Thailand's under-16 cricket team have arrived in Malaysia to take part in the Asian Cricket Council's U-16 Elite Cup where they will test themselves against some of the most outstanding schoolboy cricketers from countries across Asia.
Thailand’s under-16 cricket team ahead of the Asian Cricket Council’s U-16 Elite Cup.
These are exciting times for Thailand cricket and the team must rank as the best prepared boys side ever to take part in an overseas tournament. The team has spent many months preparing in the new training facilities at Doi Saket near Chiang Mai and playing practice matches at the nearby Traidhos Oval.
The boys have also recently taken part in the National Youth Championships at Chantaburi and members of the victorious Chiang Mai side make up a strong part of this young Thailand team. The team spirit and winning mentality built up over recent months will be key to putting up a good show in Malaysia.
Thailand are initially based in Penang where they will contest Group A and play matches against defending champions Singapore, Hong Kong and Oman. Group B is being held in Kuala Lumpur with teams from Nepal, Malaysia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iran. All matches are 40 overs aside and the final will be played in KL on 13th May.
The Thai boys have a tough task on their hands as they face boys from countries with a much deeper cricketing pedigree or with many more expatriate players. Only four Thai players remain from the under-16 side that went to Nepal in 2010 when all four matches were lost.
The boys will be looking for much improved performances this time as they play matches against Singapore on 5th May, Hong Kong on 6th May and Oman on 9th May, and then move to Kuala Lumpur for the final stages of the competition.
The team will be hoping to follow the example of the under-19 girls team who benefited greatly from a similar training program and finished second in the ACC U-19 Women's Championship recently held in Kuwait.
The boys will also have gained confidence from the two matches they played against Bhutan U16s in March which brought two convincing victories and showed the level of talent that is being nurtured at Doi Saket.
The most encouraging thing for the future of cricket in Thailand is that most of the new talent is coming from ethnic Thais, several of them from the hill tribe regions, who have been given the chance to play cricket in the schools from a young age thanks to an enthusiastic and dedicated group of coaches.
After being introduced to cricket in the schools, young players now have the net facilities to practice their skills every day; they have league structures to play competitive cricket and even face touring sides such as MCC who were highly impressed with the young talent now coming through in Thailand.