Gatting: ICC must give support to smaller countries

PETALING JAYA: Former England cricket captain Mike Gatting reckons that Malaysia “have the talent and ability to become a very good side in the future”.

The 60-year-old all-rounder, who played for England from 1977 to 1995, spent about two hours coaching the national Under-19 cricket team at the Kinrara Oval in Puchong on Tuesday.

The team are preparing for the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-19 Asia Cup from Nov 10-19. The other teams competing are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

“The Under-19 players will give Malaysia a very good chance to become a better team in the future,” said the right-handed batsman.

“What needs to happen is that the smaller countries like Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand must get the right support from the ICC (International Cricket Council) to help expand the game.

“You can only improve cricket by playing. These are growing nations. What needs to be done is for ICC to look into this a bit more to help sustain what is growing.”

Gatting also said that cricket needed to be “modified” with simpler and easier rules and techniques for children and beginners to pick up the sport.

Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) president Mahinda Vallipuram said that several development programme and initiatives had been launched to develop the sport in the country, including making it compulsory for state associations to have age-group teams from Under-14 to Under-19 participate in the inter-state tournaments.

“We have also been scouting for Under-12 players to be enrolled at the Bukit Jalil Sports School (SSBJ),” said Mahinda.