China's ambitions encouraged

An Australian coaching delegation is in Beijing in a bid to fast-track China as a competitive cricket nation, Cricket Australia said today. CA officials and the coach John Harmer have organised a six-day course for 30 coaches from Shanghai and Beijing, who all work at university level in various ball sports.

China, who were admitted as an associate member of the ICC last year, have ambitions to play international one-day cricket. CA joined forces with the Asian Cricket Council in 2003 to assist Asian countries develop their own coaching set-up to help with their talent identification structure.

Ross Turner, CA's international development program manager, said the delegation's visit was to provide coaches the necessary skills, resources and capacity to build the game among the 1.3 billion population. "China, unlike Australia, is not a nation where cricket is an ingrained part of its culture," Turner said. "Cricket is fresh and new in China and we have an opportunity to work with the Asian Cricket Council to help build the game from the basic foundations, and share our skills and knowledge in coach education."

Syed Ashraful Huq, the ACC chief executive, said it was China's ambition to compete in a World Cup. "Developing a cricket culture takes time, but one thing we can be sure of is that China is now ready, willing and able to make the great leap forward into cricket," Huq said. "China is the next frontier for the game's expansion. Coaching, funding and facilities are in place to fast-track China into playing one-day matches against other ICC associates within the next few years."