Cricket in Nepal???

[thierry henry]

The Nepal V South Africa result at the under 19 World Cup really has me scratching my head. It's unbelievable. I can only assume that cricket in Nepal is very much amateur, and that the under-19 squad is chosen from a fairly small group of players who have had little proper coaching. That they actually beat the best South Africa have to offer is nothing short of phenomenal.

Does anyone know anything about cricket in Nepal?? Are all/most of the players actually Nepalese born and bred? Do any of them play overseas?? What are the player numbers like over there?? Do they have a domestic national competition? How on earth could they possibly beat South Africa??

Another point- I saw in their squad list one player born in April 1984. Clearly he is too old. Did they get dispensations?

 

[marc71178]

IIRC, didn't they perform above expectations in the last U19 WC as well?

 

[Swervy]

they must have been playing at their (Himalayan) peak.....ooooo sorry

 

[Neil Pickup]

April 1984 still makes him 19. Tim Paine was born in Dec 84, Adam Crosthwaite Sept 84, I could go on, they're 2 of the other 4 I checked!

They came tenth in the last U19 WC and as such, it's not *that* much of a huge surprise that they're performing as well as some have made it out to be.

 

[thierry henry]

under 19 means that the players must be 18 or younger at a certain date, which is usually a few months before the start of the season. Usually something like August or September is about the cut off point. I find it hard to believe that the cut-off for a tournament held in 2003/04 was prior to April 2003.

 

[nibbs]

Do the actually have flat fields to play cricket on in Nepal. All I can think of is mountains for miles and miles, with no flat land anywhere.

 

[hourn]

I know the cut off date for being an under 19 in the Australian system for this year was September 1, 1984 cause i was still forced to bowl with underagre restrictions cause i missed out by 5 days............but the good thing is a good an extra season in the under 21 competition (which is very high standard) than i would've because up until 2 seasons ago the cut off date used to be October 1.

 

[V Reddy]

The only reason Nepal is not as good as other teams like UAE at senior level is because they have a strict policy of selecting only people born and brought up in Nepal. Cricket is quite popular there. All the live cricket that is telecasted in India is telecasted there too( atleast i saw it when i was there). So they get to watch a lot of cricket. Lot of Indian junior sides get to tour Nepal too.That's why i said in a topic started by Craig on European Cricket that it's better ICC concentrates more on countries where there is a following for Cricket. Here is website for Cricket in Nepal

www.cricket.com.np

 

[marc71178]

under 19 means that the players must be 18 or younger at a certain date,

No, it means 19 or under.

 

[Rosh]

Nepal has qualified to play in U 19 W/C 2004 by beating teams like UAE and Malaysia. It is not a fluke that Nepal beat B'desh and Pakistan in last u 19 W/C. So S.A is the third test playing nation it has managed to beat.
There is a huge following of cricket in Nepal. You see more children playing cricket in the streets then what you have even imagined 10 yrs back.
With our boys giving their best performance (thanks to Coach Roy Dias) at the top level, I see Nepal playing senior W/C within next 5 yrs.

 

[thierry henry]

No, it means 19 or under.

No, it doesn't. That's absurd. Do you think they call it UNDER 19s for a laugh??

I am fully aware of the set-up in NZ because I trialled for the Auckland under-19s. The NZ cut off date is September 1, which funnily enough is exactly the same as the Australian one. I challenge you to find anyone from any of the test playing nations who turned 19 prior to, say, July or August of the preceding year (i.e. 1997 for the 1997/98 season, 1999 for the 1999/2000 season) in ANY of the under-19 tournaments.

If it was as you say, Jesse Ryder (born July/August 1984- I forget which one) and Ross Taylor (born March 1984) would be the dominant players for NZ, but they're not playing because they're TOO OLD.

 

[Swervy]

when i was a kid, 'under 17s' meant 17 or under

 

[thierry henry]

If it was "17 and under", that would mean a player could turn 18 before the season even started, and still play under-17s. It's ridiculous and it's not how it is. September 1 1984 sounds just right to me.

 

[thierry henry]

Just went through the entire England and Australia squads, not a single player born prior to September 1 1984.

 

[thierry henry]

None of the South Africans either.

 

[Swervy]

i am not sure what you are getting at here...surely there are some 19year olds playing for U19 teams

 

[Neil Pickup]

Some areas of Lincolnshire have junior leagues with a 31 August cut off (one day, grr) and others have "so long as you're still fifteen, you can play U15s".

 

[thierry henry]

Ok.

under 19s, means that the player must not have turned 19 before a certain date, usually a few months before the start of the season.

In this case all of the evidence (hourn's involvement in the Australian system, mine in the NZ system, the fact that every Australian, South African, and English players birthdays conform) suggests that this date is September 1.

Therefore, the oldest possible player would be born on September 1 1984. When September 1 2003 dawned, the player was UNDER 19.

(well, you could argue that the oldest possible player would be born on September 2 1984, but that would be very childish of you :P ).

Think about it- in a competition such as under 19s, do you really think that 3 of the major teams in the competition wouldn't have a single player within 6 months of the cut-off age?

 

[nibbs]

thierry. when we played under 15s, I clearly remember being 15 during my second season in that grade. Wouldn't you have turned 16 before the end of that second season???

 

[marc71178]

Re: Re: Cricket in Nepal???

Think about it- in a competition such as under 19s, do you really think that 3 of the major teams in the competition wouldn't have a single player within 6 months of the cut-off age?

Yes, if the players weren't good enough.