Popularizing cricket in Indonesian schools

Popularizing cricket in Indonesian schools

By Novan Iman Santosa

JAKARTA (JP): By and large, Indonesians are not familiar with
cricket. Most people in the country have never had the
opportunity to see the game, the exception being those who have
access to such foreign TV stations as ESPN.

The game itself -- which is played on a grass field -- is more
known in the British Commonwealth, including India, Pakistan, New
Zealand and West Indies. Currently, cricket is played in some 60
countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel and China.

However, this does not mean the game cannot catch on here.

Former world cricket player Sir Richard Hadlee of New Zealand,
who visited Indonesia over the weekend, admitted it would be an
enormous task to make cricket a popular pastime here.

"It needs exposure, which means television and media coverage,
sponsorship and inviting exhibition matches from international
teams. It's also important to take the game into schools to
expose it to the youngsters," Hadlee, who has been playing for 20
years, told The Jakarta Post after a coaching clinic at the
British International School on Sunday.

"Indonesia has the potential with its large population, but
this also makes it a greater task as basically cricket is an
English-type game."

Cricket is played between two teams of 11 players. One team
bats and attempts to score runs while the other team bowls a ball
at the batsman to try to get him out. Every batsman's ambition is
to score a century (100 runs) in an innings.

The required equipment for cricket are a bat (made of wood
with a rubber grip at the top) and a ball (made of red leather
with a stitched seam running down the middle and weighing 5.5 to
5.75 ounces and with a circumference of 8.8 to nine inches).

All players are expected to wear white or cream-colored shirts
and trousers.

An effective way to introduce cricket in the country is by
teaching it to students. Therefore, Hadlee gave a two-hour
coaching session to 14 cricket-playing students.

"The students' enthusiasm and involvement was pleasing. They
enjoyed it. I also gave them tips to improve their skills."

Hadlee then gave a miniature bat with his autograph on it to
each student and also four personalized bats to the school.

Hadlee was the first bowler in Test cricket history to capture
400 wickets. He holds two world records, took five or more
wickets in an innings 36 times and nine times took 10 wickets in
a match. He also scored 3,124 runs at an average of 27.16 runs
per innings.

Coming from a strong cricket background, Hadlee played 86
Tests for New Zealand, taking 431 wickets at an average of 22.29.

His father, Walter, was a captain for New Zealand while his
brother, Dale, played Test cricket and is now head of the New
Zealand Cricket Academy.

British International School principal Peter Hoggins said it
was such a rare opportunity for the students to have a world-
class cricket player coaching them.

"It's a great honor for us. This is a moment they will never
forget, to have a world-class player among them. It really
motivated the children," he said. "It's something they will
remember for the rest of their lives."

Patrick Read, the head of the physical education department,
said the school had its own cricket team.

"We have cricket in the third term part of our curriculum. We
have a youth cricket team in the Jakarta Cricket League. Some of
the older boys play in the local men's team.

"There are 10 senior teams and eight junior teams in the
league. Most of the players are expatriates but some Indonesians
are starting to play," he said.

Read also said there were a few cricket tournaments featuring
other schools.