Tony Munro
Former Surrey left-arm-spinner Keith Medlycott thinks giving Indonesian cricketers exposure to longer forms of cricket and continued coaching would bring huge rewards for the game after leading the Marylebone Cricket Club on a four-game tour of the country last month.
As expected, the MCC won all four games in Jakarta and Bali handsomely between conducting extensive coaching sessions, where Medlycott was struck by the enthusiasm of both children and adults.
"The Indonesian players listened and questioned on every available opportunity and if they can receive these types of tours on a regular basis they will improve at a significant pace," Medlycott told CricInfo.
He felt the format used at a still formative stage in the game's development ought to be considered. "The aspect that needs attention at the top end will firstly be, playing longer cricket games. 35-over games are still way too short to develop the qualities needed as Indonesia try to move up the International rankings. The batsmen possess power hitting but lack finesse and also discipline to get big scores."
The MCC played local selections, who all achieved respectable totals, while conceding some big totals in a couple of the games. Medlycott said there were "Two to three players of ability but will need to play many more International teams in order to gain the relative skills required to move the game forward at pace."
Scores: Game 1 (50-over match) - MCC beat Jakarta Cricket Association XI by 94 runs
MCC 250-9 (50 overs) (J Bushe 64, A Kennedy 66; D Silva 4-12, S Minhas 2-28) beat Jakarta Cricket Association XI 156 (35.2 overs) (A Lohia 27, E Antaria 33, D Silva 45, G Pathak 20*; SN Barnes 3-22, KT Medlycott 2-26, RW Ibbotson 2-42)
Game 2 (50-over match) - MCC beat Jakarta Cricket Association President's XI by 150 runs
MCC 367-5 (50 overs) (DM Barnes 94, AD Clarke 46, M Newell 39*, KT Medlycott 42, A Kennedy 30, Extras 52; D Silva 2-48, W Noranha 2-69) beat Jakarta Cricket Association President's XI 217 (41 overs) (P Chaturvedi 47, A Karpadia 27, P Vijaykumar 25; G Bulpitt 3-49, SN Barnes 2-43, PN Unsworth 2-47)
Game 3 (20-over match) - MCC beat Jakarta Cricket Association President's XI by 79 runs
MCC 238-4 (20 overs) (PN Unsworth 46, JR Irvine-Fortescue 57, AD Clarke 77*, M Newell 30*; Rajeev Kumar 3-31) beat JCA President's XI 159 <19.4 overs) (P Chaturvedi 33, A Lohia 24, T Matthews 29, W Noranha 25; RW Ibbottson 3-37, JHC Bailey 2-34)
Game 4 (30-over match) - MCC beat Bali Cricket Association XI by 52 runs
MCC 205-6 (30 overs) (J Bushe 47, G Bulpitt 37, M Newell 39*; K Urip 2-28, K Putra 2-40) beat BCA President's XI 153 (23 overs) (K Urip 51*, N Suardika 25; JHC Bailey 3-7, RW Ibbitson 3-56, SN Barnes 2-3)