Picture this: It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Chiang Mai and with a full picnic laid out in front of you, you watch as two young, local lads emerge from the pavilion to open the batting for Thailand against Singapore in a one-day international cricket match. The prize for the winners? A place in the next World Cup and the chance to test their skills against the powerhouses of the international game.
Khun Pattivat Poshyanonda, a former Thailand international and current Chairman of the Thailand Cricket Foundation (TCF), has a very clear vision. "We want Chiang Mai to be the home of cricket in Thailand, and my dream is to see eleven young Thais walking out to represent our country."
That dream is shared by a dedicated group involved in an exciting new project based at the Prem Center out in Mae Rim. On the northern lip of the Center's 90 acres of land, work has begun on the construction of the first ever purpose-built cricket ground outside former British colonial territories. The aim is for the ground to be the home of cricket outside Bangkok, hosting not only domestic competitions but also touring parties from overseas.
Khun Pattivat Poshyanonda
According to Lister Hannah, Director of the Prem Center, the ground itself is going to be a peach. "Look at that," he says as we drive around the site. "What a wonderful place for cricket." He's not wrong. Trees line two sides of the ground, while mountains look on from the west and the school end is distinguished by a small man-made reservoir. "The reservoir serves three purposes. It's provided the earth needed to lay the field, and in the dry season we'll use the stored water to sprinkle the pitch. Plus of course it's a great feature, it adds a bit of character."
Almost 180 boys came to recent U13 trials at the Prem Center, which is a pretty amazing figure for what is still a relatively new sport for schools in the region. Much of the credit has to go to local residents like Peter Dawson, Eric Little and David Buck who give up their time to arrange training sessions and organise equipment.
David Buck, the Director of Coaching for the TCF, is one of the prime movers behind the Prem project. A level 3 coach, meaning he is qualified to coach at county and state level, David played county cricket back in England before moving into coaching and sports psychology. Having done everything from working with county teams and England national set up to coaching at grass roots level in India, experience like David's is invaluable. "We've got a chance to do something special here," says David. "We have a great Under 13'ssquad which is getting bigger and bigger every year.
David and Linda Buck
Seven boys from schools in Chiang Maihave made the national squad, along with four from Kon Khaen and another four from Bangkok. Looking forward, what we really want is to see is some of these lads playing for Thailand in the Asian Games in 2010.
Influential heads are turning on the international scene too. Representatives from the ACC (Asian Cricket Council) have been over to Chiang Mai to monitor the growth of the sport and been impressed with what they have seen. Former Indian all-rounder Roger Binny was a recent visitor in his role as Development Officer for the ACC and remarked that the Under 13 kids he saw training were easily as good as their counterparts in India.
"They (the ACC) have given their full backing for the project and they are very interested in what we're doing," says Hannah. "The ground is just one aspect of a grander vision of cricket in Chiang Mai and we see ourselves running coaching and umpiring clinics, hosting tournaments and eventually we want to establish a proper academy of cricket here. As far as the school is concerned it goes along with our aim of combining a world class education with world class sporting facilities."
The facilities at Prem are already remarkable. As well as being able to provide high quality accommodation for visitors, there is a beautiful Olympic sized swimming pool and a state of the art double gymnasium. The current plans are to import soil and lay six grass wickets (the only grass wickets outside Bangkok) and one all-weather artificial strip. All wickets take a while to settle down, but it is hoped that in two to five years time, the Prem Center will have an international standard pitch.
"We will be promoting Chiang Mai as a venue to clubs from the UK, Australia and New Zealand initially. What we envisage are two-centre cricketing tours; teams will fly in to Bangkok and play two games then come up here and play two more."
Thailand is already a popular destination for club cricket tours, guaranteeing as it does perfect cricketing weather outside the monsoon season. The annual Cricket Sixes at the Gymkhana Club continues to be a big draw for teams from all over the world and has spurred much of the interest in junior cricket development in Chiang Mai. The only problem so far has been that outside of the Sixes few teams head north, preferring to play only in Bangkok before heading off to relax on the islands. With excellent facilities available and some of the country's most spectacular scenery within easy reach, Chiang Mai should soon be joining the circuit.
For more information:
www.cmsca-juniorcricket-thailand.com
By Mike Atkins |
