It says much for the competitiveness of the JCL 1st Division that after two rounds just one team has a 100% record. 

The Men in Blue have a wealth of talent to choose from and there were contributions from almost everyone in their latest win, against a Wyverns team that came into the game on a high off the back of Shogo Kimura’s Round One heroics. 

Wyverns made an excellent start as Kimura (33), Kawashima (34) and Miyauchi (51) all contributed before Buddika Nanayakkara smacked four sixes in his 32 to lift Wyverns to a competitive 216/9. Hitesh Akabari was miserly with one for 20 while Manav Natarajan played a key role in dismissing both Kimura and Kawashima.

Although Wyverns took regular wickets in the chase, the traditional fast start from Men In Blue meant that others could build partnerships, which they duly did as all eight pairs at least made double figures. 

Akabari (35*) and Natarajan (10*) were there at the end to complete good all round performances from them and a win by three wickets with 3.3 overs to spare which maintains the Men In Blue spot at the top of the table. 

Photo credit: Men in Blue Cricket Club (Facebook)

There was a welcome return to form for MAX CC, who put a spear into the Sharks early season momentum with a comfortable eight wicket win to ignite their season. 

The MAX bowlers had a day out as all six of them picked up wickets, and only Ashley Thurgate with 23*provided any substantial resistance. Vinay Iyer and Prabath Dhanushka then made 44* and 43* respectively to ease MAX to a bonus point win. 

Another team to bounceback was the newly promoted Paddy Foleys who overcame a spirited Wombats side who were indebted to a mammoth innings from Alex Shirai-Patmore. Facing 139 balls in a 40-over match is an achievement in itself, and Shirai-Patmore’s career best 122 was well supported by 38 from Richie Bracefield and 46 from Muhammad Ali. 

A total of 248/5 would need some chasing and after losing both openers early things did not look great for Paddy Foleys. Enter Rashid Rana (50) and Ullah Zahid (79*) broke the back of the chase leading to a win by three wickets with 3.3 overs to spare…exactly the same as the MIB match, which is weird. 

Yet another team who righted wrongs from Round One was Sano Cricket Club who toppled the Tokyo Falcons. A 58-run partnership between Reo Sakurano-Thomas (41) and Shu Noguchi (25) gave a good platform for Sota Wada (31) and Kazumasa Hiratsuka (48*) to push the total on in the last ten overs, finishing 194/6 which looked around par. 

At 53/2 in the chase the game looked set for a tight finish before the Sano change bowlers, Shotarou Hiratsuka (three for 17) and Reiji Suto (three for 14), completely tore through the Falcons middle order, taking five wickets for five runs in 4.2 overs. 

That changed the game completely and Sano eventually wrapped up the win by 79 runs in the 31st over to earn a welcome bonus point and lift spirits after the dreadful end to 2021 had been followed by a bad loss in Round One. 

We are two rounds in now, and the points table is as it stands below.

Division One takes a bit of a break for the next few weekends, but is back on the 7th May. In the meantime be sure to subscribe to the JCA YouTube Channel to catch all the action from the Futures League (April 23rd & 24th) and Japan Premier League (April 29th – May 1st).

The fast outfields of Sano in spring are often a batters paradise and so it proved in Round One of the Japan Cricket League as three players struck centuries to power their teams to victory. 

The most impressive of the lot was made by Shogo Kimura as Wyverns chased down MAX CC’s 222/9 with an over to spare. 

Supun Nawarathna had set the scene for the day, striking seven sixes on his way to 69 from 49 balls in a match reduced to 35-overs per side. Tomonoshin Oki continued where he finished the 2021 season by grabbing three for 34. 

MAX dismissed the dangerous Kano and Kawashima early and at the halfway stage had only managed 80/4. It was not until the 24th over when Kimura began to find his range, bringing up his half century off 73 balls with a six off Vinay Iyer. At that stage Buddika Nanayakkara (46 off 33) joined him and the game turned dramatically. 

As the two set about a partnership of 127 in 78 balls, Kimura became increasingly aggressive. With five overs to go 70 runs were still needed, and Wyverns got there with an over to spare as Kimura struck seven sixes in his last ten balls (12 overall) to bring up his first ever century in the JCL off 106 balls and eventually finishing 121* to lead his team to a five wicket victory. 

Photo: Wyverns Cricket Club

At the same time, Tokyo Rangers were busy making their own mark, winning their first ever match in the Division thanks to a century from last years Japan Cup Finals MVP, Don Bhanuka. 

Coming up against fellow promoted side Paddy Foleys, The Rangers made a great start as Malith Neranjan (four for 10) struck four times in his first five overs. A half century from Ashiq Hussain (54), in partnership with Waseem Javed (44) helped Paddy’s reach 165 before Rangers knocked them all over. 

Bhanuka was imperious in the chase however. Opening up he struck 109* off 73 deliveries with seven sixes to knock off the total in just the 24th over, giving Rangers a winning bonus point.

Since Once Short began in 2016 Dhugal Bedingfield has made four hundreds and two 70s in Round One at an average of 149.5 (in 2020 his Round 1 match was washed out), and it was the Alpha Quashers who were on the receiving end this year as the Chiba Sharks captain enjoyed himself in front of the cameras of the featured match of the round.

Bowling first the Sharks managed to dismiss the Quashers for just 215 in the 40th over with Noor Ibrahim top scoring with a run-a-ball 61. Hiroshige Murakawa the pick of the bowlers for the Sharks with three for 32.

Bedingfield coasted to a chanceless hundred from 79 balls, supported by 40 from Marcus Thurgate and 49* from Tanmoy Mukherjee as the Sharks began their title defence in ominous fashion with a win by nine wickets and a bonus point as well.

Down at Fuji the quality of the photographs that came out of the match between Men in Blue and the Tokyo Wombats seemed to far exceed the quality of the game as Naveen Negi wrecked any hopes of an even contest. 

Negi dismissed both Wombats openers for a combination of 12 runs before Saurav Bhowmik mopped up the tail with three wickets for four runs in ten balls as Men in Blue routed the Wombats for just 105, new captain Muhamma Ali the only real contribution with 33. 

Negi then wallopped 35 from 17 balls to get the chase off to a flyer as the total was reached in the 11th over to give the umpires a nice early finish and a bonus point win for MIB by seven wickets. 

Photo: Men in Blue Cricket Club (Facebook)

Tokyo Falcons, runners up in 2021, made hard work of chasing the 186/9 posted by the Rising Stars in their opener. The Rising Stars were grateful to a couple of half centuries from Udaibus Sayeed (53) and Ashik Chowdhury (58) while three wickets apiece for Sanket Pandhari and Dev Mishra did the damage for the Falcons. 

At 128/2 the Falcons seemed to coasting thanks to 69 from Ankit Chawla before the Rising Stars roared back into it by taking six wickets for 46 runs and at 174/8 things were a bit nervy before the title challengers squeaked over the line by two wickets. 

In the final match of the round the Tigers had an easy win against Sano CC, sharing wickets around as they dismissed Sano for just 144, despite a 54-run partnership for the second wicket between Munir Ahmad (50) and Shu Noguchi (18). 

Anil Kumar and Anurag Singh both made 36 at the top of the order as the Tigers swept home with four wickets to spare.

After the first round, the points table is as it stands below.

The featured match of Round Two will be this Saturday, April 16th, as Sano CC take on Tokyo Falcons, be sure to tune in to that!

The Japan Cricket League season 2022 starts this Saturday and the One Short crew are scrambling to get our roving reporters ready to bring you comment on every match that takes place in Division One. 

No time to waste, here’s our preview with a massive TWELVE (12) teams competing in the top flight this year. The predictions are not to be taken too seriously, we have only managed to get one right per season for as long as we can remember. 

Here we are, in order of where they finished in 2021.

Chiba Sharks

The 2021 Champions caught everyone by surprise with a strong finish after an iffy start helped them secure 4th place in the final weekend. However the confidence and experience from that run of great results mean they should be well set up this year. The big questions revolve around their youngsters; Can Muneeb Siddique deliver on early promise? Will Ibby Takahashi maintain his form of 2021? And can Marcus Thurgate kick on from that maiden JCL century last season? Plenty of good players, should make finals again. 

Prediction: 3rd

Tokyo Falcons

Runners Up in 2021 both in the league and the grand final. A team with lots of depth and plenty of firepower from the bat of Sarfraz Petkar. He got them out of jail a few times last year so they will be looking for others to contribute a bit more regularly, while Abhi Telang will continue to lead the line with the ball. Expect another run at finals, and still a chance of going all the way. 

Predictions: 2nd

MAX Cricket Club

Unbeaten until the semi finals last year, only to come unstuck quite spectacularly against the Sharks. It remains to be seen how big a loss Makoto Taniyama is, with bat and ball, but MAX have always recruited well and still have a batting line up the envy of every team in the league. Vinay Iyer will likely keep churning out runs while Supun Nawarathna will provide the fireworks. The bowling will be most affected by the loss of Taniyama, but they should get enough runs to win enough games for finals. 

Prediction: 1st

Tigers Cricket Club

A disappointing season for the Tigers as they tried to defend their maiden title won in 2020, yet they still finished 4th. Expect bigger returns from Sabaorish Ravichandran after a rare off season in the JCL, he and Anil Kumar (the only batter to score more than 150 runs for the season) will need more support if their strong bowling line up are going to have a chance. 

Prediction: 5th

Men In Blue

Started well, faded, finished strong – it was an up and down and back up again year for MIB in 2021, but having won JCL titles in Division Two and Three there is a feel good factor around Japan’s biggest club. The ended the season in fifth place last year but never really looked like making finals. If they can get Naveen Negi and Vivek Singh out on the park a bit more often, playing finals for the first time in their history is a real possibility. Abhi Dewan remains the leading man with the bat, but needs to improve on a high score of 62 last season if he is going to become a player that bowlers fear. 

Prediction: 4th

Tokyo Wombats

The Wombats possess the most formidable opening pair in Japan in Alex Patmore and Richie Bracefield who scored a phenomenal near 900 runs between them last year (that’s the same as MIB’s leading eight run scorers combined). Will Patmore average a hundred again? Will he play the full season now he has relinquished the captaincy? How much will they miss Chelsea Moscript’s 14 wickets? No team puts more egg on the One Short faces than the Tokyo Wombats, but we suspect they like it that way. 

Prediction: 9th 

Alpha Quashers Yokohama

Another team that found 2021 a tough one to navigate as they struggled to come to terms with the departures of Vinay Iyer and Karthik Vellingiri whose runs took them to the brink of the title in 2020. In Rohit Kesari they have a classy run scorer who should be at the forefront again, while Gurman Singh and Raman Tanwar will keep on delivering what we know they can with bat and ball. Another big club with plenty of players to choose from, and in Aditya Phadke they have one of the most exciting young talents in the land, but they will need to unearth a few more gems if they are going to return to finals. 

Prediction: 8th 

Wyverns

Kohei Kubota and Tomonoshin Oki, Japan Cricket’s Little and Large, took a mighty impressive 40 wickets between them last year. That it wasn’t enough to take them to finals says little about the batting which, on paper at least, looks very strong. Wataru Miyauchi was wasted down the order while Shogo Kimura needs to bring his Japan Cup strike rate to the JCL if Wyverns are going to push for finals. Raheel Kano has spent his winter in the gym, much will depend on him getting big runs if they are going to break into the top four. 

Prediction: 6th

Rising Stars

A season of progress for the Rising Stars who registered their first win in Division One and shocked the defending champions as well. Although Finals looks beyond them, there are plenty of dangerous players with the bat, especially Ashik Chowdhury and Udaibus Sayeed, while Arman Buyian and Abu Hasnat will trouble teams with the ball. Will need others to step up if they are to stay away from the foot of the table however. 

Prediction: 11th

Sano Cricket Club

Sano endured a torrid time in 2021 as their much vaunted return to the top division hit multiple roadblocks. The bowling looked threadbare even on a good day but the acquisition of Makoto Taniyama is probably the biggest news of the off season. His runs will also help fill the void left by the departure of Musashi Yamamoto, who can now be found swinging golf clubs in Okinawa, while the return of the prodigal son, Kazumasa Hiratsuka to play alongside his brother Shotaro is exciting news. Other useful additions are also in the mix and could see Sano make a play for Finals.

Prediction: 7th

Paddy Foleys

Another returning giant who were JCL Champions as recently as 2014, the Paddy Foleys went through 2021 unbeaten up until the semi final where their luck ran out. An ageing unit, they prefer to hit boundaries than scamper singles and that may get the better of them against the stronger bowlers and better fielders in Division One. Vishal Patel was their star with the ball in 2021 while Salman Khawaja will be a danger with both bat and ball. 

Prediction: 12th

Tokyo Rangers

The new kids at the party, the Tokyo Rangers have been recruiting well since joining the JCL and have plenty of players who have performed well in T20 cricket over the last few years. Malith Neranjan belongs in Division One and will be worth watching with both bat and ball, while Umair Bhutto can also take attacks apart on his day. Milinda took a remarkable seven for 16 in the Division Two Final, which the Rangers lost, but looks well equipped to trouble a few teams in the top flight this year. 

Prediction: 10th