Cricket gains a toe-hold in Vietnam (5 Dec 1999)

5 December 1999

Cricket gains a toe-hold in Vietnam

Natarajan Srikanth, former member of the Hanoi Cricket Club, provides this laid back report on cricket in Hanoi, Vietnam. Below are scores for the recent Coca-Cola Cup.

Vietnam has two major cities, Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and Hanoi. Both have big expatriate communities, English, Australian, Indian, Sri Lankan and a few Pakistanis.

What does a cricket crazy expat do in Vietnam? Well, you look around, start talking to people and when they show interest, you try and get some equipment and with a motley crew you start the game.

That's exactly what Mr Hari did some five years ago. Hari is a great fan of the game and he along with a few Lankans and Aussies he formed Hanoi Cricket Club.

Hanoi cricket is played on Sunday mornings at the Air Force Ground. It's actually a football field with a pitch laid out in the middle. The game often starts at about 10.30am (in consideration to Saturday night activities!). Teams involved are India, Australia and a bunch of Pommies, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis who make up the Rest of the World team.

Normally, the game is organised by the most enterprising Indian businessman in Vietnam, Mr Ravi Kumar who also happens to own one of the two Indian restaurants in Hanoi - Tandoor.

Weekend games are usually between Indians and Australians. The pitch is covered with a jute mat which Ravi and Hari procured locally. This helps to a certain extent as the ball does not fly around because of the stones and rubble. The ball used is the typical leather cricket ball - we have a stock of them, usually brought back by Ravi/Hari who go home for vacation. The kit was originally procured when the Hanoi Cricket Club was started couple years ago.

The game is a 25 or sometimes even 20 overs per side affair; the team batting first usually gets to send in the umpire as we have no official umpires. Also there is a serious constrain in the number of players - expats on-leave, on tour, family issues, kids etc. are the reasons for missing a game!

Sometimes in summers the heat can put off the game for a couple of months as Hanoi touches 38-40 degrees at 7 in the morning!!

After the team batting first finishes, there is a break, when the chilled Tiger, Heineken and 333 beers are drunk with great relish. Sometimes we get sandwiches with it...After the customary cigarettes are smoked, the batsmen pad up and the second session starts.

The game will finish by 1.30-2pm depending on the score to be got after which everybody heads home to cool off and rest their aching limbs. A few will go to Tandoor for a hearty Indian meal. The game will be discussed over a mug of beer sometime during the week among the Indian community. Sometimes the wives of the players come over to watch and cheer and also remind their husbands that it's Sunday and it's the only time they get to be with their husbands. A gentle reminder to finish the game and head home. Children too come to watch their fathers play. Overall it's a great time for all.

The annual tournament which was till this year called the DHL Shield has been renamed the Coca Cola Cup, thanks to Coke sponsoring the event. The format is simple - round-robin games and two teams to the final. Teams are Australia (current holders of the Shield), India and the Rest of the World ( Sri Lankans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, English and the Kiwis). Matches are 25 overs per session, same ground, same pitch, etc.. The matches will get local newspaper coverage as Hari works for the only English Daily in Vietnam, the Vietnam News.

Australia always peaks in the final. They have a good team, with Brandon, Paul Farrel, Baldwin and Flannagan. They are captained by Robert McLean. Farrel and Baldwin are good all-rounders. Rest of the team too is in good shape.

The Indians are captained by the very stylish and elegant Hari. They have a good batting line up with Surinder, Pramod, Pankaj and Hari himself. They have the only Sikh in Hanoi in the form of Arvinder Singh who on his day can be a great bat. They have good bowlers in form of Pramod, Arvinder and Siva, who's medium pace can be rather difficult. Hari too chips in with his offies.

The ROW side is captained by Nalleyah, from Sri Lanka. He holds the distinction of scoring he only 100 in Hanoi cricket - a record which is yet to be broken. They also have two new players Sajjad Ali and his son Ehab - the 12 year old leg spinner whom the Aussies found too hot to handle in Game One of the tournament."

COCA-COLA CUP

Match One : Australia beat Rest Of The World by 25 runs. Australia 94 all out; ROW 69 all out.

Match Two: India beat Australia by three wickets. Australia 98 all out (Farrell 32; Pramod 2 wkts, Siva 3 wkts) India 99-7 (23.5 overs) (Pankaj 24n.o., Pramod 15, Hari 23; Farrell 2 wkts)