CRICKET IN FIJI - The Rebirth Begins

It's the cricket season in Fiji and local officials, Richard Wotta, Jone Salele and Michael Makasiale provide an update on the season so far:

"Cricket in Fiji is going through a resurgence of sorts with a sudden hive of cricket activity in the main urban cricket centres of Suva, Lautoka, Nadi and Labasa. There is also some cricket being played out in the islands of Lau.

The resurgence of cricket in Fiji can be put down to several factors: coverage of the recent one day series in Australia, the revival of junior cricket programmes in Suva and Lautoka, and the input of the ICC Regional Development Programme.

Taking a look at cricket in the main urban centres:

Nadi The Nadi Cricket Association is probably the trend setters of Cricket in Fiji today, with some hardworking cricket officials in the likes of Richard Wotta and George Faktaufon. A further element to Nadi's success is the structure it has in place for cricket, a primary schools competition, secondary schools competition and a senior competition.

i. Senior Competition The Nadi senior competition comprises of six clubs namely MCC, Nakavu, Salvation Army, Counties, Rebels and Air Pacific. After the first round of competition the Nadi Competition sees MCC meeting Counties for the First Round Title on Saturday . The mainstay of the Counties side this year has been Hitesh Ratanji and Rajesh Patel whilst the MCC side has a bit more depth with the likes of seasoned cricketer Johnny Hussein, Vickal Prasad, Jalal Khan, Ahman Prakash, Mohammed Izaz. The first round final will be a battle of wits and the side not batting its full allotted overs is most likely to go home sorry come Saturday evening.

Not to be outdone the other sides in the Nadi Competition have the second round of competition to make amends for lapses in concerntration in the first round. The Nakavu side which boasts Nadi district representatives Iliesa Navatu, Inia Namua, Kilione Tiakeva and Meli Vuadreu should be strong contenders for the second round honours. The Salvation Army side which boasts keen young cricketers in the likes of Junior Kida, Colin Rika and Johnny Slate are another side that could threaten current front runners MCC and Counties. The Air Pacific side have unfortunately been unable to perform to there potential given work commitments, but are another side which could spring surprises in the second round.

The Nadi Secondary School Competition has commenced with the commencement of the school year. The competition comprises six sides namely, Nadi Sangam College, Nadi Muslim College, Nadi College, Sri Vivekanada High School, Ratu Navula Secondary School and Korovuto Secondary School.

Nadi Muslim College should be pulling out all the stops to retain the honours of being the Nadi Schools champs, the mainstay of the side are Mohammed Izaz, Imran Khan and Nazeel Khan who will be hard pressed by last years Runners Up Sri Vivekanada High School. The Sri Vivekanada High School side will be relying a lot on the shoulders of Anan Prakash, Abitesh Patel, Varun Patel and Dovinesh Patel.

The Nadi Primary Schools Comptetition will start towards the middle of the year and six sides have actually already signed up for the competition, namely Nadi Airport School, Namaka Public, Mount St Mary's, Nadi Primary, Nadi Sanagam and Nadi Muslim Primary.

The Mount St Mary's side will start as favourites to retain there 1999 title with the likes of last years Captain Arthur Sowane, Mariji Naisia, Nemani Sdrani and Simione Rabaka

SUVA Suva being the biggest association in the cricket have had a terrible last four seasons and things are looking up for Suva, although there is still a lot of work to be put in.

The Suva Senior Competition currently consists of five clubs namely, Army, VICC, QVSOB, Telecom, and Moce. With the commencement of the second round the competition will see the entry of the likes of the former top Suva Club Nanuku and Life Insurance Corporation of India.

Newcomers Telecom held a slender lead in the first round over the VICC and Moce side. The mainstay of the Telecom side has been its Captain Sada Krishnan who has batted very consistently and sensibly through out the first round, getting Telecom out of some tight spots. The VICC side has been led by Allrounder Seci Tuiwai and he has received good support from Simon Jepsen, Tukaha Mua and John Knight. The side which is a fairly young side are the YOUNG GUNS of Suva Cricket and they will continue to give some of the more experienced cricketers a few anxious moments. The Moce side are always a balanced side and will also give Telecom a run for there money.The mainstay of the Moce side are brothers Waisake Tukana and Iniasi Cakacaka whose hasn't been up to the usual best. QVSOB with the likes of Johnny Mua, Sakiusa Yalisaya, Alex Konrote, and Tavo Sorovakatini are always in contention and with a longer second round they could resurge to make the top spot of Suva Cricket. Army the former champs of Suva Cricket in the 1990's have not quite performed up to par due to organisational problems, but with the input of the Army's top brass the side is now finding some of its lost form and will be the front runners of the second round. The Army side boasts national representatives such as Joeli Mateyawa, Jone Seuvou, Taione Cakacaka, and Meli Saubulinayau. Playing up at the Army oval will be a daunting task for opposing teams and the Army Pace attack will most likely be the sides main weapon.

Nanuku will be a side to watch in the second round by virtue of there previous playing history with the brother Sada Reddy and Jitend Reddy leading the charge. The Life Insurance Corporation of India side is a fairly unknown side, with very little known about the strength of the side. As there is the likelihood of the appearance of a few expatriate Indians in the LICI side, this side is likely to boost the strength of the Suva Competition. The primary and secondary schools competition have yet to commence in Suva, but over the past two months there has been approximately 60 young lads between the ages of 9 to 13 playing cricket under the supervision of John Mua, Seci Sekinini and Seci Tuiwai at Albert Park and this has been a delight to watch after a lapse of about twelve years.

LABASA Labasa probably boasts a very strong development programme with cricket at the schools its strong point. This is largely in part to the efforts of Jone Salele.

Labasa's secondary school competition comprises 10 schools namely, Labasa College, Labasa Sangam, Labasa Muslim, All Saints Secondary School, Holy Family, Khalsa College, Bulileka College, Labasa Arya Secondary, Waiqele Secondary Schools and Batinikama Secondary School

The Labasa Primary School competition comprises 14 schools namely, Saint Mary's, Holy Family, Bethel, Labasa Primary, Bulileka, Gurunanak, Sangam, Nagigi, Vailiva Sangam, Bocalevu Muslim, Batinikama, Qawa, Sangam and Saint Augustine