An All-round Cricket Experience for East Asia - Pacific Academy Attendees

October 30, 2001

The 15 EAP Cricket Academy attendees in front of the famous Adelaide Oval Scoreboard © ICC

15 players from the ICC Development Program's East Asia – Pacific (EAP) Region recently visited the famed Australian Institute of Sport Cricket Academy in Adelaide. Five players from each of the EAP's Associate countries – Hong Kong, Fiji and PNG – were privileged to get the opportunity to live and breath cricket for two weeks under the guidance of acting Cricket Academy coach, and former Australian Test cricketer, Wayne Phillips.

The two weeks of intensive training, from October 8 to 22, gave all players a glimpse of the types of training Australia's elite young cricketers are subject to in order to achieve at the highest level. These include skill development, weight training, swimming, recovery techniques, mental skills, video analysis, specialist coaching and physical preparation. Furthermore this amount of intense training gave the five PNG representatives a fantastic springboard into their U/19 World Cup campaign.

A highlight of the players visit was a fielding session on the Adelaide oval which was taken by Australian one day and test cricketer Darren Lehmann. The players' greatly appreciated this initiative that was organized jointly by the Australian Cricket Board and the ICC EAP, while it also provided a fantastic media opportunity which was taken by several local print and television journalists.

As well as these cricket specific activities, the players were also treated to a cricket experience when given a tour of the Adelaide Oval – a test ground renowned for its beauty and serenity. During the tour the players were given the opportunity to climb inside the famous scoreboard, and follow in the footsteps of famous cricketing names such as Bradman, Border, Sobers and Hadlee by visiting the players dressing room.

All in all this academy visit was a great success for both the players, and cricket development in the region. The ICC East Asia – Pacific region would like to thank the Australian Cricket Board for helping to launch this initiative, and it is hoped the event can be maintained in order to continually expose the EAP's elite players to the world's premier cricketing school.

ICC East Asia – Pacific Academy Attendees:

Papua New Guinea

Tim Anderson (ICC - EAP)

© ICC