When Sang Hyeun Kyung and Seung Han Park became students at Seoul's Sungkyunkwan University they probably had no idea it would lead to them eventually representing South Korea at cricket or a chance to practice in the nets at Perth's WACA Ground with Dennis Lillee.

Indeed, in the unlikely event the great fast bowler had walked by them on the streets of Seoul, the 355 wicket Test veteran would have not attracted a second look.

Now six months after enrolling in the world's first known university course for cricket, Kyung and Park will be part of a 10 man South Korean team competing along with Japan, Indonesia and an Australian Indigenous XIII in the ICC's East Asia Eights in Perth from February 25 to March 1.

The ICC is staging the East Asia tournament as part of its policy of giving its members a chance to compete in tournament play. The Aboriginal side a fitting inclusion given the continent's original inhabitants also its first overseas touring team.

Although Japan has taken part in the past three Asian Cricket Council Trophy competitions, the Eights format is being used to give the relative newcomers to our game from South Korea and Indonesia a gentler introduction than the more searching test that a 50-over-a-side version would provide.

All three visiting teams have entered into the developmental spirit of the tournament, with all 10 of the Japanese squad and nine of the South Korean entourage native born. Seven of Indonesia's squad were born in the archipeligo.

And all three have easily been able to meet the ICC's request to include at least six locally born players thanks to genuine participation in all three countries.

Japanese have been playing the game since the '80s and have competed internationally since debuting at the 1996 ACC Trophy in Malaysia. They have so far resisted the temptation to sneak in a few expatriates to improve their win/loss percentages but a recent fusion of the native born and expatriate games in Japan may change that.

The prodigees of Matthew Steele, originally from Brisbane and now running the cricket course at Sungkyunkwan University, played in Seoul's Autumn competition, usually two each included amongst Seoul's six mainly expatriate teams. This year it is planned for the South Koreans to come together to field their own team.

Steele said that while the squad's captain, Irfan Fangnafoor, formerly of Pakistan was not born on the peninsula, he is no 'ring-in'.

"Irfan has been living in Korea for 10 years, is married to a South Korean, is a naturalised citizen and speaks fluent Korean."

The six Balinese in the Indonesian were introduced to cricket thanks to the forward thinking of the Balinese International Cricket Club which has been introducing cricket to Balinese for several years. Now the BICC are being drafted in to help the Jakarta Cricket Association with their development push.

Steele said that while it could have been easy to include some expats to achieve some cheap wins, it was never considered.

"Even if it means we lose an edge in competitiveness, it doesn't matter. It's a chance to develop the game."

The preparation of all three teams has been less than ideal with the northern hemisphere winter a restriction for the Japanese and the South Koreans.

"When it has been really warm, it has reached 4 degrees," Steele joked. The learning curve was boosted though, by a three day coaching visit from Chris Harris, the captain-coach of premier Victorian club team, Northcote.

It was distance rather climate which had been a factor for the six Balinese and four Jakarta based players who are expected to train together for the first time in Perth, under the watchful eye of Lillee and successful former Western Australian coach, Darryl Foster.

So what did the South Koreans think of prospect of meeting the idol of the Australian cricketing public of the 1970s and 1980s?

"They have never heard of him but I tried to explain to them that he is cricket's version of Sammy Sosa, of the Chicago Cubs."

The ICC has arranged for Lillee and Foster to put all four teams through their paces on the eve of the tournament, on Sunday, February 25.

The Indigenous team has been purposely selected so that it does not overwhelm the relative novices from East Asia and will include mainly young players in their late teens from Western Australian country districts with a couple of experienced players in their 20s to lend some guidance to the youngsters.

Despite the youth of the team, the Indigenous team should have too much cricket know-how for the visiting national squads.

In a first for Japan at international level, it will have an advantage over some of its rivals at a tournament, with all but two of the squad having played in 50-over-a-side 'internationals' in at least one of their three ACC Trophy appearances.

Amongst their squad is captain, Tetsuo Fuji, who bowls both slow left arm orthodox and right arm offbreaks, Hirokazu Takahashi, the vice-captain who has played several seasons in Australia and debutante Shuichiro Nakamura, currently playing in New Zealand.

The Balinese contingent of the Indonesians are reputed to be crack fielders with long term Jakarta residents, Cameron Knox and Dave Herbert adding some experience.

Steele said the South Koreans although obviously raw in the skills department, were natural athletes.

"They have good eye-to-ball coordination and are very good bowlers. As for their batting technique, there is a lot of baseball in them."

Hopefully, at the end of it Sang Hyeun Kyung and Seung Han Park may have learnt just who this Dennis Lillee fellow is, Tetsuo Fuji will possibly have his opponents wondering whether he is going to bowl left or right arm spin, the Balinese will leave everyone on edge with their run-out attempts and the Indigenous side will lap up a unique cricketing experience.

Two things are certain about this tournament - enthusiasm will go some way towards compensating for technique and the event will not be in end in itself - the ICC has told East Asia's pioneers they will be given a crack at the opportunity at the lower level of World Cup qualification in the near future.

© ICC 2002