18 November 2012

The CCC and MCC both provide an invaluable service in promoting cricket in ICC affiliate and associate nations.  CCC toured Oman in March this year and played two matches in Jersey in September.  The MCC who have an extensive programme of such tours returned from Tanzania in October.  The tour was, coincidentally, managed by CCC board member Simon Prodger.

Tanzania has a long association with cricket, dating back to 1890, when the game was first introduced to the region by British settlers. The country was granted ICC Associate Membership in 2001, and from 2008 competed in Division Four of the ICC World Cricket League, though this year they were relegated to Division Five for the 2014 competition. MCC last toured Tanzania in 2007.

Cricket in Tanzania has re-emerged since 2000 when the newly formed TCA committed to a youth programme that took cricket to the indigenous population and used the game as a means of improving the lives of young people existing in harsh circumstances. Many of those young players are now international players and the game is spreading through schools and provinces on the back of qualified coaches, trained through the national squad of senior players. The evidence from the tour was that cricket up country in Arusha was not as strong as in Dar es Salaam, where MCC played against Premier League standard opposition, but with development programmes in place at junior level in a number of provinces now, improvement are likely to follow.

Cricket is sustained and developed in Tanzania, as in Oman, through cricket boards bereft of official government support and have to rely on private financial investment and ICC funding. It is therefore an everyday miracle that despite the lack of official domestic support, the governing bodies in both countries are developing cricket programmes that continue to expand both regionally and the age groups levels and women across social structures.

Visits from the MCC and CCC remain fundamental to spreading the word within affiliate nations, whilst demonstrating to ICC that their cricket is respected by organisations within a major Test playing country. Both organisations now focus their tour programmes on developing nations and are committed to playing their part in highlighting cricket and its values within the broader sporting community.

Matt Spriegel and his Northants wicketkeeping colleague Niall O'Brien were two professionals in the 15-man MCC tour party, and another player with first class experience was the Pakistan A all-rounder Kashif Ibrahim, of Preston Nomads CC. This is the MCC's final tour of 2012.  Trips to Argentina, Cayman Islands, France, Cyprus, and Uganda and Rwanda are planned for 2013. 

Itinerary:

Saturday, 13 October: TCA XI (50 overs, Anadil Burhani Ground)

Sunday 14: TCA XI (50 overs, Anadil Burhani Ground)

Tuesday 16: DSM Combined XI (T20, DSM Gymkhana Ground)

Wednesday 17: DSM Combined XI (T20, DSM Gymkhana Ground)

Saturday 20-21: TCA XI (two-day game, Arusha)

MCC tour party

Steve Atherton (capt, Saffron Walden)

John Bowett (Wakefield St Michaels)

Tim Carter (Wimbledon)

Alan Duncan (High Wycombe)

Kashif Ibrahim (Preston Nomads)

Chris Isle (Beckenham)

Wayne Kylander (Clevedon)

Niall O’Brien (Ireland & Northamptonshire)

Wesley Morrick (Aston Rowant)

Matthew Spriegel (Northamptonshire)

Mark Thomas (Swardeston)

Chris Watling (Aston Rowant)

Richard Wilkinson (Barnt Green)

Manager: Simon Prodger

Umpire: Ben Debenham