The Korea Cricket Association (KCA) has two major aims in 2000:
Firstly the establishment of an Association. A constitution for the KCA has been already been written. We are also ensuring full registration of all senior players in the KCA Spring Competition. Furthermore we are in the planning stages of running a International Sixes tournament at the Olympic Stadium
Secondly, to commence a Grass Roots development of cricket in Korea. This is primarily focussed on schools with a mixture of Korean and foreign students. The development program will see the ICC Development Program providing three schools in Korea with 'Kanga Cricket Kits' in 2000. These are cricket kits designed specifically for children and beginners of the game. Coaching manuals and video tapes are also provided to help teachers coach their students. Discussions will continue with other schools over the next 12 months to develop the programme further.
Additionally we have had an active drive of introducing Korean nationals into the competition. This has been an off season project which has seen five Korean nationals being extensively trained over the past two months. Many of them are ex-baseballers so their skills in the field were very good. We did however take some time to educate them on the game and stop them 'throwing' the ball! Basic forward and back defence shots were also demonstrated and practiced consistently.
As a result for the first time in the KCA history, a Korean team has now been entered into the local competition. Mr Kim Hak Su will be leading the team which consists of six Korean nationals and a mix of other nation players who are mentoring the Korean players through the season. Their first game comes this Sunday so we are all waiting in anticipation of the performance on Sunday. Our aim is to have a full Korean national team playing by fall of 2001.
Additionally, South Korea has now been accepted as a "New Territory" by the ICC.
Korea Cricket Association chairman, John Bourke, attended the three-day seminar held in Auckland in February for the East Asia-Pacific region.
After writing up the one-year business plan and the five-year strategic plan, John has returned to Korea to implement and execute the plan with the Korean Cricket Association Committee.
The 2000 Committee comprises-
Chairman & Secretary: John Bourke (CC)
Treasurer: Ian Walker (CC)
Grass Roots Development Manager: Tony James (KC)
Korean Development Manager: Kim, Hak Su (KC)
PR Manager: Bradley Mitton (KC)
Korean Liason/Statistician: Kim, Dal Soo
International Tours Manager: Jeff Shepherd
After more unsuccessful negotiations with the UN Compound we have been again been sent back to the dust pit of Seobingo-Dong Elementary school. However we have used the long, hard, cold winter to do extensive testing on new cricketing surfaces and will be trialling a new 1.2 centimetre hard reconstituted Rubber underlay as the base this season. This has come about due to over 50% of Players being bowled or LBW'ed last season from balls that mulligrubbered after the ball pitch on the wicket.
Telstra (the Australian telecommunications company) has been appointed as the Major sponsor for 2000 with Grand Havanna Restaurant and Gillette Mach3 Razors being the two minor sponsors. The competition will be called the "Telstra Cup".
There are five teams registered with the competition commenced on April 2nd and will run for 10 weeks with the Final on June 11th. One team will have a bye each week.
We have new team names and Captains of the Spring 2000 season. These are:
Korean Crusaders - Kim, Hak Su This will be a development team in 2000 but has some very handy players with the likes of Tony James, Shah and Farhan. The Korean Players to watch are Do Hu Lee and Sung Hee Park. Don't under-estimate this team as they will definitely give the best teams a run for their money ODDS 16/1
Pakistan Eagles - Sikander Miraz Coming off a winning Spring and Fall 99 Season the Paki's are out for a hattrick of wins. Idris and Nasir are the batsmen to watch coming off big seasons in '99. Taimur and Zahid's pace attack has cleaned up so many teams before them however it remains to be seen if they can go on with the job. OODS 4/1
Commonwealth Cavaliers - Ian Walker This is a merged team of former All Stars & Embassy Players. They have suffered losses of many prominent players from last season and will really need to blood some fresh new talent if they are to be a force this season. Wotton remains the backbone of the batting and some early brilliance in the bowling department by Shadlow could mean this team will mature rapidly. ODDS 10/1
Sri Lanka Lions - PKJ Perera A new inclusion into the Telstra Cup. This team's strengths are still greatly unknown. However some old hands in the form of Asanka and Raja will continue to trouble the best of the KCA bowlers while Nimal & Indika will continue to put the fear in any batsmen's heart. ODDS 6/1
Indian Tigers - Syed Agha With a change of captain, a strengthened batting line-up and good depth of bowlers this team is the one to watch. Kenny is well over due for a good season and the Sanjay boys improved bowling accuracy make this team hot favorites for the Spring Season. ODDS 3/1
The first round results:
TELSTRA CUP
April 2nd
Round 1, Match 1
Sri Lanka Lions 81 (Chandima 19, Indika 10; Syed 2/10) defeated
Indian Tigers 60 (Kishore 16, Shazoo 13; Nimal 3/10) by 21 runs
Round 1, Match 2
Pakistan Eagles 201 (Nasir 79, Idris 32; Shadlow 4/32) defeated
Commonwealth Cavaliers 115 (Wotton 30, Dunn 13; Zahid 2/8)
Korean Crusaders bye