China key to cricket's growth

China's Wang Meng (right) looks up after skying a shot during the team's semifinal against Bangladesh on Thursday. Bangladesh won by a massive nine wickets to advance to the final against Pakistan. Xinhua News Agency

GUANGZHOU - Cricket cannot be regarded as a global sport if China doesn't embrace the game, said the chief of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

"China's debut at the (Asiad) means a lot to us. Without its involvement, cricket simply cannot be classified as an international sport," Syed Ashraful Huq, chief executive officer of the ACC, told China Daily on Thursday.

Huq said the Chinese women's cricket team advancing to the quarterfinals in its first international appearance was hugely important to his organization.

"China's cricket is on the right track now and our hard work has paid off," he said.

Huq can now sit back and enjoy the event's first cricket tournament after his mission to save the sport from the axe at the next Asian Games in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, has also been accomplished.

The Asian Olympic Committee decided to cut non-Olympic sports from 14 to seven after the Guangzhou Asian Games.

Huq was disappointed that cricket was omitted from the list of events proposed for the Incheon Games due to the host's concerns about costs.

"What they don't understand is that cricket could add value to the Asian Games commercially. As the No 1 sport in many countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, and non-Asian countries including England and Australia, the organizers could have made a fortune simply by selling broadcasting rights," Huq said. "The sport could add 20 to 25 percent financial value to the Games."

He also said cricket at the Asian Games needs to become internationally recognized and that joining the Olympics would be the icing on the cake.

Huq continued that the women players were blossoming at the games.

"Some of the players are from remote villages and have little funding, but you can see their passion for cricket when they play," he said.

Cricket is a relatively acceptable sport for women in Muslim countries because the players are covered and there is no body contact, he said.

Huq was also glad to see that Chinese fans were developing a growing appreciation of the sport thanks to the Asian Games and the volunteers working at the stadium.

"They (Chinese) knew absolutely nothing about the sport before the games, but look at them now, they know the rules, they can even comment on the matches," he said.

Although the Chinese women's team lost to Bangladesh, the No 2 seed, in Thursday's semifinal, it seems efforts to fill the venue have worked. The occupancy rate for the China-Bangladesh match at Guangdong Cricket Stadium reached 80 percent compared to just above 20 percent at China's previous game.

China still has a chance to win bronze on Friday, when it takes on Japan.

Pakistan and Bangladesh will fight it out for the first Asian Games cricket gold medal.

China Daily