National cricket team to have int'l debut

National cricket team to have int'l debut

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A national cricket team is to participate for the first time
in an internationally recognized event the East Asia Pacific
(EAP) cricket tournament in Japan in May, an Indonesian Cricket
Foundation (ICF) official has said.

ICF chairman M.K. Kuresh said that the squad would consist of
approximately eight Indonesians, while the remaining positions
would be filled by eligible expatriates.

The local squad members were all from the Bali International
Cricket Club (BICC), whose members were already quite advanced,
Kuresh told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"Indonesia would have a better chance of getting into the
cricket world cup than into the soccer world cup," Kuresh said,
adding that the locals were surprisingly natural players.

He said that in the next three or four years, Indonesia might
excel in the world of cricket.

The EAP tourney itself was a qualifying path toward the world
cup, and although still far away, many expatriates and cricket
observers were optimist about Indonesia's potential, he said.

Recently, the ICF received a Global Development Award as
having the Best Overall Cricket Development Program from the
International Cricket Council (ICC) for the second consecutive
year.

The ICC, the world cricket governing body, also gave the ICF
its Best Junior Development Initiative award.

The ICC's EAP regional development manager, Tim Anderson, told
the Post that the ICC was delighted to see the fast development
of cricket in this country.

"It's remarkable to see in a short period that the number of
people introduced to cricket in the country has grown from about
30 to 6,000," Anderson said.

It is estimated that some 6,000 school students have played
cricket in Greater Jakarta and Bali, with a junior tournament to
be held in the capital city later this year.