Cricket Starting to Make Noise in Indonesia

"I don’t expect cricket will be as famous as badminton, but hopefully it will spread’

Rizky, 16-year-old cricketer.

Going by the Chinese Zodiac, 2009 is the Year of the Ox.

If Sachin Gopalan and his associates get their way, it may also be the Year of Cricket.

Cricket Indonesia, in cooperation with Ultramilk, plans to have 100,000 Indonesian children playing the sport through an under-15 development program it is launching. Gopalan, the Cricket Indonesia advisory board chairman, said about 7,000 children in 16 provinces play cricket, and the association’s efforts are beginning to pay off.

Indonesia’s U-15 team, with captain Rizky Tri Rubby leading the way, took fourth place at a tournament in Malaysia in 2007. “They even beat the Australia team,” Gopalan added.

Indonesia’s success has not gone unnoticed. Gopalan said the International Cricket Council, or ICC, has proposed that the country host the Asia-Pacific regional tournament in July, which the chairman called “a big jump for us.”

To prepare, the association will hold national tryouts in 16 provinces to select the best 15 players from a field of 20,000 children. The selection process will run from March to June, and they players chosen will stay with the program for the U-17 tournament in 2011 and the U-19 tournament in 2013.

Gopalan said that in the long run, Indonesian cricket would benefit from the new system.

“As a result of the program, the already system will be in place to hold competitions all over the country,” he said. “A kid who can play cricket in Kalimantan can come and try for national team selection as we have schools in Kalimantan.”

An added benefit of spreading the sport in 16 provinces is it allows Cricket Indonesia to become a member of the Indonesian National Olympic Committee, or KONI. One of the committee’s membership criteria is creating competitions in at least half of the country’s 33 provinces.

Membership, Gopalan said, has its advantages.

“We can participate in the National Games, and we can get funding from them,” he said. “Hopefully, we can participate in Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010.”

To help introduce youngsters to cricket, the association recruited volunteers — mostly expatriates who played cricket in their native countries and are now working in Indonesia — to help coach and train both children and national sports teachers throughout several provinces.

Cricket Indonesia has also hired 16 coaches.

“They go to schools, talk to the sports teachers and introduce them to a game that’s played throughout the world, but not in Indonesia, named cricket,” Gopalan said. “Kids love it.”

Cricket, he continued, suits Indonesians just as well as athletes in India and other South Asian countries.

“Nutrition intake is not good enough in this country for kids to play tough sports such as football very well,” he said. “And Indonesians are not tall enough to play basketball, so they’re not internationally competitive.

“In cricket, you don’t need a high level of energy. You only need skill, and Indonesians are very good at it. They have high hand-eye coordination. That’s why they can play badminton very well.”

Just like other sports federations, though, Cricket Indonesia also has its problems — chief among them being field space.

Gopalan said Indonesia has 16 grounds, six of which are in Karawang, Karawaci and Cibubur.

“We need to have one more field inside Jakarta, hopefully in Senayan,” he said. “We have the training facility in Senayan, the batting center, but it’s not enough. We must have a field.”

Part of the reason for emphasizing cricket for children, Gopalan said, was to promote the longevity of the sport.

“You can play cricket from 9 years old to age 45,” he said. “In other sports, you can’t.”

“And children under 15 years old can pick up good skills. You can see most of the international players all over the world today learned between the ages of 15 and 20.”

Rizky, known to his friends as Eki, is among those players around which Cricket Indonesia will build its future.

The 16-year-old said Indonesian cricket will grow with time, and he wants to be there to sustain the sport.

“We’re talking about tactics and teamwork in cricket,” he said. “It will give more advantages in life experience. I don’t expect cricket will be as famous as badminton and [football], but hopefully it will spread. I’m sure Indonesia will be competitive enough in international competitions in the next six to seven years.”

Rizky added he hopes to be able to join the national team to aide in the development of the game.

Until then, he serves as an unofficial agent of the game, asking friends at school and in the neighborhood to join him.

“Give it a go,” is what Rizky keeps telling his friends.

Having accompanied his parents to Australia when he was younger, Rizky learned the game down under and even joined a cricket club before moving back to Jakarta.

Another future national team hopeful is Mark Johnson. Born in Indonesia 16 years ago to English parents, Johnson said he wants to play on behalf of the country which has been his home for years.

“It has always been my ambition to represent a national team,” he said.

Though it is only a hobby for him, Mark — a teammate of Rizky’s with the Jakarta Globe Tigers cricket club — said he finds cricket appealing.

“It’s a good teamwork sport,” he said. “And I never expected before that Indonesian children can play the game very well. I used to think they’d play worse than I thought. But it’s a surprise to see them perform.”

“I think Indonesians are as good of batsmen as the English are bowlers,” Mark added.

(This article was published on www.thejakartaglobe.com on January 4, 2009. Photo: Cricket Indonesia)