10 Things that will happen if China takes Cricket

China is a country that every body in the world is talking these days. It is because of the economic progress of China or it's massive export to all corners of the world or be it as the massive creditor to USA. On the other hand Cricket is played in handful countries which only run the game in their favor almost never thinking long term and expanding the game. So what will happen if 2 such opposite things meet

Chinese Pacer Wang Lei

1. Cricket will become a Global Game (In real terms)
Presently cricket is played in a handful of countries that were a part of British empire. Cricket is lucky that the population of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is huge and the game could put some number. With China in the fold, the 2 most populous nations and the 2 more vibrant economies of the world will be playing the game. This will bring huge notice to the game and perhaps people will wonder if cricket is the secret to get economies rolling and take the game

2. Chinaman will be banned
Taking the spirit of Team Spirit and Fair Play the ICC will immediately ban Chinamen in all its form to please it's one of the 2 real master (AKA as CCA and BCCI). Any spinner found to have the illegal action of Chinamen will run the risk of being banned for life.

3. Cheap cricket equipments
A new variety of USE and THROW cricket bat, pads, wickets etc will hit the market. Go for a outing, play and dispose of the equipment. Next time on the way buy one. Austria will be using anti dumping laws against China because some Chinese Gentlemen mistook Austria as Australia and exported 20 M use and throw kits there.

4. Cricket in Olympics
ICC will say no but IOC will be after them and unilaterally include the grand sport of cricket. They will not be able to ignore the fact that the game of India and China is not there and is rendering whole Olympic movement useless. Also adding this game they will be able to add roughly 40% humanity to it's viewership.

5. CPL
The BCCI will be under dilemma with Club V Country debate as players will be rebelling against the board to play in CPL. Sri Lanka, New Zealand will disband their teams for the bilateral tours and keep them just for the world cup's. They will be hailed as they would have allowed players to play in CPL in return for 10% match fee. 

6. Red ball is Disbanded
The  ball in red is not liked by CCA as it means the great communist red color in form of ball goes into mud, soil and it is considered as disgrace to communism. This after much debate like the DRS, the red ball was made optional and then finally completely disbanded

7. Cricket is the Buzz word
One is the second largest economy and growing at 10%, other is in top 6 and also growing at 9%. Is Cricket the reason. As Kung Fu for China and Yoga for India was the mystic thing, the new thing will be cricket and the real expansion of cricket will start

8. "No balls" will increase
Imagine Walsh balling to a Chinese player No Hu who is 5 feet tall. Rather than focussing on line and length the main focus will be on the bounce of the ball. Even a simple ball can become a no ball. The other boards will be really wanting to increase bouncer in over from 2 to 4 but due to threat of China not touring they will not be opposing. After all money matters

9. Cold war in Cricket
People will be reminded of olden times with a cold war in cricket. On one side would be CCA who will be partnered by PCB, BCB, SLC, ZC and other side we would have the Anglo Indian block lead by BCCI, ECB along with CA, NZC, CI and perhaps a non aligned block like NAM with CSA and WICB a part of it. The security council will have the big 4 with CCA, BCCI, ECB and CA and veto from one of them would mean that decision not possible. Will it help cricket to be expanded, I really don't know

10. "Ho Wus Dat" Situation
Chinese pacer Ho Wus Dat would severely resist people calling his name again and again (Howzat) and complain to CCA. Perhaps many such situations will keep coming and  many Ho Wus Dat words will have to be removed from Cricket Vocabulary.

Personally all jokes aside I really want China to come in the game. It will do the game sea of good and really good for the Associate countries. Let's hope that by 2015 we see a strong Chinese team coming up

This article has been written all in humor and if I unintentionally end up hurting some feeling I apologize for the same :).

Celtic League: A way to expand cricket in Europe?

In recent years we have seen some news in European Cricket that can shape the future of cricket in the continent. First is the resurgence of Irish cricket and their dramatic chase against England in world cup. Along with that the game has made right noises in Netherlands where the performance in world cup has helped cricket to stop it's downfall, while the Scots have been doing really good. Though they failed to make it to the world cup, but then after that made to finals of Intercontinental cup, teams performing very well in matches against Neth, Ire and other ODI and the junior team making it to the World Cup the game surely is on a roll

Besides that there have been lots of talks in Welsh Parliament about a separate Welsh team under the Gambit of ECB which even though is a English and Wales team, but conveniently remove Wales. Who knows soon over time like the Scots who went independent may soon happen for Welsh too.

England winning Ashes back to back also is coming at a right time bringing attention for cricket across Europe.

Celtic League is the place Cricket Should look upto

However the most encouraging news has been initial talks between Scotland and Irish cricket boards over the formation of a Celtic League. This idea is not a new one. We have recently seen a very successful East African Trophy and Premier League involving 4 teams from Kenya and 2 from Uganda. The tournament which started without sponsors or broadcaster before the end of tournament had both. The rebellious players who on seeing the success of the tournament apologized and are planning to come back. But where did the idea of Celtic League or East African tournament come? Both the Celtic League and East African tournaments came from a game that cricket should learn a lot of things from- Rugby

The Celtic league is already a very successful tournament that involves teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales & Italy. This tournament which started in 2001 has picked up popularity over time and become the only first class tournament of these nations. It has also helped to have the first professional teams in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There have been some downsides where some professional clubs could not balance the sheets and hence were dissolved. The mistakes of the tournament can studied and ensured that they are not repeated

Cricket should definitely pick this brilliant experience and go for a similar league not just for Ireland and Scotland but even go further and have more nations as a part of it. Presently England with its 18 counties is the only place where professional Cricket is possible in Europe. European laws make that easy for these team to allow their players in county cricket but that has its risk of losing players to England. As an alternative professional set up to come to levels of county cricket is not possible if Ireland or Scotland go alone or together but lies in the fact that Wales, Netherlands and Denmark are brought into the fold

Professional set up depends on 2 major factors:- 1. The Economy of the countries i.e GDP of the countries, 2. The level of Interest- Are people willing to come to watch the game. The number of teams from each country should be based on both these factors. The fact can be seen that in Celtic League(Rugby), with a economy of 226 B$ Ireland had 4 teams while Wales with a GDP of 73 B$ had 5 teams and what happened? Even though Rugby would be slightly more popular in Wales than Ireland but soon the clubs started failing as they could not find money to sustain.

Going by the present Populations, Interest Levels and GDP the best format would be 4 teams from Ireland , 3 teams from Scotland, 2 from Wales, 2 from Netherlands and 1 from Denmark. This set up would help provide a much bigger population and economical base to sustain the game both in quality and monetary terms.This will help provide an alternate to County with more opportunities for domestic players.

The 12 teams can be as follows
Ireland:- Similar structure as Rugby Union: Ulster (Belfast), Munster (Cork), Leinster (Dublin) & Connacht (Galway)
Scotland:- The recently started 3 team tournament is the perfect way to go ahead: North (Aberdeen), West (Glasgow / Ayr), East (Edinburg)
Wales:- Presently only 1 county takes part in County championships. To increase participation it should be increased to 2 teams:Cardiff & Swansea (Glamorgan)
Netherlands:- The recently started North vs South competition is a perfect platform to go Celtic: North (Amstelveen) & South(Rotterdam)
Denmark:- Cricket is a very lower interest level, hence the whole national team should take part to ensure a competitive tournament. The capital Copenhagen is a perfect place.

The tournament may not be initially having the resources to go completely professional so can start as semi professional. Also since most of the places have stadiums Home and Away would be the best format. Any further expansion is very much possible in Netherlands and Denmark if it helps raise the profile of game in the country. Finally like Rugby the tournament should be run by a company with stakes of all the boards and an independent director. If cricket goes professional in these countries then it can pave the way for Euro Cup and further raise the profile of game.

Lets  hope the first step of Celtic Cup containing 6 teams of Scotland and Ireland goes ahead becomes a success like East African tournaments. I surely will be watching this space

SAARC Twenty20 Schedule

As we all know SAARC TwentyT20 cricket tournament is being held in Maldives from October 31 to November 7. All the 8 members of SAARC are supposed to be participating in the tournament.

BCCI due to other commitments was not able to send it's U-25 teams as the senior team, U-19 team and A team will be busy, besides domestic tournament going.  As the tournament is being held on the sidelines of the SAARC summit, Maldives government wanted all the team to take part in it, hence  BCCI will be represented by Karnataka Institute of Cricket.

Similar problem are also there for Bangladesh who have their both national and A teams busy, hence will be represented by a representative team to be declared soon.

We will soon be seeing some action like Ind V Pak rivalry, Afghanistan proving a point against Bangladesh, Nepal getting good exposure against likes of India, Sri Lanka & Pakistan



Group A
Afghanistan
Bangladesh Representative Side (Bangladesh)
Bhutan
Maldives

Group B
KIC (India)
Nepal
Sri Lanka
Pakistan

Tentative Schedule
31 Oct
Maldives vs Bhutan
Sri Lanka vs Nepal
1 Nov
Afghanistan vs BRS (Bangladesh)
KIC(India) vs Pakistan
2 Nov
Sri Lanka vs KIC(India)
Maldives vs Afghanistan
3 Nov
Nepal vs Pakistan
Bhutan vs BRS (Bangladesh)
4 Nov
Maldives vs BRS (Bangladesh)
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan
5 Nov
Bhutan vs Afghanistan
Nepal vs KIC(India)
6 Nov
1st SF:-Group 1 winners vs Group 2 Runners-up
2nd SF:-Group 2 winners vs Group 1 Runners-up
7 Nov
FINAL 

Scatchy details on SAARC U-25 Tournament Groups and Schedule

Presently the details of the groups though have not been declared and we are still waiting for them but there are few details that can be shared

SAARC Twenty20 Cup, 2011

FORMAT:- T20

Schedule:- 31st Oct to 7 Nov. Teams arrive on 29th Oct and leave on 8th Oct.

Number of teams:- 8, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives(Hosts), Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka U-25 teams

Wicket:- Synthetic wicket (Astro turf).

Groups:- 2 Groups of 4 teams(Group A & Group B) each based on Ranking (Ranking yet to be declared and awaited)
2 Semi Finals:- Winner A Vs Runner Up B, Winner B Vs Runner Up A
Finals


SQUADS:-
3 teams have declared their squad
Afghanistan:- Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Nabi(captain), M. Shahzad, Mirwais Ashraf, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shinwari, Dawlat Zadran, Javed Ahmadi, Asghar Stanikzai, Nasir Jamal, Najibullah Zadran, Amir Mangal, Fazel Zazai and Nawab Khan (TENTATIVE AS PER afgcric.com)

Bhutan:- Jigme Singye, Kencho Norbu, Susil Sharma Luitel, Thinley Tenzin, Thinley Jamtsho, Sonam Darjey, Nar Bahadur Burathoki Mongar, Sisir Raj Gurung, Nima Gurung, Tandin Wangchuk, Tandin Wangchuk, Manoj Adhikari, Sonam Tobgay, Tashi Yoedzer Tshering, Damber Singh Gurung (Coach), Sonam (Manager)

Nepal:- Paras Khadka (Captain) and Gyanendra Malla (Vice Captain), Sarad Veskwarker, Mahesh Chettri, Anil Mandal, Amrit Bhattarai, Rahul BK, Pradeep Airee, Prithu Baskota, Naresh Budhayer, Binod Bhandari, Krishna Karki, Bhuwan Karki and Avinash Karna.

Pakistan:-     Nasir Jamshaid, Awais Zia, Umer Amin (cap), Rameez Aziz, Zain Abbass, Shazeb Hassan, Jamal Anwar, Raza Hasan, Muhammad Tallha, Anwar Ali, Mohamed Rameez, Asad Ali, Usman Qadir, Bismillah Khan. Officials: Sabih Azhar (Coach/Manager), Dr. Riaz Ahmed (Physio), Yasir malik (Trainer)

We are awaiting for more details of the tournament. As soon as we get them we would post them for you.

Interview with Nigerian Pace Sensation: Akolade Saheed O

Hello Prince welcome to Associate and Affiliate Cricket. As we always start the Interview we would start with the question like always

For the interest of Wider world, I would like to ask you what is the status of cricket in your country?
The Status of cricket in Nigeria is not bad because Nigeria is an associate member of ICC and Cricket is
the first sport played in Nigeria and Nigeria cricket Federation is trying to develop the game all over
Nigeria but it's not easy for them because the game is not popular in the Country, People focus on
football a lot.

Akolade bowling. The picture is testimony to pace he can deliver

What is required for taking cricket to next level in your country?
We need the Nigeria Government to support the Nigeria Cricket Federation and we need sponsors to help NCF with development program and help they create tournament and league.We lack cricket educational
program for coaches, Umpires and all the officials. We lack good cricket pitches. 
 
What are the challenges in playing for an Associate Nation?
The matches we play at the ICC World Cricket League are good but we don't get to rest effort to play good
cricket because sometimes we land in a country and we have to play 2 games straight away.. I am happy
playing the tournaments but this are some challenges we face sometimes.

What should ICC do to make the game global in true sense?
ICC are doing a very great job in developing the game globally but if they can do 50% more of what they
are currently doing, i believe there will be more progress in associate cricket.


How does it feel to be a star in your country at such a young age?
I feel very happy and proud but I am still working very hard because I know one day i will lead the
country to glory. I have a lot of cricket currently coming my way.. Playing the 2011/2012 cricket season
in the CCC Cricket League in Lagos, Nigeria and 2012 cricket season to play in England.. I want to be a
professional Cricketer one day.

What are the steps that need to be taken to make cricket self sufficient financially in Nigeria?
Nigeria Government assisting with fund yearly just like ICC, Getting cooperate Sponsors and Nigeria
Cricket Federation need to find something that will generate funds for them.

Do you feel you can match the pace of  legends of West Indies or Shoaib Akhtar?

Yes.. Currently i am still young and i am bowling very quick now.. Coaches and Umpires at the World Cricket League 6 told me that i can really be very quick one day like Dale Steyn and others.

I believe i can bowl around the 160 Kph mark one day

 

Can Cricket pick up as a game in Nigeria
Yes..We development program are in place... People Love cricket here in Nigeria 

What else would you like to share?
Watch Out for Saheed Akolade in some years time

I have trails next year in a county in England and i am getting ready for it.I am currently 18 years now

 

Why do you want to play in England

cricket in Nigeria is not pro.I rather play in England and improve my cricket with top coaches and facilities

and help Nigeria in international tournaments

If cricket turns Pro in Nigeria so will you be willing to play for Nigeria

yes

 

Thanks Saheed for taking out time. We are sure that you will be the next sensation from Associate World to rock the Cricket World. A very best from our side.