Japan ended the tournament in Bendigo today with an eight wicket defeat to the Philippines.

Losing the toss and batting first at White Hills CC, Japan were in trouble from the start when Wataru Miyauchi edged to the keeper in the second over.

Although Masaomi Kobayashi tried to hold things together, wickets fell constantly as players looked both nervous and tired after a rough week of cricket in hot weather.

At 55/6 things looked very bleak but Jun Yamashita, one of the big positives from the tournament, smashed some straight boundaries before he was run out.

Kohei Wakita also played a few shots but a score of 111 all out was never going to be enough.

Philippines made it to lunch without losing a wicket but Wakita made a breakthrough shortly after the restart.

Shodai Yamada grabbed one more but Jonathan Hill and Henry Tyler guided Philippines to their second win of the competition.

For Japan, although results have been disappointing, the emergence of Miyauchi as a dependable wicket-keeper/batsman, and Yamashita as a middle order hitter who can bowl some useful overs have been big positives.

Masaomi Kobayashi was solid as ever and Tsuyoshi Takada has clearly improved by playing in Australia this winter.

We hope these players continue to commit to cricket and believe firmly that in two years time the gap to the other teams in the region will have closed considerably.

Thank you to all who have supported the team.

Tournament favourites Vanuatu showed Japan the level to aim for if aspirations to be the best team in the region are ever to be realised.

On a day made for batting, even if the pitch did look likely to crumble later on, Masaomi Kobayashi won the toss and chose to bat.

With Wataru Miyauchi rested, Japan sent in T20 opening batsman Makoto Taniyama to reprise his role and he approached the innings in as if it might be his last.

Several blows on the leg-side and a couple of drives enabled him to race to 21 from 16 deliveries before he hit one straight up in the air.

The run rate fell after his departure and two disastrous run outs prompted a collapse of nine wickets for just 33 runs.

A total of 79 was always going to be tough to defend, but the Japan players made a terrific fight of it to show that cricket can be unpredictable.

Rui Matsumura collected his first international wicket with a caught behind by Marcus Thurgate and Tsuyoshi Takada further enhanced his claim to be the best off-spinner in the tournament with 2/17 from 8 overs.

Vanuatu reached the target for the loss of four wickets, Makoto Taniyama with the other, to complete a relatively comfortable win.

All teams will have a rest day tomorrow before Japan face off against Philippines on Saturday in their final match.

Be sure to check our Facebook page and Twitter accounts for regular updates and looks behind the scenes with the Japan squad.

On the hottest day of the tournament so far Japan came close to providing the biggest upset of the WCL Division 5 Qualifier by pushing a Fiji side some think could win the title.

After winning the toss and batting first Japan were again indebted to captain Masaomi Kobayashi who top scored in the match and batted 41 overs to keep the side together.

Finishing 61*, Kobayashi shared rebuilding partnerships of 34 with Ken Okoshi (15) and then at the end with Muneeb Mian (23*) who provided excellent impetus to life Japan to 154/7 from 50 overs.

All tournament Japan have set a target of batting the full 50 overs so coach Julien Weiner was delighted with the example shown by Kobayashi and hopes many of the younger players can learn from his discipline with the bat.

In a change of tactics Japan opened the bowling with Shodai Yamada and the off spinner; Jun Yamashita.

While Yamada bowled tight lines and picked up two maiden overs early on plus clean bowling Josefa Balaeicicia, Yamashita got a breakthrough with his very first delivery to have Fiji wondering how to take him on.

A key moment came a few overs later when Tsuyoshi Takada held on to a screamer on the boundary as the ball came swirling down on his running around from long on. When that was followed up by Okoshi running out Jikoi Kida for 40 and Fiji were 65/4 there was every chance of an upset.

As the heat increased on the field, so it did off it and the high temperatures began to take their toll on the team coming over from winter at home in Japan.

A combination of some missed chances and energy declining meant that, despite a wicket for Raheel Kano to have Fiji 90/5, the Fiji lower order were able to guide them to the target with 10 overs to spare.

Japan can be incredibly proud of their efforts against a team whom they have never beaten, and will take heart from this going into the final two games against Vanuatu tomorrow and Philippines on Saturday.

The Japanese players even took a moment out of their warm down to spend a short time playing with the local kids who take part in Milo T20 Blast, a program similar to the Japanese Cricket Blast program that has been such a success.

Live scores can be found on the ICC website and ESPN Cricinfo.

Japan suffered a disappointing defeat to Indonesia today at the Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo on day two of the WCL Division 5 Qualifier.

Winning the toss and batting first Indonesia were led to a total of 210/7 thanks to Viraj Bhammar who hit 71 from 102 balls before becoming Jun Yamashita’s first wicket for Japan. Yamashita had earlier provided the breakthrough with a sensational direct hit run out, but Indonesia batted well down the order and barring a wicket near the end for the returning Takuro Hagihara, all other wickets fell to spin.

Anything over 200 was always going to be a challenging target but Japan started very well with Raheel Kano (25) and Wataru Miyauchi (25) establishing a great platform with an opening partnership of 45. Captain Kobayashi carried on the good work of Kano and at 72/1 after 23 overs Japan looked well set.

The run out of Miyauchi sparked a collapse as Japan lost four wickets for ten runs and although Tsuyoshi Takada (26) and the again impressive Yamashita (21) tried to rebuild, the required rate climbed above eight runs per over and was asking too much of the Japanese lower order.

Eventually the team were dismissed for 156 in the 46th over to give Indonesia their first win of the tournament, by 54 runs.

Tomorrow will be a rest day for the team before tackling Fiji on Wednesday and tournament favourites Vanuatu on Thursday. Although disappointed today the Japan team are determined to keep fighting and improve game on game.

The team would also like to extend their thanks to the many who came to support today including; Alana Baldi from Cricket Victoria and Chelsea Moscript of Cricket Without Borders who acted as assistant coach and physio for the day, the members of the Japanese Community and Cricket Victoria plus other well wishers.

Please do check Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.

Japan fought hard in their first match in Bendigo but went down by seven wickets to a muscular Samoan side.

Asked to bat first, Japan lost early wickets but a partnership of 42 between Masaomi Kobayashi and Tsuyoshi Takada restored some stability to the innings.

The partnership was interrupted by a nasty looking injury to Aleki Tiatia of Samoa when fielding which unfortunately ended his game early. All at Japan Cricket hope that Aleki makes a swift recovery.
After losing Kobayashi the innings was propped up by some good hitting from the lower order pair from Osaka of Jun Yamashita (16) and Kohei Wakita (17) who both struck big sixes in taking Japan to 144 from 44.5 overs.

With Samoa only having ten fit batters Japan knew taking wickets would be crucial but were unable to take early chances. Samoa however, look like a powerful batting side who hit some huge blows despite the excellent bowling of Takada who clean bowled Fred Sapatu with a fantastic delivery.

Ultimately it was the long-proven class of Samoa captain and player of the match Ben Mailata that made the difference, guiding Samoa home with 58 not out including five sixes.

Japan can take many positives from a performance that, with a few small improvements, could have led to a much tighter contest. They will be back in action tomorrow at the Queen Elizabeth Oval against Indonesia.

*The JCA are also aware there were problems with the online scoring on ESPN Cricinfo and the ICC website. This issue has hopefully been fixed and should be working from here on, however the most reliable source of updates should be the JCA Twitter feed www.twitter.com/cricketjapan

On Sunday 19th February, Japan will begin the World Cricket League Division Five Qualifier by taking on Samoa at the Canterbury Oval in Bendigo.

The match will be key to the hopes of both sides and with the matches being played in the 50-over format Japan will be hopeful that disciplined bowling and sensible batting can lead to a positive result.

Due to the team not having played a match since early November the squad have spent three days in Melbourne to acclimatise and play some warm up matches.

On Wednesday the squad arrived early and washed the flight off with a dip in the ocean and a spot of beach cricket before a trip to visit one of our sponsors the Greg Chappell Cricket Center. Following a substantial shopping spree the squad then stopped into the Japanese High Commission to meet some key members of the Japanese community in Melbourne.

The day was concluded with a visit to Northcote Cricket Club where East Asia Cup coach David Reid put the squad through their paces and then kindly provided a barbecue for the whole travelling party. Our thanks again go to all the above for the great hospitality.

On Thursday the squad had a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and paid a quick visit the the Cricket Victoria offices on Jolimont before moving on to Xavier College for a warm up match against the school 1st XI. Using the match as an opportunity to give everyone a chance Japan lost by 15 runs but the workout was very worthwhile and the setting simply spectacular.

On Friday the team was privileged to visit the Japanese School in Melbourne which has around 80 students between the ages of 5-15 years old. The children were split into two sessions of around 40 minutes each and this was a great opportunity to develop relations with the Japanese Community in Melbourne.

After the visit the squad moved on to Caulfield Grammar School for a match against a very impressive local school who proved far too strong, but again the team was able to give all 14 players an opportunity to get used to the playing conditions in Australia.

The JCA would like to extend our thanks to both Xavier College and Caulfield Grammar for kindly hosting us and providing such strong opposition. Both matches were played in great spirit and gave the team valuable match practice.

After arriving in Bendigo late on Friday night, the team has trained well on Saturday morning and attended a welcome function hosted by the City of Greater Bendigo.

Throughout the tournament there will be daily updates from various players on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/cricketjapan), including photographs, while the JCA Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/cricketjapan) will also include regular updates.

Following the match on Sunday there will be matches on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Match reports can be found here on our homepage and scores can also be followed live on www.icc-cricket.com/world-cricket-league/east-asia-pacific. Matches will start at 10am (8am JST) and are scheduled to finish at 5pm (3pm JST).

Please feel free to send encouragement to the team through any of the mentioned social media channels. The players greatly appreciate your support.