Kuwait. May20th’2006, Training of the Kuwait National U-15 team is in full swing for participation in the prestigious Elite Group ACC under 15 Cup to be held in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia from 23rd May-10th June. For the first time a tournament for the ACC development countries is being held on a 2 day game basis. It will be hosted by Malaysian Cricket Association for and on behalf of Asian Cricket Council.
The eight participating countries which have been raised to the ACC Elite Group Division, including Kuwait are Nepal, Afghanistan, Malaysia, U.A.E., Hong Kong, Singapore and Bahrain. Kuwait is in Group B along with Afghanistan, U.A.E. and Bahrain. Each team will play the other from their own group on a round robin basis and the top two teams will play a cross-over semi-final. The winners of the semi-finals will play a grand Final for the ACC Cup. All matches shall be of two day’s duration with a minimum of 90 overs to be bowled in a day. First innings of each side shall be restricted to 60 overs. 10 points are allotted for a win, plus any bonus points earned in either innings. If the match ends in a draw 5 points given to the team leading in the 1st innings, plus any bonus points earned in either innings. If the match ends in a tie then 5 points will be shared by both teams plus any bonus points earned in either innings. Bonus Points are given for both batting and bowling. 1 Point for the batting side for the first 150 runs scored and 1 point for each subsequent 25 runs. Maximum of 5 points per innings up to 250 runs. In Bowling 1 point is earned for every 2 wickets with a maximum of 5 bowling points per innings.
Preparation for selecting the Kuwait team commenced in March itself starting with the announcement of trials in the local newspapers and via general publicity. The first trials and parents meeting was held at the KEC cricket facilities in Doha on 23rd March. Subsequent parent-player meeting was held at the Gulf Consult New Head office building on April 10th and further trials were held at the newly constructed nets facilities in Jleeb Al Shayoukh Garden on April 13th where practice continued. Asad Baig, KCA Deputy Chief Executive International Affairs, is personally coordinating the U-15 camp including the trials, training camp and team preparation.
KCA General Secretary Haidar Farman and Chief Executive Shahid Mirza announced the appointment of ACC qualified Level II coach Kaleem ul Hasan as the Head coach with Tahir Khan as Assistant Coach. Tahir himself is a Level I ACC certified coach. Both Kaleem and Tahir have been U-15 coaches in earlier ACC tournaments. The announcements were based on the recommendations of the Coaches Panel of KCA. Emad Al Jassam was appointed as the Team Manager. Emad himself is a ACC qualified Level I coach as well as ACC certified Sports Medicine and Fitness expert. He was also the manager of the Kuwait National U-17 team which toured Malaysia last year. KCA announced the following 18 players for the U-15 squad: Navtej S, Faisal Riaz, Haseeb ur Rehman, Qamar Mohammed Inayat, Faisal Nadeem, Nadir Abdul Aziz, Imran Idrees, Jason Serao, Drishan Dang, Omaid Tanoli Saifullah Khan, Yatan Joshi, Haroon Shahid, Mohammad Jasim, S. Abdul Munaf, Shahroz Tahir, Nawaf Ahmed, Abdul Rafay Hanif and Kabir ur Rehman.
The players were picked up by the KCA appointed selection committee and reviewed by Asad Baig, Sameer Desai (Chairman-Coaches Panel), Shubh Datta (KOC Cricket Committee), Khalid Arshad (KOC Cricket Committee), Kaleem and Tahir. The decision of the selection review committee was based on the player assessment report submitted by the coaches who were involved in the U-15 training. The coaches were appointed by the Coaches Panel and approved by KCA. The team is scheduled to depart on 22nd May. In the meantime the boys are working out almost daily under the watchful eyes of the coaches with nets in the night under floodlights at Jaleeb Al Shayoukh, valuable match practice during weekends and evenings at the KOC & KEC cricket grounds in Ahmadi and Doha respectively. Commenting on their training Asad Baig was highly appreciative of the support provided by the KOC and KEC cricket committees with their facilities, the schools management of the players for their approval of giving the boys time off for training and allowing to travel during the exam period, and specially the parents for their ardent support. With so much backing behind the boys only grand outcomes are envisioned. |
