Japan Cricket Association (JCA) have announced a core group of 30 players, as part of the 2021 Academy squad from the national U19 trials held at Sano International Cricket Ground on 11th April. The squad was announced after Head Selector Simon Dart, and Head Coach Dhugal Bedingfield chose the players based on their on-field skills and overall fitness levels.
Simon Dart said in the official press release “It was great to get out into the field at last and see what young talent is out there. Of course, Japan went to the Under 19 World Cup last year but nobody wants that to be a one off, we want to be qualifying regularly so how we develop these young players is key.”
Sano International cricket ground will host the U19 East Asia-Pacific regional qualifiers for 2022 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in September 2021, as Japan compete with Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Indonesia for the lone qualification spot in the main draw.
2021 Japan Cricket Academy Squad
Tushar Chaturvedi (Chiba My-Ys CC), Ryan Drake (Mosman CC), Ishaan Fartyal (Chiba My-Ys CC), Jamie Fordyce (Lions Club), Shotaro Hiratsuka (Sano Braves), Ando Jisei (Uenomiya Junior and Senior High School Cricket Club), Issa Katakura (Akishima Aviators CC), Tetsuro Kato (Ealing CC), Lachlan Lake (Willetton District CC), Leon Mehlig (Chiba My-Ys CC), Masato Morita (Akishima Aviators CC), Jake Nairn (Burleigh Cricket Club), Manav Natarajan (Men in Blue CC), Shu Noguchi (Sano Braves), Aoto Okajima (Akishima Aviators CC), Kento Ota-Dobell (Footscray CC), Nihar Parmar (Tokyo Falcons CC), Aditya Phadke (Alpha Quashers CC), Nikhil Pol (Tokyo Falcons CC), Varad Potdar (Chiba My-Ys CC), Yugandhar Retharekar (Chiba My-Ys CC), Debashish Sahoo (Chiba My-Ys CC), Vinamra Sethi (Alpha Quashers CC), Shriyan Shekhar (Men in Blue CC), Rithvik Sivakumar (Tokyo Falcons CC) Kazuma Stafford (Akishima Aviators CC), Reiji Suto (Sano Braves), Alec Suzuki-McComb (Cheltenham CC), Declan Suzuki-McComb (Cheltenham CC) and Ashley Thurgate (Chiba My-Ys CC)
