On Sunday, September 22, dozens of junior cricketers had the opportunity to play in the first-ever Junior Cricket World Cup, held under the auspices of Cricket Australia and South Australia Cricket Association (SACA).
Deepak Bhardwaj from the Multicultural Cricket Advisory Committee of South Australia says the event was a huge success, with every participant feeling like a winner.
"We had two teams each representing the six nations India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Afghanistan. The players wore shirts representing their respective countries and they participated in an Opening Ceremony with national flags of participating countries too."
Participants at Junior World Cup held recently in Adelaide Source: Supplied
"They played round-robin matches in the u/10 and u/12 age groups, with the highlight being that there were two girls in each of the teams."
They played in a modified T20 format, and every player got to bat, bowl and field.
"All of the children were from junior club cricket, and they played with a soft ball as well as a soft bat. The idea was to set the mood amongst the subcontinental community for the upcoming T20 World Cup, of which, six important matches will be played in Adelaide next year - including the India v Pakistan clash."
Source: Supplied
The Men’s and Women’s ICC T20 World Cup trophies were also on loan for the day, giving kids the opportunity to have their photo taken with the silverware.
SACA Cricket Manager Alex Guy said, “The parents got into the games just as much as the kids did. The love and passion for cricket was really prevalent on the day and it was wonderful to see so many people from all walks of life come along."
Opening ceremony at Junior Cricket World Cup Source: Supplied
Mr Bhardwaj said the event was successful that they will have a repeat performance next year, in the lead up to the mens T20 World Cup.
"It will be played in September next year, and we'll add another age category (u/14) to it. We expect 500 participants to take part next year," he said, adding "we've received queries from Melbourne and Sydney as well, because they want to follow suit."
