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East Asia-Pacific Archive
Fiji - A sleeping cricket giant?
December 19, 1999
Did you know that the Fiji
National team toured New Zealand four times between 1947 and 1968 and during
those tours recorded victories against full Otago, Wellington and Auckland teams
?
And that in 1956 the full
West Indies side containing Sobers, Ramadhin and Valentine (to name a few) played
against a "Fiji X1" at Suva and the locals won a low scoring match!
And that in 1960 Fiji toured
NSW and managed a first innings win against a NSW Metropolitan X1 containing
R.Benaud, N.O'Neill, A.Davidson , K.Miller and N.Harvey!!
Those were indeed heady days
for Fiji cricket.The cultured Apted brothers were international class batsmen
and Bula one of the biggest hitters to grace a cricket oval. And some of there
players even played in bare feet. It would be fair to say that Fiji cricket
has gradually drifted off into island time since those heady days. Rugby, particularly
the sevens version, has captured the public's imagination and cricket has lost
its profile.
But the natural ability remains
and as the millenium approaches the Fiji Cricket Association is set to launch
an ambitious program to rejuvenate the game. With the assistance of the ICC
an exciting development plan is being created. New facilities are planned, a
schools program will be expanded, more local people will be trained as coaches
and former Australian A player Neil Maxwell will head a comprehensive elite
development program.
Having spent two weeks visiting
various parts of Fiji during October I'm sure that the program can be a success
and Fiji cricket can rise once again. The interest is certainly still there
and the legacy of past glories is evident. In the outlying island of Lakeba,
in the Lau group, each village still has a concrete pitch and the school children
are very keen to play cricket. In Nadi and Labasa Fiji Cricket Association Development
Officers do an excellent job promoting the game in schools.
Only time will tell but the
chance is there for Fiji to once again become a force in world cricket.
Pictures:
Samoa - Field of dreams
Seb Kohlhase may not have
seen the Kevin Costner film "Field Of Dreams" but he has one of his own. Samoa
has suffered for many years from a lack of grounds and pitches - in fact they
have had to play their games on mown outfield.
Samoa Cricket Association
President Seb Kohlhase has dreamt of developing the sort of ground that may
attract visiting teams. But as is usually the case finance has not been available.
But miraculously now everything seems to be falling into place.
The government has set aside
a large expanse of land for an ambitious multisport complex and cricket has
been granted two full size fields. The Prime Minister is very supportive and
they have already been levelled. With great views over Apia harbour the fields
promise to be a great setting for cricket.
Two concrete wickets with
astrograss surfaces are set to be laid with the ICC providing valuable financial
and advisory assistance. If all goes well the fields will be ready for a grand
opening tournament in March or April proving that in Samoa dreams can come true.
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