By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian cricket board will depute coaches to China to help Chinese players and coaches learn the nuances of the game, it was decided at a top level meeting of the board in Mumbai Sunday.
M.P. Pandove, joint secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said following a request from China, it was decided in-principle to assign coaches from the Bangalore-based National Cricket Academy (NCA).
NCA administrative manager K R Nair told IANS that though he has not heard anything from the BCCI yet, there are enough qualified coaches who can be sent to China.
China, which has taken to cricket in a big way at the school level, is keen to strengthen its base. As a first step, the country wants its coaches trained so that they could impart training/coaching to the budding cricketers.
China already has 68 Level I, the basic level, coaches besides 32 Level I umpires. However, there are no Level II or Level III coaches.
India has a large pool of coaches. “At the moment we have around 50 Level III, around 250 Level II and 550 Level I coaches – all NCA products. When we receive a communication from the board, we will see how many people are available to go to China,” Nair said.
The Chinese Cricket Association (CCA) aims to have 15,000 cricketers with a sufficient number of umpires and coaches by 2009. It aims to swell the number to 60,000 by 2012.
“By 2020, following the establishment of a national league, international club matches, a national school and inter-city competition as well as a credible Team China, the association expects cricket to be played actively by 150,000 people,” says Asian Cricket Council (CCA).
CCA officials got a big boost in their efforts last year when China won the Best Junior Cricket Initiative award at the International Cricket Council’s Regional Development Awards for Asia.
This year China received another shot in the arm when its team reached the semi-finals of the ACC Women’s Tournament in July.
Another big boost awaits China when cricket makes debut at the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou in 2010.
Former Pakistan bowler Rashid Khan is China’s national coach while former Sri Lanka speedster Rumesh Ratnayake is the ACC Development Officer for China.
“Never in my life have I seen the game taken up so quickly by children. They had the basics of the game within five minutes,” Ratnayake is quoted as saying by the ACC.