ICC Champions Trophy available live for fans in Japan!

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The ICC today announced the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 will be available live for fans in Japan via the ICC’s Facebook page for the first time.

The event will be broadcast to more than 200 territories across five continents with an anticipated reach of more than two billion people. In 146 countries fans will be able to watch the coverage via traditional broadcast whilst the digital broadcast coverage is available in more than 200 countries.

See here for the fixture list. The first match starts at 18:30 (Tokyo time) on the 1st of June.

Ben DeAraugo Arrives in Japan

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At the Japan Cricket Association we are fortunate to regularly have guests from abroad working alongside us to help improve cricket in Japan. Over the years we have had people from a range of backgrounds, but especially Australia, England and New Zealand.

In this section of the website you will be able to read about why each person is visiting and what it is they are actually do here. We hope you find it interesting and if you ever have any questions about these placements please feel free to contact us.

On Monday 22nd May Ben DeAraugo arrived in Sano as the first Cricket Victoria placement of 2017.

The Cricket Victoria placement has been running for around 15 years and Ben is the latest in a long line of visitors. In recent years the person who comes over would spend five-six weeks working across our two major Cities of Cricket, Sano and Akishima. However this year Ben will split his placement with Emma Gallagher, who will arrive on June 10th as they work for three weeks each.

During his first week Ben has done several school visits at Elementary schools in the city, as well as attending evening training sessions with two local clubs; The Sano Orions and the Tanuma Water Crown. At all of these he is able to work closely with the coaches in improving their methods as well as build up an understanding of how sport works in Japan and then give insights into how things work in Australia.

At the end of the week Ben spent two days working with the Japan Men’s squad. Earlier this year while the team was playing in a regional tournament in Australia, Ben was able to come and assist with training and see the boys in action, so he was well placed to give advice on how to improve.

His second and third weeks will be spent back out with the schools and clubs, and he will also have the chance to spend two days on the weekend on June 3rd and 4th training our National Women’s Squad in their first camp since the recent tournament.

Our next write up will feature some thoughts from Ben himself!

JCL Round Four: Wyverns Go Top!

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Wyverns Cricket Club are the early season pace setters in the Japan Cricket League Division One after a tight win over Chiba Sharks at the SICG.

Both teams struggled to adjust to playing a rare match on the turf wicket in a low scoring contest. Wyverns, taking first use, mustered just 123 in 25.3 overs with all the Sharks bowlers chipping in. Rui Matsumura opened up with four maidens in succession and returned to polish off the innings and end with 2/6 from five overs.

Plenty of batsmen made double figures but none were able to push on, and the same would happen in the Sharks run chase. Dhugal Bedingfield was the mainstay, his 36 the top score of the match, but regular wicket taking, especially by Shodai Yamada (3/15) had Wyverns in control.

At 66/8 Sharks looked dead and buried, but a 48-run stand between Asala Wickramaarachchige (21) and Matsumura (22*) gave hope, but the off-spin of Bebe Miyaji grabbed the key wickets and figures of 4/19 to bowl Sharks out for 121 and earn his team a 2-run win and top spot in the league.

Elsewhere MAX CC inflicted a first defeat of the season on Sano CC mainly thanks to a brutal 118* from 67 balls from Chula Rodrigo as MAX posted 310/5, comfortably the highest score of the season so far.

Rashid Rana did his best to keep Sano in the match with a century of his own (116 from 66 balls), but could not find enough partners as MAX bowled Sano out for 237 in 31.1 overs and put their own season back on track with a 73-run victory.

Tigers CC finally had reasons to cheer as they notched their win of the year, a five wicket win over Paddy Foleys thanks to a virtuoso bowling performance from Sabaorish Ravichandran whoh took 6/31 to dismiss Paddys for 129.

Some early wickets fell in the chase but an assured 43* from Neeraj Karautiya was enough to lift Tigers off the bottom of the table, as Paddy Foleys reclaimed the spot they made their own last year.

In the final match of the round, played a week later down at Fuji (with the mountain herself making a splendid appearance) Alpha Quashers from Yokohama got up against Tokyo Wombats by 20-runs in another low scoring contest.

Batting first AQCC were held together by a run-a-ball 48 from Devendra Dhaka on their way to 168 all out. It was then over to the bowlers, who stifled the Wombats. The batsmen struggled to hit the gaps and a solitary 1 run from 42 balls by batsmen 4, 5 and 6 combined meant Wombats finished 148/8 off their 40 overs, Dhaka again the pick of the bowlers with 2/21 from seven overs.

Fans’ Guide to the 2017 JPL

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JPL action is back for another year, with the best players in Japan ready to take the field on Sunday May 28th for what promises to be the most hotly contested JPL season to date.

Match day 1 sees last years winners, the South Kanto Super Kings travel to Sanmu to take on the East Kanto Sunrisers while the imperious North Kanto Lions host the West Kanto Hurricanes at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

Which team will finish victorious at the end of October is anyone’s guess but to help you follow all the action please read on!

South Kanto Super Kings 

Home Ground: YC&AC, Yokohama.

Colors: Sky blue, orange.

Manager: Manoj Bhardwaj

Captain: Vinay Iyer

Summary: The Super Kings swept all aside last year with their attacking game style, depth in batting and wily bowling. They are expected to set the pace again this year but they may not be able to pull as many surprises as last year so will have to be on their game to win back-to-back titles.

Player to watch: Sabaorish Ravichandran. The classy leg-spinner/middle order batsman had great success in all forms of cricket last year and may be the key to the Super Kings’ fortunes this year.

Quote: “With the Tokyo Wombats returning to South Kanto we’ve been able to strengthen our squad by adding their top performers. We have a balanced squad which includes a lot of all rounders. We need to use our pool of talent wisely, stick to our basics and handle the pressure situations well. We need to respect our opponents equally and play every match as a final.” Vinay Iyer, Super Kings captain.

Squad: Vinay Iyer (C), Kengo Aoki, Ash Asghar, Manoj Bhardwaj, Richie Bracefield, Devendra Dhaka, Joe George, Prashant Kale, Masaomi Kobayashi, Rahul Koul, Naoto Matsunaga, Nigel McKay, Yasufumi Nakama, Alex Patmore, Sabaorish Ravichandran, Rajneesh Shukla, Gurman Singh, Pavethy Velusamy, Karthik Vellingiri, Anthony Winston.

North Kanto Lions 

Home Ground: Sano International Cricket Ground, Sano, Tochigi.

Colors: Royal blue, yellow.

Manager: Mumtaz Alam

Captain: Hanif Khan

Summary: There is no doubting the talent and fire-power of the Lions squad, which is the envy of all other regions in Japan. The challenge for the North Kanto team is to bind all of the big names into a cohesive unit. Expect the Lions to post some mammoth totals as they look to cash in on their home ground advantage. Will this be the year the Lions roar?

Player to watch: Hanif Khan. The veteran opener is still one of the cleanest hitting batsman in Japan. On his day he can take the game away from the opposition in just a few overs with his powerful striking. He will be called upon to unite the Lions squad this year as captain.

Quote: “We have a younger squad this year with the addition of three teenage players from the North Kanto Braves. We believe they are the future and they will be given opportunities. We will do our best to play positive cricket and respect the opposition. We have a lot of fire power in our top 4 with players like Hanif, Rodrigo and Nawarathna. We think we can make big scores if we bat the 20 overs. We think the Super Kings may be the strongest team we’ll face so are looking forward to playing them.” Mumtaz Alam, manager.

Squad: Hanif Khan (C), Chathura Aravinda, Umair Bhutto, Oshantha Buddhika, Prabath Liyanagunawardana, Tilina Mendis, Supun Nawarathna, Shu Noguchi, Arosh Perera, Vikum Perera, Sahan Prabodha, Uddika Pradeep, Rashid Rana, Chula Rodrigo, Buddhika Rohana, Pradeep Roshan, Sujan Sandamal, Reiji Suto, Kazumasa Takahashi, Muhammad Talha.

East Kanto Sunrisers 

Home Ground: Sanbu No Mori Ground, Sanmu, Chiba

Colors: Green, yellow.

Manager: Kazi Murad

Captain: Navin Jinasena

Player to watch: Tsuyoshi Takada. The Japan international was the big name signing for East Kanto during the off-season and the Sunrisers will be hoping that after a season in Australia the  off spinner can rip through a few top orders. Takada will also be called upon to score quick runs in the Sunrisers middle order.

Quote: “We have made nine changes to the squad this year. We believe the new additions will strengthen the squad and lead to better overall performances by the team. Our team has better balance in both batting and bowling departments this year and there is a good mixture of youth and experience. I believe all the teams in this competition will be hard to beat. Our key is to focus on our game and deliver consistently. If we can do that, we have enough depth to win the league.” Navin Jinasena, Sunrisers captain.

Squad: Navin Jinasena (C), Dhugal Bedingfield, Kuldeep Bisht, Ashik Chowdhury, Sameep Dawar, Dilshan Jayaratne, Kavin Jinasena, Pushkar Kaushik, Prashant Manvi, Mustafa Nasiri, Sanket Pandhari, Ubaidus Sayeed, Muneeb Siddique, Vivek Singh, Tsuyoshi Takada, Aditya Tallapragada, Rony Taluqdar, Marcus Thurgate, Takuma Yamashita, Sanjaya Yapabandara.

West Kanto Hurricanes 

Home Ground: Showa Athletic Ground, Akishima

Colors: Black, pink.

Manager: Bebe Miyaji

Captain: Tomoki Ota

Player to watch: Rinsei Sawada. The young Wyverns batsman has burst onto the scene and turned plenty of heads with his hard hitting. From a baseball background, Sawada possesses a fluent bat swing and is capable of hitting boundaries from ball one.

Quote: “We have several young players who have broken into the national squad, including some explosive batsmen like Sawada. We have a young squad but see that as a strength. We think we can bring a lot of speed and energy onto the field. Our focus will be on teamwork. We need all eleven players working together to execute our game plan. We’re not focusing too much on the other teams but have a goal to beat the South and North Kanto teams this year.” Bebe Miyaji, Manager.

Squad: Tomoki Ota (C), Zainal Amanullah, Takahiro Aoki, Kakeru Ebisui, Shun Hashiba, Koji Iwasaki, Raheel Kano, Manazir Mohamed, Rui Matsumura, Bebe Miyaji, Wataru Miyauchi, Ken Okoshi, Rinsei Sawada, Masaru Shionoiri, Tatsuki Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama, Nozomi Tomizawa, Yoshi Uehara, Asala Wickrama’arachchige, Shodai Yamada.

JCL Round Three: Sano Snare Sharks, Wyverns Muzzle Tigers

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The only two unbeaten teams in the Japan Cricket League One met at the SICG on Sunday. For Sano CC, a club suffering some fallow seasons since their hat-trick of titles from 2011-2013, this was a chance to make the point to the rest that they mean business in 2017, and they did just that with a narrow, nervous two-wicket win over Chiba Sharks.

Batting first the Sharks were immediately in trouble as Prabath Sankalpa surprised them by taking the new ball with instant rewards. Both openers fell to Sankalpa, who finished with 3/24, and Sharks desperately needed someone to anchor the innings.

Marcus Thurgate (26), then Pavethy Velusamy (27) were the only players able to score readily before Vivek Singh struck a six-ball 21 coming in at number 10. The batting had no answer though, to the leg-spin of Raj Pardan who went top of the wicket-taker charts with 5/42.

The Sharks total of 119, in just 28.3 overs, never looked enough but they were sure to make Sano work for the win, and Rui Matsumura (2/10) did just that as he gained prodigious swing to remove both openers.

Although wickets fell regularly, an uncharacteristically studious 22* from 51 balls by Uddika Pradeep steered his team to the required total with 7.5 overs to spare.

The surprise package of the season so far has been Wyverns, who thanks to the Sharks loss have moved into second place in the table. While last season Wyverns managed just two wins, both over Paddy Foleys, this year Paddys are the only team to beat them.

They followed up from defeating last year’s semi-finalists by defeating the 2016 Runner’s Up, Tigers CC, by 54 runs at the SICG on May 6th.

The win was build on the lower order batting of Oshantha Nanayakkara (47) and Shodai Yamada (31) who propelled them to 175/9 from their 40 overs. Yamada then grabbed two wickets in his first over to muzzle the Tigers before they even got started.

Spin twins Raheel Kano (3/32) and Naotsune Miyaji (4/24) did the rest of the damage to bowl Tigers out for just 121 in 30.1 overs.

The defeat leaves Tigers staring up from the bottom with no wins from three, overtaken by the Tokyo Wombats who earned their first win of the season by knocking over Paddy Foleys.

The 65-run win was mainly thanks to a 95-run opening stand by Alex Patmore (68) and Richie Bracefield (49) which revived memories of last seasons early form as Wombats posted a season high 246/8, despite four wickets for Noman Watanabe.

Paddys made a good go of the chase, being bowled out for 181 in 33 overs with Yusry Mohideen the pick of the bowlers as he grabbed 4/28.

The other fixture, between Alpha Quashers and MAX CC became the first casualty of the season to inclement weather as it was washed out with out a ball being bowled.

Japan Premier League T20 Set to Start

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The four Japan Premier League teams are busy in preparations for the start of the 2017 season on May 28th.

Similar to last year, teams will play each other twice in a round robin format. This year a final will be played in October between the two top teams.

There will be plenty of new players in action this year for all four teams, joining some more familiar faces in squads selected from the best T20 players in the four Kanto regions.

The South Kanto Super Kings and the North Kanto Lions boast plenty of big names and will go in to the league as favorites but the West Kanto Hurricanes and East Kanto Sunrisers are also expected to improve after signing some new players in the off season.

Spectators are encouraged to come and watch. Entry will be free to all events.

In addition, some matches will be live streamed and will be viewable through the Abema Fresh website and app.

Full schedule

Match Day 1 – Sun May 28th

Sanmu, 10:00-13:00, 13:30-16:30, East Kanto Sunrisers v South Kanto Super Kings

Sano, 10:30-13:30, 14:00-17:00, North Kanto Lions v West Kanto Hurricanes

Match Day 2 – Sun July 23rd

Sano, 10:30-13:30, 14:00-17:00, North Kanto Lions v East Kanto Sunrisers

YCAC, 10:00-13:00, 13:30-16:30, South Kanto Super Kings v West Kanto Hurricanes

Match Day 3 – Sat September 23rd

Akishima, 9:30-12:30, 13:00-16:00, West Kanto Hurricanes v East Kanto Sunrisers

Sano, 10:30-13:30, 14:00-17:00, North Kanto Lions v South Kanto Super Kings

Final – Sun October 22nd

1st v 2nd (TBC)

Japan Win Against Vanuatu

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Japan beat Vanuatu by three wickets in the last match of the ICC Women’s World T20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

In a tense finish, Japan chased down Vanuatu’s score of 83-5 with six balls to spare to pick up their first victory in the competition.

Japan started the game on the front foot with Shizuka Miyaji (1-4) taking a sharp caught and bowled chance in her first over.

Miyaji’s bowling was tight as ever. She conceded only four runs from her four overs and along with Kanae Ishimoto (1-10) they were able to restrict Vanuatu to 23-3 from the first ten overs.

Mai Yanagida (2-19) added to the pressure when she had Rachel Andrew (12) stumped off a wide ball following sharp work by Eri Yamaguchi.

But a fifth-wicket stand of 35 from captain Selena Solman (24*) and Nasimana Navaika (13) helped Vanuatu finish the innings strongly with some controlled batting.

Japan made a positive start in reply with the bat, promoted up the order Miho Kanno (14) struck a boundary in the first over with a well-timed square drive.

The batters were far more positive today and after the powerplay Japan were in a strong position at 33-1.

However, after losing Kanno straight after the powerplay, they encountered another middle order collapse and soon the game looked like it might slip away at 53-5.

Japan inched closer towards the target as, player of the match, Rio Endo (15*) and Madoka Shiraishi (8) showed real determination to put on 27 for the sixth wicket.

Shiraishi eventually fell with four runs needed. It was left to Eri Yamaguchi (2) to hit the winning runs with a quick single down to mid-on.

After the victory, Katrina Keenan said: “I am really pleased for the girls. It is a sense of relief as we always had the potential to perform well in this tournament and today we realised that. The girls have really grown and learnt a lot in the past week. It is important they continue to develop their skills and improve so can be better prepared for future tournaments.”

In the other game of the day Papua New Guinea beat Samoa by six wickets to win the ICC East Asia-Pacific World T20 and qualify for the next round. Samoa could only set a target of 79-9 and Papua New Guinea chased it down with eight balls to spare.

PNG in big win over Japan

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Papua New Guinea thrashed Japan by 92 runs in the fifth match of the ICC Women’s World T20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

Japan suffered their fifth defeat in a row in the competition as Papua New Guinea’s monstrous score of 155-6 was too much for the Japan batters, who were bowled out for 63.

Japan won the toss and captain Kurumi Ota elected to field first. It looked like a sensible decision when Papua New Guinea opener Sibona Jimmy skied the first ball of the match. But Ota (1-36) failed to hang on to the catch off her own bowling.

Jimmy went on to score 30 in an opening stand of 64 with Tanya Ruma (33).

That partnership set the platform for Konio Oala to let loose on the Japan bowling. Oala scored 28 from 15 balls including a sweet six over mid-wicket.

Even after Aki Umetani (2-7) dismissed Oala and Ruma in the same over, Brenda Tau (28*) continued the fast scoring in the death overs and helped Papua New Guinea post the highest score of the tournament so far.

The game was always beyond the Japan batters, but it was positive to see openers Ota (8) and Madoka Shiraishi (9) play attacking shots.

Shiraishi was run out after a sharp piece of fielding and Mai Yanagida was caught the following ball off Mairi Tom (2-13).

Player of the match Jimmy (4-13) was the pick of the Papua New Guinea bowlers as she ripped through the middle order.

Etsuko Kobayashi, with 17 from 12 balls, was one positive performance as she struck three consecutive fours in her innings.

Kobayashi was the last to fall as Japan were bowled out in 13.2 overs.

After the defeat, Coach Katrina Keenan said: “It is a disappointing result. That score was always going to be extremely difficult to chase but I was pleased to see the girls bat with a more aggressive mind-set.”

In the later game of the day, Samoa beat Vanuatu by 4 wickets to remain top of the pile going in to the final round of fixtures. Vanuatu were bowled out for 46, the lowest score of the tournament so far, and Samoa chased it down with 19 balls to spare.

Japan face Vanuatu in the final match of the tournament tomorrow, while in the early fixture Samoa and Papua New Guinea will fight it out for top spot and qualification to the next round.

Japan suffer heavy defeat to Samoa

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Samoa dominated Japan in the fourth match of the ICC World T20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier winning by 7 wickets at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

Japan could only make 49-6 from their twenty overs. The score was well below par and Samoa chased it down inside ten overs.

It was a familiar story for Japan, who have struggled with the bat all tournament and have now lost all four of their matches.

The writing was on the wall early on as Japan were 9-2 from 9 overs and unable to deal with player of the match Lagi Telea (1-8) and Feala Vaelua (0-4) providing the early pressure with the new ball

Captain Regina Lilli’l (1-7) and Maria Tato (2-11) then continued to apply pressure. After such a slow start, it would have been easy to collapse but it was credit to the middle order to get the team up to a score of 49.

However, that total was never going to be enough and Samoa began to pick the total off with ease.

Even when a Miho Kanno (1-7) in swinger took Via Andrew’s (7) off stump, there was never any danger of a Japan fightback.

Shizuka Miyaji’s bowling (2-10) was again one of the few positives to take from the performance.

Miyaji picked up two wickets in two balls, first Lilli’l was stumped by Eri Yamaguchi, before she trapped Lelia Bourne LBW.

However, her wickets were nothing more than a consolation, with Samoa completing the victory two balls later.

After the defeat, Coach Katrina Keenan said: “The performance was very disappointing. That is not what we have been working on as a team.”

It was Samoa’s second victory in two days after they defeated Vanuatu by 53 runs in yesterday’s rearranged fixture and maintaining their unbeaten status in the process.

In the other match on day five Papua New Guinea beat Vanuatu by 5 wickets. Vanuatu batted first, setting a score of 81-8. Papua New Guinea chased that down in 15 overs.

Japan face Papua New Guinea from 9.30am tomorrow in the penultimate round of fixtures, with Samoa playing Vanuatu in the afternoon.

Japan still waiting for first win

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Papua New Guinea comfortably defeated Japan in the third match of the ICC Women’s World T20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier earlier today.

Papua New Guinea’s excellent batting performance saw them reach 138-3 from their 20 overs and from there it was an uphill task for the Japanese women.

Japan could only make 60-7 in their innings, but showed good resolve not to be bowled out against a strong Papua New Guinea bowling attack.

Japan’s had restricted Papua New Guinea to 24-0 from the first six overs but a player of the match winning knock of 69 from Tanya Ruma put Papua New Guinea well in ahead.

Ruma hit two big sixes in her innings before a great catch on the boundary by Etsuko Kobayashi ended the onslaught.

Kobayashi’s catch gave Shizuka Miyaji (1-10) a much-deserved wicket. Miyaji’s bowling was one of few positives to take from the performance.

In reply, Openers Kurumi Ota (11) and Miyaji (15) built a steady partnership but were unable to kick on as they tried to catch up with the required run rate.

After Ota and Miyaji fell to some good spin bowling from Vicky Araa (3-9) and Kaia Arua (2-11) respectively, Japan quickly fell to 36-6 after a middle order collapse.

Miho Kanno (5) and Eri Yamaguchi (7) put up a valiant effort to see the innings through but were never close to chasing down Papua New Guinea’s score.

After the match, coach Katrina Keenan said: “There are definitely positives to take out of the performance, despite the result.”

“We started and finished well with the ball but in the middle overs we missed a number of opportunities and at this level you need to take these chances to have a chance of winning.”

The other match today between Samoa and Vanuatu was postponed due to a wet pitch. The match has been rearranged for tomorrow morning from 9.30am.

The defeat leaves Japan bottom of the pile at the half way stage in the tournament. Japan will have a rest day tomorrow before taking on table toppers Samoa on Tuesday morning.