It is one of the most fascinating stories brewing up in the Eastern Asian region for some time now. Slowly and steadily, the crust of the story is reaching to many who are unaware about it and don’t know where to begin to think about embracing it. But it has reached many till now and probably, it’ll simply grow substantially in the coming years. The simple story of a Gentlemen’s game called Cricket and it’s rise in popularity in the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan.
It’s the start of the domestic season now this time of the year but prior to that, Sano City hosted a “Cricket and Curry” Festival to promote the Sano “City of Cricket” project. “The Sano project has been fantastic for cricket in Japan with the city council being very supportive. Cricket is in the curriculum at schools now and the ground itself will be ready for matches from August we hope, and maybe even training from this month.” says Alan Curr, Head of Cricket Operations, Japan Cricket.
Two matches get played during the “Cricket and Curry” festival. Japan XI took on India XI and South Asian XI in 12-overs-a-side contests on two days of fun-filled cricket action. All this thanks to Japan’s Cricket’s “City of Cricket” project. And there is more in the pipeline for the project in the country. When asked about it, Alan said “Moving forward we want more Cities of Cricket to be dotted around the country. We already have one in Akishima which is the west of Tokyo, and they also have cricket in the curriculum. Sammu City in Chiba (east of Tokyo) is also on board with the program while in January we signed an agreement with Kaizuka City who have become the first City of Cricket outside of the Kanto area. Kaizuka wish to use cricket to regenerate their local area and have a space planned for a ground already, so it is quite an exciting project.”
For any new sport to be embraced in a culture which is not accustomed to its nuances, it takes time to get things going in the grass-root levels in the country. Japan’s tryst with Cricket hasn’t been a smooth sailing ship in the past but the times are changing. “The culture here (Japan) is excellent. The community is very welcoming to new players and while some take it more seriously than others, the fact that the game is fun and international are big factors in its appeal to new players. We wish to use that to help sell the sport to a wider audience and hope that we can create some fun new formats which are more accessible as well.” Alan says about the growing landscape for cricket in the country.
Formation of a National Academy Squad from 2018 showcases the efforts put in by Japan Cricket to grow the awareness of the sport among the youth of Japan to perhaps unearth hidden talents for the future. “In August this year we held the first Under 15 High Performance Camp and this is a logical next step. It is a great chance for us to start working with the best male and female cricketers in Japan and provide them with playing and training opportunities that have not previously been possible.”
So, does Cricket has the scope to survive alongside other major sports in Japan?? “There is always scope and just this year we have had Shogo Kimura, a former pro baseballer who played in the top league here for 15 years, switch to cricket. We have named him in the national squad because he is a professional athlete whose attitude to training will have a positive influence on the other players. Of course he has tremendous hand-eye coordination and hits the ball very hard, so there are a lot or raw materials to work with, while he also has a fantastic arm. Hopefully he can inspire more players to make the change if they are not enjoying baseball.” Alan very much hopeful of good things to come from Shogo during his time with the national squad ahead of ICC East Asian sub-regional qualifiers for WorldT20 in 2020.
But as seen in many sports categories over the years, accolades brings name and fame to an individual, but for many, if the financial rewards are not as compelling, choosing the sport as a career choice becomes a difficulty and even more tougher for the Cricket governing bodies in the country to keep them in the system. The case of Japan is not so different with no financial or monitory system in place for the players to retain them once they get past their teenage years. Alan spoke about the financial constraints and said “The funding simply is not there, but as new generations of players come through we hope they can help Japan rise through the divisions and compete at a level where either the ICC, the Japan Government or even independent- sponsors believe it is worth investing in our players and taking the game professional over here. Of course Japan is known for its work culture and so we do lose many players once they hit 22/23 years old. However the ones who are passionate and keep playing are the ones that we want, because they will have a lifelong love for cricket and will continue to give back to the sport long after their playing days are done, and that is the only way cricket in Japan and truly move forward.”
Still very much confident about the programs put in place for development of players by sending them overseas to Australia, Alan says that it is something they are keen to see flourish as it also helps the players get past the language barriers as well. “Many of our players go overseas to Australia in our winter, the seasons match up very well. The issue is they can only do this when they are young as time off once they start work is a challenge and needs to be kept for any tournaments we might have. The exchange with Maribyrnong Academy came out of our relationship with Cricket Victoria who send high performance coaches over here 3-4 times a year. One such coached worked there and helped set this up – hopefully we can send more players there in the future so that they improve as cricketers but also see another side of the game and how seriously kids in other countries take it. Likewise it is a good opportunity for players to improve their English and have a real “life experience” which is a big part of what we want for our players, to help them develop as people as well as cricketers.”
Developing facilities for Cricket practice or games is incredibly difficult and with very little financial support from the Government, it becomes a hindrance to Alan’s plans a bit. “There is very little financial help from the National Government, although Sano City have helped us in developing the game by providing some sponsorship, they recognise that cricket is good for the local economy. Developing facilities is incredibly difficult, the lack of space in urban areas in Japan makes an easily accessible cricket ground quite a challenge, but we are working on finding potential venues for indoor facilities where people could at least train in winter or the evenings.” A little financial support is all that is required to get longer-term gains. But it needs to be understood that the results might not come overnight so that is also part of the patience game that investors will have to deal with when thinking about investing in Japan Cricket. Not that success wouldn’t come but the financial support can enable Japan Cricket to bring in resources and facilities that’ll aid in the growth of local players development.
Japan Cricket were recently given the financial boost with Queserser confirmed as the sponsor of the Men’s National Team and the support will be massive in Japan’s preparations towards playing International games in 2018 including ICC sub-regional qualifiers and East Asia Cup (yet to be confirmed).
ICC has always been supportive of the programs that Japan Cricket is running and Alan is thankful to them for whatever support is coming from their end. “They have been very supportive of us, giving a lot of guidance and support in terms of personnel visiting and working with staff, as well as having us host a number of ICC tournaments in recent years. We cannot really ask for much more than that.”
Prime focus on developing the domestic structure in the country and improving the competitiveness levels in the games is what Japan Cricket is basing itself on for better results in International tournament, which is limited to 1 or 2 in a year. in 2018, the Men’s team will take part in the East Asian sub-regional qualifiers in Philippines for WorldT20 in 2020. Their last International tournament being the East Asian Cup that they took part in and Alan views it as one of the flagship tournament for the region, which will aid in the overall growth of the sport in Japan and neighbouring countries in the region. “Having started the East Asia Cup with four year agreement we had a real belief that it would be a positive for all four nations going forward. Japan and Hong Kong certainly remain committed to that initial vision, but communication with China is difficult while Korea have been hit badly by cricket’s removal from the Asian Games this year, meaning they lost all their funding and are struggling to take part this year. We will endeavour to keep it going as best we can, but the future is a little uncertain right now. We set it up specifically because all the teams in the region needed more games, and that has not really changed.”
Alan continues “Having two tournaments in a year is very unusual for us and represents double what we normally have! The reality of cricket here is that by having two overseas competitions it presents a different challenge because our players will need time off work/studies and with the tournaments being in September and December the biggest issue will be fielding our strongest side at both events.”
Not underestimating their opponents in any manner, Alan points out that it’ll be a tough campaign to secure top spot from the sub-regional Qualifiers against Philippines, Korea and Indonesia. “It will be tough of course, but we will be going over there with the ambition of winning. Last time we played Korea with our full team in 2016 we won 1 and lost 1, while Philippines and Indonesia beat us in Feb 2017, but that was in 50-over cricket which we do not play over here. We think we are a much stronger T20 side and if things go well then who knows?”
And Alan is surely hoping to provide his guys some amount of match practice before they head to Philippines. “In terms of match practice, we will arrange matches for the players as a group to continue learning and improving in the specific roles they fill for the National Team, however the Japanese domestic season is a fairly full schedule so these guys will play a lot of games throughout the year which only allows for three training camps to avoid players missing matches for their clubs. At least this year the events are at the end of our season – our last ICC tournament was in February when our players had not been able to train adequately for four months in the lead up.”
Cricket will thrive and survive in the Land of the Rising Sun and someday, the national men’s and women’s teams from Japan will proudly represent themselves in ICC World Cup’s (50-overs and T20I). A story worth to be told for all Cricket lovers in Japan and across the globe.
