Inter University 2012 Sparks a Revolution

“Sport is not an expression of some biological human need, it is a social institution.” Michael Messner Cricket Association of Thailand recently took another landmark initiative of spreading the game of cricket to the locals with the first ever Inter University Cricket Tournament in Thailand, held at the Terd Thai Ground (TCG) in Lat Krabang, Bangkok. What was seen during those 6 days of competitive cricket was a mixture of experience and exuberance coming together to form a potent mix, which bodes very well for cricket in Thailand. Quite a few young and upcoming crickets impressed the club scouts who were on hand to witness the game and a lot of new local young talent was identified during the course of the matches. The Final was played between Assumption University and Siam University, with ABAC winning by 9 wickets to becoming the first ever Inter-University Champions. Mahidol took 3rd after beating Kasem Bundit by 2 wickets. A final presentation ceremony proceeded with individual man of the match awards and team trophies. “It was a very successful tournament and a constructive start to development of cricket among universities with many more to join over the seasons” said Shafiqul Haque.

Next on CAT’s development plan is to initiate cricket among universities and schools.  Even though this has been in the thought process for many years it is now the right time.  Development of players within universities will allow a bigger pool of players for talent identification and resulting in more diverse selection for national sides.  Not to forget the general recognition and knowhow of the sport will also increase.
Five universities from Bangkok have been invited to take part in this tournament through a formation of clubs or activity center within the universities.  This allows students who have some cricket background to take part and allow new boys and girls to learn about the sports.  These clubs would be under the university’s system hence internal funding and assessment would increase popularity and also allow for new infrastructure.  The CAT also hopes this would push cricket into each universities curriculum as other sports do.
Assumption, Kasem-bundit, Mahidol, Bangkok and Siam Universities will be participating in this first ever tournament conducted by CAT this February 2012.  The tournament be a round robin format consisting of 25 overs where each team will play 3 games played at TCG.
“Universities have been quite excited to hear of this tournament and we have received positive feedback and support from all participating universities” said Saurabh Dhanuka.  “This is a fantastic concept to develop cricket among universities and colleges.   We already have a few more universities that have taken interest and would like to join in the next tournament which we are planning in the 3rd quarter this year.  However the main challenge and goal is to get ethnic Thais involved and with majority of the bigger universities having international standards, hence making it difficult to get local Thais involved.  However with these clubs set up and this tournament will bring a lot of exposure hopefully bringing more Thais into the game.  We aim to run a national league for universities from all across Thailand”
Boys and girls from universities have always made up majority of the senior national teams hence with universities acknowledging the sport will allow more talent to come through providing a stronger basis for national teams in the near future.  Further students who make it to the national side will have academic opportunities such as scholarships or entry into bigger universities.
In March 2012 CAT intends of doing the same among schools in Thailand to facilitate development among youths.

INTER UNIVERSITY CRICKET TOURNAMENT 2012

Points Table

INTER UNIVERSITY CRICKET TOURNAMENT 2012