The JCA is actively looking for new partners to help us promote our domestic competitions in 2025. 

As cricket in Japan continues to grow and the quality of the domestic tournaments continues to rise, we believe there has never been a better time for Japan-based businesses to join us as we move the game forward. 

Partnerships, including naming rights, are available for the following competitions and programmes:

• Japan Premier League
• Women’s Japan Premier League
• Japan Futures League
• Japan Cricket League (Divisions 1-4)
• Japan Cricket League T20
• Japan Cricket League T10
• Japan Cup Finals
• Japan Cup Regional Qualifiers (North, East, South, West, Kansai, Tokai)
• Women’s Japan Cricket League
• Japan Under 19 League (Boys & Girls)
• Japan Under 15 League (Boys & Girls)
• Cricket Blast Programme
• JCA Umpire Panel

Any interested parties should contact Head of Cricket Operations Alan Curr for an initial discussion on a.curr@cricket.or.jp 

We are excited to welcome new partners to our organisation for 2025 and beyond.  

The Men’s Japan Under 19 team completed their second Asia Cup campaign with a first ever contest against Pakistan, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Japan handed debuts to young wicket-keeper Skyler Nakayama-Cook and Sano Braves Yuto Yageta, meaning everyone in the 14-player squad featured across the three matches.

After being asked to bowl Japan made their best start of the week, striking five times in the first half of the innings to have Pakistan under pressure at 100 for five after 25 overs.

There was a seventh wicket of the tournament for Kiefer Yamamoto-Lake, while Kai Wall collected his first with an excellent take behind the stumps by the debutant Nakayama-Cook.

Spinners Charlie Hinze and Hugo Tani-Kelly kept things tight, but the legspin of Nihar Parmar was the highlight for Japan, taking his first wickets of the tournament and ending with figures of two for 18 from six overs.

Star batter Shahzaib Khan scored centuries against both India and UAE in the previous matches, and he combined with Muhammad Riazullah in a partnership of 82 from from 115 balls to rebuild the innings.

Khan was well caught and bowled by Timothy Moore for 45, to give him a first wicket of the tournament, before Riazullah took over to finish 66 not out and lift Pakistan to 243 for six from their 50 overs.

On what has been a lower scoring ground, runs were hard to come by and although Parmar, who has shown outstanding application throughout the tournament at the top of the order, dug in again for 25 from 60 balls, the left-arm spin of Mohammad Huzaifa was too much for five of the batters as he ran through the middle and lower order to bowl his team to a 180-run win as Japan were dismissed for 63.

Pakistan progress to the semi finals, along with India who defeated UAE by ten wickets, meaning Pakistan will play defending Champions Bangladesh while India play Sri Lanka to complete the final four.

The Japan team would like to thank everyone for all the support they have received from at home and around the world, look forward to applying the lessons learned in this event when they next take the field in 2025.

The fixtures are scheduled as follows: 

• 30th November (Saturday) – UAE vs Japan, Sharjah (UAE won by 273 runs)
• 2nd December (Monday) – India vs Japan, Sharjah (India won by 211 runs)
• 4th December (Wednesday) – Pakistan vs Japan, Dubai (Pakistan won by 180 runs)

Knockout matches are scheduled as follows: 

• Semi-Finals: Friday 6th December
• Final: Sunday 8th December

All matches begin at 09:00 local time / 14:00 Japan Standard Time. 

All matches will be available to watch live on the Asian Cricket Council YouTube Channel and live scores can be followed on the ACC Match Centre.

Sendai University bounced back from disappointment in 2023 to complete a 100% record in the Women’s Japan Cricket League and reclaim the title first won in 2022. 

After winning every match in the group stages, Japan’s northernmost club defeated Adore in a repeat of the 2022 Grand Final, winning by 104 runs after excellent performances from Seika Sumi and Haruna Iwasaki. 

Ishu Karunarathna of Women in Blue was the leading run scorer in the tournament, while Meg Ogawa took ten wickets to be top wicket-taker. 

Thank you to all the teams and managers for the work they have put into getting the season played. There are some exciting plans for the 2025 Women’s Cricket Season which we look forward to introducing soon.

The Tokyo Falcons showed everyone they are a force to be reckoned with as their Under 19 team matches the performance of their JCL Division One team by winning every match in the 2024 Under 19 League. 

After winning all ten of their league matches the team brushed aside the Lions and Kawasaki Knight Riders in the semi-final and final respectively to successfully defend the title they won for the first time in 2023. 

Timothy Moore of the Lions finished as the leading run scorer in the competition with more than 400 runs, while Hassan Muhammad of Sano Cricket Club was top wicket taker with 19. 

In the Under 15 League the Men in Blue became the fifth different winner in successive years, winning their first title since 2019 as they prevented the Falcons from doing a junior double. 

Jasant Kaswan of Alpha Quashers Yokohama was the leading run scorer while Aaryan Waduge of Kawasaki Knight Riders was the most successful bowler. 

Congratulations to everyone involved, as well as thank you to all team managers and coaches who play a significant role in making sure the leagues run smoothly.

The Tokyo Falcons completed an incredible season in the Japan Cricket League (JCL) Division One by maintaining an 100% record throughout the season to lift the trophy for the first time. 

After winning all ten league matches, the Falcons first overpowered Kawasaki Knight Riders in the Semi Final to set up a Grand Final against three-time champions MAX CC, making their first Final appearance since 2019.

Batting first the Falcons were indebted to a 127-run partnership between Abhishek Anand (97 from 100 balls) and Vinoth Kumar (69 from 81) who set up an imposing total of 225 all out as Basit Saeed and Prabath Sankalpa took three wickets each. 

Veteran Kuldeep Bisht turned destroyer in the second innings, taking five for 33 from his eight overs as they dismissed MAX for 190 to earn a 35-run win.

Anand, with 564 runs, was comfortably the leading run scorer in the top division this year while Bisht overhauled Sabaorish Ravichandran to finish as the leading wicket-taker with 19 from nine matches. 

It was a different story in Division Two as the Tigers 2nd XI prevented Tokyo Titans finishing the season unbeaten by winning their fifth title in ten years and second in succession. 

The Titans, who came into the Grand Final with nine wins and a no-result, were bowled out for just 71 and the Tigers passed their score in the 21st over to win by four wickets. 

In Division Three the Tokyo Sereknights ended the Falcons 3rd XI unbeaten season with a win by 93-runs while the inaugural Division Four title was lifted by the Titans 2nd XI to give them a maiden JCL trophy. They edged home against the Men in Blue 4th XI to win the title by one wicket. 

Congratulations to all teams and all the players who made the 2024 Japan Cricket League Season such a memorable one. We look forward to celebrating with everyone at the 2024 Annual Awards on December 7th. 

Three members of the Women’s Japan National Team have been selected by the ICC East Asia Pacific (EAP) Regional office to represent the region at the 2025 Australian Country Cricket Championships (ACCC).

Ahilya Chandel, Hinase Goto and Seika Sumi will all travel to the Barossa Valley in South Australia in January next year to participate as players while Ardene Ruhode (Coach) and Manami Hoshi (Trainer) will also be on the staff. 

This is the first time since 2019 that an EAP team has entered the ACCC and Japan has a proud history in the event having had members on the winning team in 2017 and 2016. 

The event will run from the 3rd – 11th January and the players intend to arrive early in order to prepare for the series of T20 matches. 

The purpose of the ACCC is for the top teams within each state, outside of the main metropolitan areas, to compete against each other while the EAP players get a chance to gain experience playing overseas and learning from each other.

The full team and staff is as below, the Japan players and staff are marked in bold: 

Name / Country

• VICKY ARA’A (c) / Papua New Guinea
• NI PUTU AYU NANDA SAKARINI (c) / Indonesia
• NAOANI VARE (vc) / Papua New Guinea
• AHILYA CHANDEL / Japan
• SERI CHANG / Republic of Korea
• NI LUH KETUT WESIKA RATNA DEWI / Indonesia
• KEVAU FRANK / Papua New Guinea
• HINASE GOTO / Japan
• ZAMERA IKIUA / Cook Islands
• MAHUTA JAYPHERT / Papua New Guinea
• ERANI POKANA / Papua New Guinea
• SOFIA SAMUELS / Cook Islands
• ALEX BOBBI YERRO SMITH / Philippines
• SEIKA SUMI / Japan
• NI MADE PUTRI SUWANDEWI (TORI) / Indonesia

Coaches: Ardene Ruhode (Japan), Ian West (Cook Islands), Eden Eduard (Indonesia)

Physio: Manami Hoshi (Japan)

Team Manager: Vikash Yadav (Indonesia)

The JCA would like to congratulate the selected representatives and we hope it is a great experience for all involved.