China picking up fast

Published : Aug 30, 2008 00:00 IST

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?”

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