Going locations: Japanese cricketers Akari Nishimura, Elena Kusuda and Erika Oda will probably be enjoying in South Africa’s inaugural Global Cricket Tournament on the SuperSport Park in Centurion.
| Photo Credit: P.Ok. AJITH KUMAR
It shouldn’t be typically that you’d discover cricket and Japan in the identical sentence. The recreation could have been launched to the locals by the British within the nineteenth century, but it surely hasn’t but fairly caught the creativeness of the folks of a rustic that’s one in every of Asia’s sporting superpowers.
But, issues are altering. And you possibly can see the change at Centurion this previous week. Three feminine cricketers skilled on the SuperSport Park, forward of the inaugural version of the Global Cricket Tournament this week at Irene, close to Centurion.
Akari Nishimura, Elena Kusuda and Erika Oda reached Centurion forward of Christmas and in addition watched the primary Test between South Africa and India. “It was great watching a Test in front of such a big crowd,” mentioned Elena. “Having grown up in Brisbane, I used to watch Tests at the Gabba.” She is thrilled that she has develop into part of the brand new ladies’s event in South Africa and is wanting ahead to the occasion that options stars of South African ladies’s cricket like Sune Luus, Anneke Bosch and Masabata Klaas. “This is a big opportunity for us and women’s cricket in Japan,” she mentioned.
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Like Elena, Erika too has watched Test cricket earlier than, in New Zealand. “I feel really lucky to be able to play cricket in such a wonderful facility here in South Africa, with great coaches, strength coaches, physios, everything,” he mentioned. “It is an incredible experience considering we are from a country where cricket is still developing.”
The Japan Cricket Association (JCA) believes the event will now be sooner following the IOC’s determination to incorporate cricket within the 2028 Olympics. “It represents a major opportunity for cricket in Japan and we are excited about working with the Japan Olympic Council in the coming years,” mentioned Naoki Alex Miyaji, CEO, JCA.
Alan Curr, Head of Cricket Operations, JCA, mentioned the IOC’s determination helped the sport achieve extra consideration. “We have a wonderfully diverse cricket community,” he mentioned. “Women’s cricket in Japan perhaps peaked between 2008 and 2012 when we had a strong team and won bronze at the 2010 Asian Games.”
