One of the Japan Crickets longest serving volunteers was honoured by the International Cricket Council at the 2024 AGM for his outstanding contribution to the game. 

Mumtaz Alam was given the Long Service Award “In recognition of your outstanding dedication and commitment to the development and growth of cricket”, an award that is only given to those who have been involved in cricket in one country for more than twenty years. 

While JCA CEO Naoki Miyaji collected the award on his behalf at the AGM in Sri Lanka, Mr Alam was able to collect it from his former teammate in person at the 2024 Annual Awards ceremony. 

Since around 1990, Alam has made significant contributions to the development of cricket in Japan both on and off the field.

As a player, he played for the Japanese national team, scoring a career-best 93 runs in 2004 to help the Japanese men’s national team win their first international match in the 50-over format.

He also made a great contribution to club cricket, such as the formation of the Millennium Cricket Club (currently Sano Cricket Club), the development of the club, and players of the next generation.

In recent years, as a member of the JCA Umpire Panel, he umpires many matches every year, and was recognised as one of two of the JCL Umpires of the Year at the 2024 JCA Awards.

Mr. Alam, who is originally from Pakistan, has also played a leading role in building a bridge between the Pakistani community in Japan, such as forming the Pakistan Embassy XI in the Embassy Cup and planning and managing cricket events for the Pakistani community.

Mr. Alam, with the support of the Pakistan Embassy, played a key role in hosting a commemorative match on the grounds of Tanuma High School in 2012, the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Pakistan. This commemorative match highlighted the potential Cricket has to promote Sano City and was critical in redeveloping Tanuma High School, which was closed the following year, into the current Sano City International Cricket Ground.

The JCA are delighted to see Mumtaz honoured in this way and would like to give our own thanks for his commitment. We look forward to the next twenty years!