RI cricket team setting sights on Vanuatu

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

The country's cricket team is preparing for the ICC Cricket Cup in September in Vanuatu, with a long-term goal to land a spot in the 2011 World Cup.

On Sunday, the team -- composed of four Indonesians and seven expatriates from India and Australia -- took on Adelaide's Pulteney Old Scholars in Jimbaran.

The local side was bowled out for 65 and lost by seven wickets.

"The championship in Vanuatu is a prequalifier for the first phase of World Cup in 2011," said Indonesian Cricket Foundation (ICF) media liaison officer Jim Howlett.

The 19-strong national team has help from Western Australia coach Charlie Burke, who comes up for periodic visits to evaluate the players.

Fourteen players will be selected to play in Vanuatu, competing against teams from Japan, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands and Samoa.

National team vice captain Soni Hawoe said Japan, with a longer cricket tradition than Indonesia, and Vanuatu, with a strong team and the advantage of playing at home, would be tough tests.

Although cricket has been played by expatriates in this country for many years, it is only in the last 10 years that efforts have been made to reach out to Indonesians.

Burke acknowledged the newness of the Indonesian team, but said the players were on a par physically and in their mental strength with other teams.

"As the Indonesian team is still in a training stage, I will continue to emphasize the strategy used by teams in Australia, such as fielding and bowling," he said.

A championship win in Vanuatu would give strength to Indonesia's efforts to move from an affiliate to associate position in the International Cricket Council.

Soni, who is also the ICF national development coordinator and a coach for the national under 15 and U-19 squads, said the ICC would provide greater assistance to Indonesia, including in popularizing the game, once it was granted associate status.