Japan national cricket team

Japan
ICC status Associate member (1989)
ICC region East Asia/Pacific (formerly Asia)
WCL N/A
Coach Dhugal Bedingfield
Captain Masaomi Kobayashi
First international
6 September 1996 v Brunei at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
As of 1 June 2009

The Japan national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Japan in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 2005, having previously been an affiliate member since 1989.[1] They are currently ranked at equal 37th in the world and at fourth amongst non-test teams in their region.[2]

History

Cricket was first played in Japan in 1868 when a group of English merchants living in Yokohama founded the Yokohama Cricket Club, playing their matches on what eventually became the Yokohama Stadium.[3] The club, now known as the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club, still plays cricket today.[4]

Cricket did not become organised until the 1980s, when the Japan Cricket Association was formed.[4] They became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1989,[1] and the national team first played in the 1996 ACC Trophy, losing all their games including a 380 run defeat by Fiji.[5] They continued without success in the 1998 tournament[6] and the 2000 tournament.[7]

After the 2000 ACC Trophy, they left the Asian Cricket Council and became part of the ICC's East Asia/Pacific region. They played in the East Asia Eights tournament in Australia in February 2002, finishing as runners-up to an Australian indigenous team.[8] Indonesia and South Korea were the other teams in the tournament.[9] In 2004, they hosted the East Asia Pacific Cricket Challenge tournament as part of qualification for the 2007 World Cup, finishing third after beating Indonesia in a play-off.[10]

In June 2005, Japan were promoted to associate membership of the ICC[4] and that year they played in the 2005 ICC EAP Cricket Cup in Vanuatu, winning the tournament after beating the Cook Islands in the final.[11] The following year they played in the 2006 ICC EAP Cricket Trophy in Brisbane finishing last in the three team tournament that also involved Fiji and the Cook Islands.[12]

In December 2007 Japan took part in the 2007 ICC EAP Cricket Trophy in Auckland, New Zealand, playing against the Cook Islands, Indonesia, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.[13] Japan won the tournament and qualified for Division Five of the World Cricket League where they finished in tenth place out of the twelve countries represented[2] in Jersey.[14]

Tournament history

ACC Trophy

World Cricket League

Upcoming tournaments

Japan placed fourth in the 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven. This qualifies for them to compete in the 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven in Botswana.

Squad

The following table lists the 16 players in Japans's squad for the 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven.[15]
Japan
Name Age Batting style Bowling style
Ko Irie 33 RHB
Gavin Beath 37 RHB RM
Kenji Murata 34 RHB LB
Masaomi Kobayashi (c) 33 RHB RM
Munir Ahmed 49 RHB LB
Naoki Miyaji 37 RHB RM
Patrick Giles-Jones 33 LHB LMF
Naotsune Miyaji 27 RHB RM
Tatsuro Chino (wk) 31 RHB
Cheema Razaq 37 RHB LFM
Takuro Hagihara 30 RHB RM
Fumihiko Uegaki 26 RHB
Yuta Matsubara 41 LHB LFM
Satoshi Nakano 29 RHB RM
Prashant Kale 34 RHB OB
Inamota Yatishika 30 LHB LB

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Japan at CricketArchive
  2. 1 2 ICC's one-day rankings
  3. ↑ About the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club
  4. 1 2 3 Article about Japanese cricket
  5. 1 2 1996 ACC Trophy at CricketEurope
  6. 1 2 1998 ACC Trophy at CricketEurope
  7. 1 2 2000 ACC Trophy at CricketEurope
  8. ↑ Scorecard of Australia Cricket Board Indigenous v Japan, 1 March 2002 at CricketArchive
  9. ↑ 2002 East Asia Eights at CricketArchive
  10. ↑ Scorecard of Japan v Indonesia, 29 May 2004 at CricketArchive
  11. ↑ 2005 EAP Cricket Cup, ICC official website
  12. ↑ 2006 EAP Cricket Trophy at CricketEurope
  13. ↑ ICC EAP newsletter, October 2007
  14. ↑ World Cricket League structure, 2006–2009
  15. ↑ Japan squad, Cricinfo.com Retrieved on 24 May 2009.

External links

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