2 days ago
Ground Identified To Ensure Legacy For Cricket In Japan After 2026 Asian Games
Cricket will be played at next year's 2026 Asian Games (Photo by)
The Korogi Athletic Park, about 15 miles from Nagoya and distinguished by three baseball fields, is set to be repurposed into a permanent cricket ground.
It is part of a determined effort by officials to leave a legacy for the sport in baseball-crazy Japan following next year's Asian Games.
After there had been fears of a cull for the multi-sports event held in Aichi-Nagoya, cricket was recently included following a decision by the Olympic Council of Asia and local organizing committee.
But there has been an unknown over the exact location of the cricket venue. It is now learned that the T20 cricket competitions at the Asian Games are almost certain to be played at the Korogi Athletic Park in the city of Nisshin, east of Nagoya.
The OCA has to tick off on it, but it is expected to be a formality. The Asian Cricket Council and local cricket administrators have been determined for the Asian Games to leave a legacy in Nagoya and beyond.
They are hoping to avoid erecting a temporary stadium like what happened at last year's T20 World Cup in New York, which cost $30 million - as I first reported - but was bulldozed immediately after the event.
It is hoped that the Korogi Athletic Park can become the second main ground in Japan. There are long-term strategies from powerbrokers for Japan to host major global cricket events, but high-quality infrastructure around the country will be needed.
The Sano International Cricket Ground, the premier ground in the country, was ruled out of hosting the Asian Games cricket competitions because of its distance of around 300 miles from Nagoya.
Japanese cricket is rising (Photo by ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
As I first reported late last year, cricket had faced Asian Games exclusion due to the difficulty of finding suitable infrastructure for cricket - played on an oval-shaped ground compared to baseball's smaller diamond field.
The site announcement is expected imminently as is the exact number of teams for the T20 competitions. Only six teams per gender will be participating in the Los Angeles Olympics, but there is an expectation that a higher number will be allocated for the Asian Games.
Cricket was played at the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023 where 15 men's teams and nine women's teams competed. Significantly India, the sport's financial power, participated having skipped in '10 and '14 and they won double gold in Hangzhou.
Cricket's administrators had traditionally been reluctant for the sport to be played at multi-sports events, but sentiment has changed over the past 15 years as the sport tries to expand beyond its British Commonwealth roots.
Japan is particularly appealing due to its infatuation with the bat and ball game of baseball, its No.1 sport that has some characteristics similar to cricket. Cricket also hopes to start infiltrating East Asia where baseball has long had a foothold.
Cricket's inclusion in the Asian Games is seen as vital for the development of Japanese cricket ... More (Photo by Jan Kruger-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
"When I first came to Japan, it was clear that there was talent here - more than I expected," Japan Cricket Association head of operations Alan Curr told me in 2023.
'It's a conclusion people jump to that Japanese kids will be good at cricket because of baseball, but you do see it particularly in the fielding and throwing. They have good hand-eye coordination.'
As I first reported late last year, cricket was a late inclusion for this year's Southeast Asian Games to be held in several cities in Thailand, including Bangkok, from December 9-20.
The T20 and T10 formats will be played in the biennial multi-sport event that started in 1959 and features around a dozen nations.
