More boundary talk as cricket heads for China

It’s the one thing you didn’t want to happen. China, whose speed at picking up new sports was rewarded with a golden shower at the Athens Olympics, will soon be learning cricket. And they will begin with Twenty20, the new high-velocity game that makes a one-dayer look like a Test match.

‘‘There’s a long way to go’’, said Asian Cricket Council president Jagmohan Dalmiya, ‘‘but there are encouraging signs that a side could be playing teams such as Hong Kong, Nepal and Malaysia within the next three years.’’ ‘‘We will look at this closely as it is one way to introduce a new public to the game’’, Dalmiya, who has in the past played a major role in spreading the game to new territories, told The Indian Express at Eden Gardens during the Second Test against South Africa. Earlier this year, China — whose formal interest in the game dates back to the 1996 World Cup, hosted on the subcontinent — became an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council after solid groundwork by the ACC officers. Dalmiya said that the ACC’s drive in development structures in the world’s most populous country was helped by plans of the Chinese military to get involved. As it is, the initial scheme is to take the game into the schools and gymnasiums, where a strong sporting culture already exists.

The main stumbling block, he admitted, was setting up a coaching programme and translating it into Chinese, and creating schools of excellence. ‘‘We have to realise that developing the game in Asia calls for the laws to be translated into the languages of the region’’ he said.

However, there’s no plan ‘‘no need’’ — to introduce it at present in India, Dalmiya said. He was probably mindful of the manner in which the innovation flopped in Pakistan and Sri Lanka earlier this year. Even free entry to Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium failed to attract all but players’ family members, girlfriends, gaudily dressed cheerleaders assigned to each team and bizarre antics by the promoters. Eventually the organisers had to bus in schoolchildren to fill some of the stands.