Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Sano 2
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: fixing
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
SICG2,s west side fence is broken.
Be careful when you play.
Quashers – Top Four Secured
The final round of JCL Division One matches proved how competitive the league is with everyone scrapping for their lives.
With matches spread over two weekends there were anxious moments for Chiba Sharks and Wyverns as it became clear that one of those would miss out on the top four.
This was confirmed courtesy of comfortable wins for Alpha Quashers and Tigers CC on the first weekend. Wyverns were following the Quashers match against Tokyo Falcons closely and as Rahul Rajput compiled an excellent 60 at the top of the Falcons order it looked like the Quashers might have some problems.
The Quashers bowlers kept things tight however, Karthik Vellingiri the pick with 2/25, as the Falcons ended on 189/7. The Falcons have failed to pass 200 at all since Round One, which goes a long way to explaining their struggles this season.
Kesari – Star Batsman
The Falcons bowlers made a magical start, dismissing both Quashers opening batsmen for Golden Ducks before Rohit Kesari anchored the chase with his third half century of the season. Wickets tumbled around him, but his 79* guided the Quashers into the Semi Finals; winning the game with three wickets to spare inside 32 overs to claim a vital bonus point, meaning it was impossible for Wyverns to catch them.
Tigers have also underwhelmed for much of this season but are finding a way to win matches at the crucial time. In their must win match against the Men in Blue they were indebted to two gutsy innings from Rahul Koul (44 off 72) and Manoj Bhardwaj (39 off 70) which prevented a collapse and enabled them to post 184/8.
Sanket Pandhari (3/33) was the pick of the MIB bowlers and they knew that a win would give them a great chance to guarantee survival in Division One.
Sabaorish Ravichandran remains the leading wicket-taker in the division however, and his leg-spin proved too much once more as his 3/19 accounted for half of the top six including the dangerous Sarfraz Petkar. Gurdeep Dua smashed 37 from 27 at the end to give MIB a glimpse of hope, but Tigers dismissed their opponents for 156 to win by 28 runs and book a place in the last four; leaving MIB to sweat on survival.
That result did guarantee the safety of the Tokyo Wombats for another year while the Sharks and Wyverns both needed to win and hope the other lost to be sure of making the Semi Finals.
Takada – Now a batsman
The Sharks, up against a Wombats team who may have already slipped into hibernation for the winter after being assured of survival, registered their 5th score of the season in excess of 200. Skipper Dhugal Bedingfield led from the front with a run-a-ball 73, which took him top of the seasons averages, before Tsuyoshi Takada unleashed his inner beast by hammering 53 from 28 balls, a third half century of the season for him which propelled the Sharks to 277/7.
The Sharks bowlers set about the Wombats batting in merciless fashion. Off-spinner and Japan Under 19 maestro Yugandhar Retharekar pulling the strings with 3/15 while the other five Sharks bowlers all collected wickets in dismissing Wombats for just 80 to secure a huge win by 197 runs.
All of that meant that Wyverns could do nothing about their finishing position, but can take solace from ending the season on a high and being the only team to defeat MAX CC this year…and they did so twice.
MAX lost five early wickets, Nozomi Tomizawa again being their nemesis as he rampaged in to collect a career best 4/21. However MAX held back Amigo Kobayashi and the former Japan captain gave his bowlers something to defend by cracking 65 from number seven. His was the last wicket to fall as he MAX made it to 173 all out, with nobody else passing the teens.
Wyverns – Defeated MAX Twice
In contrast Wyverns had five batsmen scoring between 22 and 33 as they made light work of the target, despite 3/26 from Vinay Iyer. Wataru Miyauchi laid the foundations and moved top of the run scoring table with his 33, while Raheel Kano finished the season with his best score, hitting two maximums as he led Wyverns to a six-wicket win.
Wyverns will look back on missed bonus points and that defeat in Round Ten to the Sharks as key moments in a campaign that promised much but ultimately fell short. Like 3rd placed Tigers and 4th placed Quashers they finished with six wins and one no result, and even a better net run rate than the Quashers, but all this proved not to be enough in the final standings.
Attention now turns to the Semi Finals as Quashers come up against MAX and Sharks will battle Tigers for a place in the Final. Meanwhile the two bottom teams of Division One will be left to watch the Division Two play-offs. Should both Rising Stars and Sano make the Final then both Falcons and MIB may yet be relegated back to Division Two.
There is much still to be decided in the Japan Cricket League 2019.
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Sano 2
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: fixing
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
We will use turf pitch on Sunday.
The Embassy Cup, to be held at the Sano International Cricket Ground on the 28th and 29th of September, brings different communities together in a celebration of cricket and cultural exchange. Eight teams will feature in this year’s event: Bangladesh, Britain, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Japan U19.
Entrance is free for spectators who will be able to enjoy cricket and the international atmosphere as well as the nature rich environment. Cricket games for all ages will be available to enjoy while detox water using Cleansui*, will also be provided for free by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. A range of food stalls serving curry and other local delicacies will be available for purchase.
*Cleansui is a product (registered trademark) of Mistsubishi Chemical Cleansui Corporation, a subsidiary company of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation.
Cricket Without Borders, the women’s cricket organisation based in Melbourne, Australia, will send their sixth representative to Japan next month.
Jess Adams, who has previously visited Fiji, Hong Kong, Samoa and Vanuatu with the organisation, is excited to follow in the footsteps of previous visitors to Japan.
She said: “The chance to be able to travel to Japan and experience the culture has been a dream of mine ever since I was young. We hosted a Japanese teacher for six months when I was in primary school and this was an amazing experience. I have wanted to visit ever since.”
Jess will divide her time between Akishima in Tokyo, and Sano in Tochigi, while we also hope she can travel to Sendai University to repeat the experience Alice Johnston had in 2018 when she worked with the women’s club at the university.
She will also have the opportunity to stay with a variety of local families and visit local schools while delivering cricket coaching sessions in local schools. Both Jess and the JCA hope that her stay will help promote women’s cricket and boost female participation numbers.
The JCA have been partnering with Cricket Without Borders since 2015 and remain grateful to Ken Jacobs for his continued support of the partnership. We look forward to welcoming Jess in October.
Outfield: It will be short,dry. Pitch: good
Sano 2
Outfield: It will be short,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: It will be short,dry.We will mow Friday night. Pitch: good
Outfield: It will be short,,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
We will mow Sano grounds Saturday morning.
The Table after 10 Rounds
MAX CC registered their sixth successive victory to guarantee them top spot in the league standings for 2019.
Japan Under 19 star Kazumasa Takahashi (2/14) got things rolling for MAX in their contest with bottom club Tokyo Falcons with two early wickets as five bowlers shared the scalps around. Only Kuldeep Bisht (39) showed any resistance as the Falcons were dismissed for 138.
Supun Nawarathna made sure of the victory with a typically boisterous 69 from 56 deliveries, ably supported by Vinay Iyer (31*) as MAX eased home by seven wickets to earn a bonus point and lock in top spot.
While MAX can afford to rest easy, they will still have a big part to play in who reaches the Semi Finals as their final match is against Wyverns, who are clinging to fourth spot by the finest of margins.
Wyverns are in this position after coming out on the wrong side of a tight tussle with the Chiba Sharks, who will now feel confident of a place in the play-offs.
Batting first the Sharks took regular wickets and were looking easy victors with Wyverns 68/6 with all their big names back in the hutch. However Kohei Kubota knuckled down for a career best 31, more than he managed all of last season, and built an innings saving partnership of 94 with Buddika Nanayakkara.
Nanayakkara – Burly
The burly Sri Lankan was not so much knuckling down as punching the Sharks with all his might. His innings of 93 came off just 57 balls and included a surreal nine maximums as he propelled the Wyvners to a total of 203/9 and did a little damage to the figures of Muneeb Siddique, who finished with 3/62.
Wyverns took the momentum from the end of their innings into the defence with Kubota (2/43) to the fore again, dismissing both Sharks openers cheaply. However a solid 86 from Kendel Fleming, well supported by Tsuyoshi Takada (23) and Marcus Thurgate (30), enabled the Sharks to get home with just two wickets to spare after 38 overs.
Wyverns must now either defeat MAX in their final match, or hope that Alpha Quashers are unable to get passed the so far win-less Tokyo Falcons. The draw is certainly favourable for the Quashers, who need the victory after coming unstuck against the resurgent Tigers.
Tigers – Resurgent
It was a must-win match for the Tigers, who still have a potentially tricky contest against Men In Blue to come, and batting first they had contributions all the way down the order. Piyush Kumbhare (33) finished as top scorer, coming in at number eight, after Rony Tanwar (3/57) knocked over both openers in the second over of the match.
Nikhil Chhajed took regular wickets as well, finishing with 3/29, as the Quashers kept Tigers to below 200, but 198/9 was a reasonable target to set on a hot Sano day.
Tigers made a fantastic start with the ball and had the Quashers deep in the mire at 85/7, Kumbhare (3/23) doing the damage before that man Chhajed did his utmost to drag his team from trouble. His 57 came from 38 balls at number eight and while he was in hope remained.
Ankush Mahasaheb, who had also dismissed both openers, was the man to dismiss Chhajed and finished with 3/33 to bowl the Quashers all out for 171. The win by 27 runs moves Tigers third in the table and puts their fate in their own hands.
Two teams out of the running are Wombats and the Men In Blue, but neither will want to finish in the bottom two as the top two teams in Division Two (Rising Stars & Sano) are both first XIs and pushing for promotion. Two teams were relegated in 2018 and the same could still happen in 2019 if those two make the Division Two Final.
Bandhi – Record Breaker
This match thus took on great significance, and it was Wombats who came out on top after a frantic morning in the hire car offices led to a rush to the train station. MIB batted first and were destroyed by Vignesh Bandi whose 6/11 are the best figures of the season so far and the best ever by a Wombat.
Prashanth Manvi gave the Blues some hope with his 43, after a typically aggressive 33 from Sarfraz Petkar, but a total of 142 all out was somewhat under par.
Alex Patmore (30) and Richie Bracefield (33) gave the Wombats a steady start with an opening start of 61 and although Hitesh Akabari took 3/31 to cause a slight wobble, the Wombats made it home with six wickets and five overs to spare.
The Wombats will know they cannot rest however, and a win against their old rivals the Chiba Sharks in the final round will secure their survival in Division One for another season.
There is so much up for grabs in the final round of JCL Division One this season the tension is almost unbearable for us in the One Short Tower, only top and bottom are guaranteed with the other six teams all still battling for wins that could define their season.
The former Head of Community Cricket for Cricket Victoria, Rohan O’Neill, has joined the Japan Cricket Association on a part-time basis for the rest of 2019.
As part of the team Rohan will be primarily assisting with preparing the Japan Under 19 team for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, as well as running a review of the JCA structures and systems.
As a coach his time will be split between Sano and Tokyo, with visits to Akishima and Chiba planned each week to help as many of the players in the squad as possible to maintain the practice levels after the season concludes.
Rohan, who spent 14 years at Cricket Victoria and was central in creating the longstanding partnership between JCA and CV, is excited to be coming to Japan.
“I have spent many years watching Japan cricket develop and, although my last visit was in 2014, I can see how much the organisation has developed and the results that have been achieved are outstanding.
“Qualifying for the Under 19 World Cup is a landmark moment for Japan and I hope I can use my experience of being around top class cricket players to help prepare the Japanese team to do the best they can in South Africa”.
The work Rohan will do with the JCA will be split into three sections, the final week of August, the last two weeks in October and then early November through to just before Christmas when he will be joined by his family.
We look forward to welcoming Rohan to the team.
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Sano 2
Outfield: long,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: It will be short,dry.We will mow Friday night. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
Thunder warning happens everyday in Tochigi.
If you hear thunder,please run away.
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Sano 2
Outfield: long,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: bit long,dry. Pitch: good
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
Outfield: short,dry . Pitch: good. JCA staff will open the gate both days.
This Saturday will be the highest temperature in a year.