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ACC organises inaugural U-19 women's tournament

The Asian Cricket Council has organised an Under-19 women's tournament in Thailand as a lead-up to the 2010 Asian Games

Cricinfo staff
13-Dec-2008

The Nepal national side qualified for the inaugural ACC women's tournament last year © ACC
 
The Asian Cricket Council has organised an Under-19 women's tournament in Thailand as a lead-up to the 2010 Asian Games, in which cricket will make its first appearance in a multi-sport event since the Commonwealth Games in 1998.
The tournament, starting on Saturday, will feature 11 teams divided in to two groups, after Iran backed out at the last minute. Seven countries that took part in the inaugural ACC women's tournament in Malaysia last year have sent teams along with Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bhutan.
All the matches will be 25 overs-a-side and the top two teams from each group will compete in the semi-finals on December 22, with the final scheduled for the next day. There are no rest days during the ten-day tournament which starts with four matches on the opening day. The ACC spent approximately US$250,000 on the tournament and it hopes several of these players will make it to their senior sides for the Asian Games. "Having girls start playing cricket while they're still in school really sets them up for the senior level and at the senior level all the countries taking part are focussed on the 2010 Asian Games," Shubhangi Kulkarni, the chairperson of the ACC women's committee, said.
"This tournament gives us a chance to assess these countries in preparation not just for the Asian Games but for their long-term development. They have all shown tremendous enthusiasm in getting to this stage; they themselves feel that starting with these girls now gives them the best chance to create quality cricketers at senior level."
Bhutan, who have formed a women's cricket team for the first time, will be taking on Singapore on Saturday and their coach Damber S Gurung hoped the players would gain valuable experience from the tournament. "When we started training, the girls didn't know anything about cricket and we had to start from scratch," Gurung told Kuensel, a Bhutan newspaper. "So, such international matches will give them good exposure and help them mature and become better cricketers."
Though there won't be any cash rewards for the players, the teams are motivated to succeed as their subsequent ICC rankings will decide the amount of funding they receive from the game's governing body.