China is making a bid to host its first major international cricket event by showing interest in staging the 2012 Asia Cup in Guangzhou, the venue that hosted the first-ever Asian Games cricket tournament in November.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief executive, Syed Ashraful Huq, told ESPNcricinfo that one of the upshots of the Asian Games was that the Chinese Cricket Association had "expressed its interest" in hosting the 2012 Asia Cup. "If our ACC board agrees, China will have its first full-fledged, major international tournament," he said.
The ACC board will meet on December 12 in Dhaka to decide on the venue for the Asia Cup. The choice is among Guangzhou, Dhaka and either Dubai or Abu Dhabi. "If you ask me where it should go, I don't know, my board would have to decide," Huq said. "But it would be good if it is played in a non-traditional place".
Moving to a new venue, according to Huq, "enhances the profile of the place, creates cricket awareness. You create a new market in the new place." There were, he said, "no new things" to be created by playing the tournament in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. "If you have the missionary view of taking cricket out and getting to new markets or new areas, then you should go to new markets, new areas."
The cricket tournament in the Asian Games was held at the Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT), where the ground has an 80-metre boundary and seven pitches that were laid out six months ago. Four of those were used to host 30 Twenty20 matches during the Asian Games. Huq said the venue had been well-received and would host three of the ICC's World Cricket League Division Three games in January.
According to Huq, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt had been astonished by the quality of the GDUT ground and its facilities and said it could be a venue for one of Pakistan's offshore international games. "It was just an initial reaction after seeing the new ground," Huq said. "He [Butt] just turned to me and said why can't play our Test matches here?"
India were "sorely missed" at the Asian Games, Huq said, and the BCCI's decision to not send a team was at odds with the agreement made by the four Asian Test-playing nations that they would send their "best available" team as opposed to the best possible side to the event.
Huq said the decision to make a pitch for cricket's inclusion in the Asian Games had been led by Sharad Pawar, who during his tenure as BCCI president (2005-2008) was also president of the ACC. Both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh sent their A-teams to Guangzhou. Sri Lanka fielded a few former Test players like Jehan Mubarak and Malinga Bandara, and Bangladesh was captained by Mohammad Ashraful.
"India could have sent their best available team, obviously the best possible team could not play because they were playing New Zealand. It is not expected of them to send it (their best possible team)", Huq said and hoped the Indians would turn up for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.
Huq denied that, by distancing itself from the Asian Games, the BCCI had decided to move away from its regional bloc. "I don't think this is the case, but since India is the commercial powerhouse, they are busy. Everybody wants to cash in on India. It is not only the Asians who want to do it but Australia, England, the South Africans, West Indies, New Zealand, everybody wants to do it. I think Asia is still a strong bloc, obviously led by India. It is expected of India to take the lead."