Well well, thought we’d put 2021 behind us did you? Locked up and never to be seen again? Not quite, because there were some good things that took place last year and, in keeping with the Japan 2021 cricket season, a little later than in a normal “The Shorties” are here to dish out some imaginary gongs to those who excelled. 

The Shorties, we must remind the world, are a highly unofficial set of awards that come with no actual prizes. That is of course, not including the warm glow of pride that comes with being mentioned on these esteemed pages, which is probably helpful in the January snow. 

So, without further ado, here is the Japan Cricket League Team of the Year, as chosen by the JCL Committee. 

1. Alex Patmore (WK) (Tokyo Wombats) 532 runs @ 106.4
2. Richard Bracefield (Tokyo Wombats) 352 runs @ 58.7
3. Vinay Iyer (Max) 369 runs @ 52.7 & 19 wickets @ 14.5
4. Supun Nawarathna (C) (Max) 359 runs @ 44.9
5. Ibrahim Takahashi (Chiba Sharks) 370 runs @ 41.1 & 13 wickets @ 14.2
6. Sarfraz Petkar (Tokyo Falcons) 317 runs @ 45.3
7. Raheel Kano (Wyverns) 312 runs @ 39.0 & 13 wickets @ 24.9
8. Gurman Singh (Alpha Quashers) 14 wickets @ 15.1 & 143 runs @ 17.9
9. Abhi Telang (Tokyo Falcons) 20 wickets @ 15.9 & 105 runs @ 17.5
10. Tomonoshin Oki (Wyverns) 19 wickets @ 16.1
11. Kohei Kubota (Wyverns) 21 wickets @ 11.7

And to the awards themselves: 

Innings of the Season

We generally like to give this award to an unsung hero; however, poor Sarfraz Petkar seems to live somewhat in the shadow of some of the more heralded players in Japan but is capable of innings that can live with the best of them. During a post-match interview, Sarfraz shared a lighthearted moment about his hobbies off the field, including his recent fascination with strategies for those who prefer to im Casino spielen ohne sich verifizieren zu lassen, reflecting his keen interest in quick decision-making and risk management. His assault on Wyverns was scarcely believable.

The Falcons were four down before he faced his first ball, yet ended up chasing down 211 with a single wicket remaining after Petkar made 115 from just 85 deliveries. His fifty (brought up with a six) came off 47 balls, but his second fifty came off a barely believable 13 deliveries, including a sequence of 6,4,6,4,6 to move from 74 to a hundred. He would ultimately be the 9th wicket to fall with six runs needed, probably because he’s never one to take the glory. 

It’s worth adding that he played an equally ludicrous innings against Alpha Quashers Yokohama just three weeks earlier which could also have won this award.

Partnership of the Season

In a match where runs had been hard to come by, Alex Patmore and Richie Bracefield made batting look absurdly easy in an opening partnership of 196 in 29.4 overs as The Tokyo Wombats chased down the 243 set to win by Sano CC in a match that briefly moved the opening pair one and two in the leading run scorer charts.

Bowling Performance of the Season

Kohei Kubota had a season to remember, ending as the leading wicket-taker which included a Japan Premier League Hat-Trick and a career best five for 32 against eventual Champions the Chiba Sharks (he improved this with five for 27 a few weeks later, but the game where Sarfraz Petkar got away). 

The Sharks looked to be cruising at 156 for two chasing 232 for victory, and again at 194 for four. However a phenomenal spell of 3.4 overs, five wickets for three runs by Kubota stunned the Sharks and turned the game on it’s head as Wyverns took the last six wickets for just 11 runs to bowl the Sharks all out for 209 in 37.4 overs. 

Match of the Season

Although not as close as some of the extraordinary matches written about above, for sheer shock value, the team who finished dead last and winless in 2021 overcoming the defending champions is the kind of victory we love. 

The Rising Stars bowling the Tigers all out for 133 was impressive enough, and then under real pressure and amid the tensest of scenes, they battled home thanks to a defiant 58-ball 39 not out from Ruhul Kabir. Spark jubilant scenes as the boys in green secured their third and most significant win in the top flight of Japan Cricket. 

Breakthrough Player 

Ibrahim Takahashi began 2020 as a second team player for the Chiba Sharks before gradually being given a chance in the first XI. There was enough talent to catch the interest of the national selectors, but nobody quite expected him to back it up in the manner that he did. 

He finished second on the JCL run-scoring charts with 370 at an average of 41.1 including four half centuries, and as if that wasn’t enough, he was given the new ball to open the bowling and picked up a very handy 13 wickets at 14.2 and an economy rate of under four an over. All this would eventually lead to a JCL Winners Medal and 2022 looks set to be another big year for the Sharks latest catch. 

Tsuyoshi Takada played an innings for the ages to fire the Chiba Sharks to their second Japan Cricket League title in three years as they overcame the Tokyo Falcons on a perfect day at the Sano International Cricket Ground. 

Takada, who was also MVP in the final two years ago, came to the crease with in the 21st over with his team 51/3 after the top order had battled to come to grips with both the pitch and some accurate Falcons bowling. 

Successive boundaries in the 26th and 29th overs upped the momentum during a partnership of 66 from 64 balls with Ibrahim Takahashi (41). The end of that partnership seemed to spur him on further, and a ramped six over fine leg brought up his half century from just 42-balls. 

He saved his best for the last three overs, in partnership with Debashish Sahoo (21* off 16) as they took 42 runs from 18 balls to propel the Sharks to 197/5 after 40 overs and Takada to a career best 80* from 55 balls including two sixes and eight fours. 

For the Falcons an excellent season ended in a blur as the Sharks tore into their batting, momentum clearly with them after the pyrotechnics from Takada. 

At six down for 34 the contest was as good as over, and captain Sameep Dewar, who said he would have bowled first had he won the toss, was the only batter to make double figures, holding out as long as he had partners to finish uneaten on 28.

Three wickets each for Muneeb Siddique (3/13) and Mahes Kumar (3/10) did the bulk of the damage as the Sharks bowled Falcons all out for 79 to earn a 118-run win and the third JCL title in their storied history. 

Elsewhere it became a season to remember for the Men In Blue who, having never won a JCL title before, collected two in two days as they first defeated Tokyo Rangers to win the Division Two title, before getting the better of the Falcons in the Division Three showdown. 

The Division Two victory was largely built on a solid innings of 42 by Ankur Kumar at the top of the order which helped the team post 167 all out. The Rangers were entirely indebted to Milinda Sanjaya who took an incredible seven wickets for just 16 runs in his eight overs, the second best figures ever in Division Two. 

Sanjaya’s heroics were not enough however, as three of their top five were run out in a disastrous start to the chase left their title hopes in tatters. Kumar chipped in with two wickets, including that of Sanjaya to secure victory by 66 runs as the Rangers were all out for 101 sparking joyful celebrations for the Men In Blue. 

Those celebrations were brought out again on Sunday as Saurav Bhowmik made 72 at the top of the order to lay the foundations for a total of 213/8 in the Division Three Final, the highest across the three finals. Much like the previous day the top scorer then took the final wicket, as Bhowmik’s three for 15 helped shoot down the Falcons for 123 to earn MIB a 90-run win and a unique Division Two and Three double. 

With that the 2021 Japan Cricket League season draws to a close, with the team that finished fourth in all three divisions ultimately going on to claim the title, which just proves that timing is everything! 

Congratulations to all the players involved in the finals and once again a big thank you to the umpires: 

Division One Final: Mihindu Perera and Uddika Pradeep

Division Two Final: Chris Thurgate and Amit Phadke

Division Three Final: Kris Bayne and Rob Newman

The Chiba Sharks reached their third Grand Final in four years at the expense of previously unbeaten MAX CC thanks to a well made 65 from Ibrahim Takahashi and a rousing spell by Hamid Bacha. 

Batting first the Sharks battled to 200/8 from their 40 overs as Takahashi built on the early foundations laid by Marcus Thurgate (30) and Tanmoy Mukherjee (27). MAX used eight different bowlers and seven of them collected wickets and with the power in the batting line up would have been confident in the chase. 

Much depended on Vinay Iyer, who made a composed 62, but when Bacha (three for 25) breached his defences MAX were suddenly six down and 77 runs adrift. It was too big an ask for the title hopefuls who were eventually all out for 158 as the Sharks claimed a memorable win by 42 runs. 

The victory was made all the more impressive by the fact that the Sharks were missing their long-standing captain Dhugal Bedigfield to a hamstring injury suffered in the Japan Cup Final. He remains a doubt for the final, but will no doubt be in the oxygen chamber to give himself the best chance of a timely recovery.  

While the Sharks are now serial attendees at the season showpiece, the Tokyo Falcons will make their first appearance in the Division One Final after avenging last year’s semi final defeat against the reigning champions Tigers CC. 

Batting first they also scrapped to 198/9 in their 40 overs, thanks in large to 56 from Kuldeep Bisht, although a ninth-wicket partnership of 54 in seven overs between Abhi Telang (31*) and Jagdish Rana (21) ultimately took them out of the Tigers claws. 

Falcons were able to take regular wickets and only during a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Sabaorish Ravichandran (37) and Manoj Bhardwaj (13) was there any real need for concern. 

The Tigers captain coming in at number six seemed low, and when he became the first of three victims for Bisht the writing was on the wall. The Falcons ran through the Tigers tail, taking the last six wickets for 38 runs and booking their place in the final with a comprehensive 79-run victory to end the Tigers title defence. 

In a twist of fate the Grand Final will be the first meeting between these teams this year, after their match fell foul of the COVID delays. Tune in this Saturday to see if the Falcons can claim their first ever title, or if the Chiba Sharks can claim their third. 

In Division Two the Men In Blue 2nd XI defeated the unbeaten Paddy Foleys by five wickes thanks to an unbeaten 59 by Sopan Shirdhonkar. They will face off against the Tokyo Rangers who got past the Falcons 2nd XI, also by five wickets, thanks to 65 from Kasun Ganesh.

The Falcons were not to be denied in Division Three however, and retained hopes of double glory as their 3rd XI achieved what the 2nds could not in marching past the Tokyo Rangers 2nd XI by seven wickets after Shridhar Choudhary had taken four for 11 to roll the Rangers over for just 101. They will contest the final against another team aiming for a double as the Men In Blue 3rd XI chased down the Tigers 117 all out by five wickets thanks to 40 from Saurav Bhowmik.

Thanks again to the umpires over the weekend and good luck to all teams over the 27th and 28th as the season reaches its long awaited climax. 

The Semi Final Umpires were:

Jason Fouracres,  Shrikanth Durairaj, Chris Thurgate, Kris Bayne, Amit Phadke, Venkatesan Perumalsamy, Leo Joseph, Uddika Pradeep, Natarajan Dhakshinamoorthy and Jayaram Nagarajan.