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sport
today
Bringing the gentleman's game to
the masses
 
Robert Krishna and Pierre Naudi are working hard to get young
sportsmen out on the cricket pitch, as MIRIAM DUNN discovers
Army barracks, the English language and afternoon teas may be
a few of the legacies left over from Malta's days as a British
colony, but no one can say the same about that game traditionally
played by anglophiles the world over - cricket.
As Robert Krishna, Malta Cricket Association chairman, points
out, Malta is just about the only ex-colony where cricket was
not a thriving sport that continued well into independence. In
contrast, the pattern is there to see if we name just some of
England's own rivals on the wicket, such as India, the West Indies
and Australia.
But over the past few years, Robert and his fellow enthusiasts
have been doing their best to change the fact that Malta is conspicuous
by its absence on this list, with the results already now beginning
to show.
And tomorrow, an important step forward will be made, when the
MCA launches its cricket nursery at the Marsa Sports Stadium.
Pierre Naudi, who is the MCA's Youth Development Co-ordinator,
explains that the idea for the nursery came about when the association
realised the importance of generating an interest in the sport
among youngsters.
"We have been lucky in that many of our seniors learned cricket
abroad, especially returned Australian migrants, for example,
but we noticed that not that many youngsters were building up
sufficient interest in the sport, which did not bode that well
for the future," he says. "So we began our own project
three years ago, which was to get six young enthusiasts coached
and qualified to start training potential players in some of the
schools in quick cricket. That has now generated enough enthusiasm
to get our nursery project off the ground."
To oversee the training at the nursery, the MCA has, with the
help of its sponsor, Vodafone, secured the services of British
coach, Glenn Read.
Pierre stresses that although the aim is to generate enthusiasm
among youngsters and encourage them to take up the sport, it is
important to develop the venture gradually.
"Although cricket has been played in Malta for over a century,
our project is still fairly new and our resources are limited,
so we have to balance our wish to grow with what is feasible,"
he explains.
But this is not to say that the association isn't already going
from strength to strength; they are now represented on the Malta
Olympic Committee and, as Robert points out, there are weekly
matches taking place at the two grounds, Marsa and Safi, throughout
the year.
This year, no less that 20 teams will be visiting Malta to play
against the local sides, including the Swiss national team, while
in August, Malta will travel to Austria to take part in the European
Cricket Council tournament, the Nation's Cup.
Robert explains that the aim is for Malta to put in a bid to host
the bi-annual tournament in 2003.
"We also hope to produce an under-15s team for the next tournament
from the youngsters who will start their training with the nursery
project," he adds.
He points out that although there is still a need to build up
the game's profile in Malta, the potential is considerable.
"We have wonderful weather conditions, which many European
countries cannot guarantee, and this is one of the reasons why
we have such a good wicket here at Marsa," he says. "In
fact, visitors have told me our ground is one of the best in Europe
outside the UK."
As everyone knows, the secret of developing any sport is to start
the players young. In this respect, the MCA has certainly got
it right with its Marsa nursery.
And, as former England captain Mike Gatting said when he was visiting
the island last summer, there's no reason that in a few years'
time, Malta shouldn't be reaping the rewards of this project,
in the form of a world class player or two.
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