The term Chinamen is set to take on a whole new dimension in the world of cricket. Usually associated with a deceptive delivery from a left-arm spinner, the word will soon have a more literal meaning: a player from the Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) newest member, China.Its been a year since the Mainland formally joined the ACC but so far little progress has been made in demystifying the world of bats, balls and bails in the Middle Kingdom. On hearing the words, “ban qiu,” as cricket is called in Chinese, the average Zhou usually scratches her head in puzzlement and even the vigorous miming of sweep shots and bowling actions does not elicit any recognition.However, following meetings between ACC and Chinese sports ministry officials in Beijing last week, a detailed plan to introduce the game to the world’s most populous country has been chalked out and approved. The aim: to have 20,000 trained players, 300 umpires and 2000 coaches in China by 2015.According to the Chief Executive of the ACC, Syed Ashraful Huq, the plan to develop cricket in China is “the most ambitious and important project for world cricket at the moment.” “Just look at the size of this country and the number of people here. If even a small percentage get interested in the game it will be a huge boost for the sport,” he enthuses.Moreover, given the massive size of the Chinese market, the commercial potential of sponsorship deals has the ACC salivating in anticipation. Huq says he is already in discussions with several multinationals who have displayed an interest in sponsoring the game in the Mainland.Ms Cui Weihong, Secretary General of the China Cricket Association, the government body charged with overseeing the development of the game, explains that the first step towards popularising cricket in the Mainland will entail introducing it in select schools and universities.Starting in the fall, 15 universities, 24 secondary schools and 24 primary schools in 4 different Chinese provinces will start teaching the sport . To provide support, the ACC will hold a series of umpire training and coaching accreditation courses in Beijing in September, which will later be repeated at regular intervals. The hope is to be able to have an inter-school cricket competition in China as early as next summer.A high quality cricket ground is also being developed in Beijing by the ACC who envisage holding an international tournament in the Mainland within the next couple of years. “Imagine an India-Pakistan match here, televised live across the world, with all the hype that creates,” smiles Huq. “It will make the Chinese sit-up and notice the game.”The ACC is partnering with Cricket Australia to coach Chinese umpires and players. The reason for working with the Australians says Huq is that they are simply the best cricketing country in the world. But according to Cui, the China Cricket Association will also look south of the Himalayas, to India and Pakistan for help. “We really need assistance from Asian countries like India because they are closer to us Chinese in physique compared to the Australians who are are bigger and stronger,” she explains.Cui says she is confident that cricket will eventually have many takers in China because it “requires little direct body contact and places more emphasis on strategy and skill,” characteristics she claims are suited to the Chinese temperament and build.While largely unknown, cricket is not altogether absent from the Mainland. Expatriates in the larger Chinese cities have been playing the sport for decades. The Shanghai Cricket Club (SCC) for example has 150 members and regularly organises matches. Mayank Purwar, an executive with the telecom company Siemens in Shanghai, captains the SCC’s Maharaja League, which comprises players from South Asia. He believes that, “Given the discipline of Chinese sports persons they can be a force to reckon with at the international level within a few years, if they put their mind to it.”Indeed, history suggests, that when China decides it wants to be god at something it invariably succeeds. Thus for example, in the 1960s the nation aspired to be good at athletics and swimming, with notable subsequent success. More recently, China decided it wanted to rival the rest of the world at games like chess, basketball and golf, sports in which it had little background but in which it now excels.“If the Chinese think they can be world class cricket players in 20 odd years and they do, I for one believe them,” says Huq. However, one large challenge cricket faces in the Mainland is the fact that it is neither an Olympic sport nor included in the Asian Games. As a result, the China Cricket Association has virtually no funds available to it from the government and relies almost wholly on the ACC for financial support.Given that the ACC is the richest cricketing authority in the world, Huq says it can well afford to spend money in developing the sport in the Mainland, with the hope of reaping long-term profits. The challenge for him is not so much to teach the Chinese “the technicalities of the game” as much as “the culture of cricket.” A first step in this direction has recently been taken with the translation of “the rules of cricket” into Mandarin Chinese.Huq recalls that there were a few raised eyebrows at the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) who own the copyright of the rules, when they were asked for permission for the translation. But despite the few for whom the idea of cricket in Mandarin is “just not cricket,” the majority of the cricketing world is waiting to see how the game unfolds in China, with anticipation.India might do well to look to its laurels.
