporting extravaganza.

...Tokyo residents Mark and Kimberly Ferris, or more precisely their son Tyler, are the reason for Chibana and the cricketers' involvement in the weekend. Tyler died from leukemia last year aged just 23 months, and his parents set up the weekend to honor and remember their son. Things have snowballed since then and the foundation is now a NPO with future events already in the pipeline. "We plan to make this an annual event," said Mark Ferris. "But we are also thinking of other events such as a ride around Mt. Fuji with Lance Armstrong, an evening with Gary Lineker and a round of golf with Greg Norman."

The Tyler Foundation website has a short summary of the history of cricket in Japan.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Finding space for cricket under the rising sun

Selling cricket in Japan is like promoting sake in Bordeaux--you're competing with a local product that has culture, infrastructure and history on its side. Just don't tell Japan cricket coach Richard Laidler, who says baseball's preeminence here just makes it a more interesting challenge. "Japan and the United States are the two toughest countries to try to teach cricket because they are baseball crazy," Laidler admits. "But I can't see why a baseballer can't play cricket. "It's the same thing. Hit the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball. I have started kids who have never seen the game, and now they're playing it." Laidler teaches cricket in Gunma Prefecture to children from under-9 to under-17 at his Sportspeaks NPO, where he is trying to nurture the first generation of Japanese to grow up with a red ball and willow bat in hand. As Japan coach, Laidler is responsible for turning a group of university players, businessmen and expats into a competitive unit. His side has already tasted success--Japan is ranked 29th in the world after winning the East Asian Pacific Cricket Trophy in Auckland in December. This month, Laidler and his team travel to Jersey for a World Cricket League tournament. A top-two finish would move Japan up a division, starting a process that ultimately could lead to a spot at the World Cup.

Laidler is the first to admit that's a long way off. Before Japan can hope of playing the likes of Australia or India, the sport needs to develop. To that end, the Japan Cricket Association is attempting something of a pincer movement. While the national team pushes for international success, the JCA is building grassroots support and familiarity with the sport through workshops, training camps, videos and Japanese-language publications. It's a tough slog. The closest dedicated cricket pitch to Tokyo is in Shizuoka Prefecture, the players are amateurs and cricket is more likely to be confused with gateball than baseball. The lack of recognition has already interfered with Laidler's plans for Jersey--five of his team from Auckland won't fly because they can't get time off work. "The killer is that most of the boys are company men," Laidler said. "It's so frustrating to me--they are representing their country, but the companies don't know cricket. If they were doing it in baseball, the companies would put them at the front of the shop."

Cricket has a long history in Japan. The first match was played in 1868 (five years before the first baseball game), and is played at universities such as Keio, Waseda and Aoyama Gakuen. However, Japan's fascination with all things American has relegated the world's second-most popular sport to minor status. Japan captain Ko Irie moved to Australia so he could continue playing a game he first encountered at Chuo University. "When I first came here in 2002, I was so surprised that I couldn't see any people playing baseball, just cricket," Irie said down the line from Sydney. "I had been told that cricket was a big sport around the world, but I couldn't really feel how big it was." Irie thinks cricket is perfectly suited to the Japanese physique and temperament. "Once you know about cricket, you find out that it's more about strategy than strength," he said. "Japanese tend to be skinny and short. Many great batsmen, like Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara, are short. Short people can be stars."

Laidler thinks Japanese are natural cricketers for other reasons. "They are quite fit and they are keen," he said of his players. "And they are good students. You give them something to do and they go and do it." With no purpose-built nets in Tokyo, the team's commitment is being tested on ad-hoc tracks at an indoor tennis center and with trips to baseball batting cages. "The people who run it [the cage] don't know what's going on, but that's all we've got and that's all we can do," said Laidler, who hopes cricket's inclusion in the Asian Games and its recognition by the Olympic movement will raise its profile here. "At some point, there is going to be a cricket game at an Olympics," said Laidler. "When Japan realizes how big cricket is, a lot of companies are going to jump on it."

For now, he hopes the novelty of a nation of baseballers bowling googlies and hitting cover drives will be enough to draw in some financial support. "In May, we're playing Germany, America--we're going to get a lot of publicity," said Laidler, who adds that his side already makes a splash whenever it goes abroad. "We'll be walking down the street wearing our Japan shirts. 'Who are you?' We're the Japan cricket team. 'What? You play cricket?'" To replicate that popularity at home is the next challenge. "It's going to take time," the 48-year-old admits. "I wish it would be quicker, 'cause I'm getting on a bit."

Yomiuri: Japan captain Irie on a sticky wicket

Ko Irie might have moved to Australia to play cricket, but the Japan captain is experiencing the same work-life pressures facing his salaryman teammates back in Tokyo. The 26-year-old works for Reuters on a Japan-time shift that has stopped him from padding up for Sydney's East Suburbs team this season. Instead, he's been working on his technique at a batting center in King's Cross and looking on the bright side. "One good thing about staying here [in Sydney] is that I can take holidays for four weeks," Irie said. "In Tokyo I couldn't really do that." Like coach Richard Laidler, Irie is disappointed that Japan's unfamiliarity with cricket makes it difficult for players to take time off. "It's a shame. Playing cricket for your country is such an incredible thing. We just have to be stronger for people to recognize what we're doing." Employers aren't the only ones questioning Japanese cricketers -- Irie's been on the receiving end of some typical Aussie sledging. "They always say stuff. 'This is cricket, not baseball -- you can't do this mate,' stuff like that," he said. "I just play my game. Cricket is a very mental game--plus there is the fact that I'm a businessman, so I can't take any risks. I don't want to get fired."

[Marvin Feltcher]

Story here (Out well before the Yomuiri, please note!!):
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/sports/news/20080426p2a00m0sp023000c.html

[YT]zuuv_tu1C8c[/YT]

[Mulboyne]

Story here (Out well before the Yomuiri, please note!!):
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/sports/news/20080426p2a00m0sp023000c.html

You usually do get there before the Yomiuri can be bothered! Sorry I didn't pick up on yours earlier to post it here. I remember the headline but not the story so it must have slipped by.

[Marvin Feltcher]

You usually do get there before the Yomiuri can be bothered! Sorry I didn't pick up on yours earlier to post it here. I remember the headline but not the story so it must have slipped by.

No problem! No need to apologize, either!
I'm glad to see the game here getting a plug. The Japanese players I watched a few weeks ago were phenomenal! I was utterly staggered at how well they had mastered cricket techniques. Watch out cricket world if the game picks up popularity here (highly unlikely, of course, but...)

[Mulboyne]

...Watch out cricket world if the game picks up popularity here (highly unlikely, of course, but...)

Well, the guy is right about body shapes. Certainly, a fast bowler will get more out of a pitch if he is tall and strong but there are some good quicks who don't fit that bill and spin bowlers just need to be good. If Japanese players can learn the technique then there's no real physical barrier. Since the centre of the game, both in terms of money and popularity, is moving inexorably towards India, cricket may be the first major international sport where Asia calls the shots. Asian countries already show well in sports like table tennis, squash and badminton but none of those currently attract the TV profile and sponsors like cricket. It is still a tall order for Japan to get interested but it can't hurt that Indian immigrants comprise one of the faster growing populations and, because they are wealthier, they are also more active in setting up their own schools and cricket will be on the curriculum.

[Marvin Feltcher]

It is still a tall order for Japan to get interested but it can't hurt that Indian immigrants comprise one of the faster growing populations and, because they are wealthier, they are also more active in setting up their own schools and cricket will be on the curriculum.

Couldn't have put it better. Even before the Indians get in, there is at least one Japanese school moving in this direction.
http://www.uenomiya.ed.jp/hs/bukatu/kyoyo/index1.html

Back to India, though, I think their victory in last year's 20-20 World Cup will ultimately do more to spread cricket globally than anything else in its history (bar British Imperialism, of course! ).