May 31, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1428

BEIJING, May 30: Development Officer of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Rumesh Ratnayake has said that the upcoming Asian Games will be the ‘breakthrough point’ for the game of cricket in China.

He said the Asian Games, to be held in Guangzhou, China in 2010, will be a huge bonus as there will be two proper cricket stadiums where Ratnayake expects six to eight teams would compete.The matches, he said, would also help Chinese witness the standard of cricket.

When the grounds for the game are developed then even matches between India and Pakistan would be possible, Ratnayake added.

Ratnayake, who is here on a visit, said if India and Pakistan play here it would attract a lot of spectators besides generating huge interest among Chinese, in such a way even the businessmen would realise that cricket can bring huge benefit for them.

Referring to the development of infrastructure in China, he pointed out the China Cricket Association (CCA) is working on a project to get land for the development of two cricket stadiums in Beijing.

In the same way, he said, that in Shenzhen, the CCA is also looking for some area, while two grounds for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou were being developed.

The ACC, he said, is contributing a lot including financial assistance to China to back the game as it recognises that there was a huge potential available.

Ratnayake also applauded the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for sending coach Rashid Khan to China for developing cricket there.

He was optimistic about the future of the game here, however said that it would take time especially the men’s team to reach the levels big Asian teams like Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh possess presently.

“But they (Chinese) are very smart in learning the skills so quickly that sometimes even they surprise me,” he remarked.He expressed that Chinese are really fantastic in learning the knowledge of any sport. “Had they known cricket, as much as we do, they would have been as superior in it as they are in other games,” Ratnayake remarked.

“It is huge,” he said while replying to a question regarding cricket’s future in China.

He opined that females cricket would take off first (in China), if compared with male cricketers, because, as he observed, the standard of females cricket in the world and especially in Asia, is not as high as of males.

The former Sri Lankan paceman spotted that looking at the interest developed for the game among Chinese, other non-cricket playing countries like Russia and America have also started learning and playing cricket.

Ratnayake insisted that to develop the cricket culture in China, teams from different countries should be invited here to play matches with local outfits so that the (Chinese) people may know more about the game.

He said that to polish the Chinese’s cricket skills if any country like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka invites them and bear their expenses that would be a good service, adding that media can also play an important role in promoting cricket in China.

Meanwhile, coach of the Chinese cricket team Rashid Khan has said the selection of the final squad for the ACC women’s tournament, scheduled for July in Malaysia, is in its final stages.—APP