An Interview with Syed Ashraful Huq, Chief Executive, Asian Cricket Council, taken during the final of the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007. The interview is centered around the disqualification of seven teams for fielding the overage players. Read More »

Singapore won the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007 defeating Kuwait by four wickets in the final played at BSAM Ground, Bhaktapur.

Kuwait scored 121/7 in 40 overs choosing to bat first. Opener Apporv Sanjay Gaur scored unbeaten 43 while Sarangdev Krishnan took two wickets. In reply, Singapore were down to 17/4 at one stage but patient batting from Mohit Kulkarki (24), man of the match Prasheen Param (30*) and Usman Manazir (26*) bring them victory in 35th over.

It was a sweet revenge for Singapore who had lost to Kuwait by 57 runs during the league stage.

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Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) has formally protested the disqualification by releasing a media statement on Monday. Read More »

Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has disqualified seven teams – including semifinalists Nepal, Afghanistan and Hong Kong from the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007 for fielding over-age players. In absence of eight teams, the remaining two teams Singapore and Kuwait will contest for the title on Monday, December 2, an ACC press release added.

“Following the conclusion of the group stage on November 30, the only two countries with less than three over-age players in their squads are Kuwait and Singapore,” the ACC release states. “… that leaves only Kuwait and Singapore eligible for further competition. It is they who will contest the final.”

“In the instances where more than two players in each squad [consisting 14 players] have been found to be over-age, those teams have been disqualified from the competition,” ACC said. ACC had already disqualified UAE for not meeting the playing conditions rules that requires at least two passport holders of the country represented.

The decision was taken after the results of the Age-Verification Program conducted in Nepal during the event. “140 radiology examinations have been conducted in Nepal since the teams’ arrival with all the players from the ten participating teams,” the release said. According to ACC, some teams were found to have seven, eight or nine over-age players.

ACC, who introduced age-verification program in May 2005 to ensure that all competitors would be meeting on a fair and equitable basis, establishes a player’s bone-age maturity using Skeleton Maturity-TW3 method. The cut-off birthdates for the event was July 1, 1992.

“Our Age-Verification protocols have been tested and proven to work. We stand by the results found,” Haq said. “In the long-run cricket in Asia will benefit. Results such as this should act as an eye-opener to all our members.”

ACC has not clarified about the ranking and the two teams to be relegated to the lower division, the U-15 Challenge Cup in the statement.

RUTHLESS DECISION

Hong Kong coach Sher Lama termed the decision as ruthless one. “This is absolutely a ruthless decision,” he said.

“This is wrong time to take such decision. Since ACC knew this tournament is coming long ago, they should have done tests long before the tournament, not during the tournament,” he said.

Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) president Binaya Raj Pandey said he was surprised by the decision.

“It came as a big surprise to us, because we have provided all the necessary documents of the players to ACC prior to the event and they didn’t say anything on that,” Pandey reacted. “We did the tests of all players ourselves before choosing the team.”

Pandey added it’s bad for both the teams and organizer. “Either it should be done before the event starts or it should be done after completion,” he added. “Disgracing young kids is not good.”

Here is the complete ACC Press Release issued on Saturday evening:
ACC PRESS RELEASE
U-15 ACC ELITE AGE-VERIFICATION PROGRAM RESULTS ISSUED

Kuala Lumpur, December 1 2007
The results of the Age-Verification Program conducted in Nepal during the ACC U-15 Elite Cup have been released. 140 radiology examinations have been conducted in Nepal since the teams’ arrival with all the players from the ten participating teams.

The Asian Cricket Council Age-Verification Program has been in place for all age-group competitions since May 2005. It was introduced to ensure that all competitors would be meeting on a fair and equitable basis on the criteria of actual age.

Age-discrepancies among competitors lead to performance advantages for older players and injury-risks for the younger ones. The Asian Cricket Council’s U-15 Tournaments, as with its U-17 and U-19 tournaments are held to be just that – for those players who are the appropriate age.

As it is commonly understood that in Asia, many players and Associations are unaware of their actual date of birth, the Age-Verification program establishes a player’s bone-age maturity using the Assessment of Skeletal Maturity-TW3 method. The cut-off date for players’ birthdates is July 1,1992 for this tournament. No player with a physiological or administrative age earlier than this date is eligible to play in the 2007 ACC U-15 tournament.

All countries were asked to provide the appropriate medical data on each of their players before the tournament started. They did not comply. Following bone-age examinations of all players in Kathmandu, a number from all the participating teams – Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Thailand - have been found to be over the age-limit criteria. Each participating country consists of 14 squad-members. In the instances where more than two players in each squad have been found to be over-age, those teams have been disqualified from the competition.

Following the conclusion of the group stage on November 30, the only two countries with less than three over-age players in their squads are Kuwait and Singapore. In some instances, participating squads have had seven, eight and nine over-age players.

With the tournament having passed the group-stages, that leaves only Kuwait and Singapore eligible for further competition. It is they who will contest the Final on Monday December 3rd .

Syed Ashraful Huq the Chief Executive of the Asian Cricket Council said, “Our Age-Verification protocols have been tested and proven to work. We stand by the results found and take heart that the integrity of our tournaments is assured. In the long-run cricket in Asia will benefit. Results such as this should act as an eye-opener to all our members. Our principles will always remain true to the secure development of cricket.”

The results of November 30 - the last day of league matches. After the league rounds, Nepal, Hong Kong from Group A and Afghanistan, Singapore from Group B entered the semifinal.

Nepal’s Bhuwan Karki with man of the match trophy.

At TU Ground, Nepal 197/9 (Nischal Chaudhary 56, Bibek Dali 28, Prithu Baskota 25, Aizaz Khan 2/28, Niaz Ali 2/33) defeated Hong Kong 43 all out in 19.3 overs (Nizakat Khan 21, Bhuwan Karki 4/1, Sameer Nepal 4/5) by 154 runs. MoM: Bhuwan Karki

At BSAM, Kuwait 176/7 (Apoorv Gaur 41, Jasim Mohd 26*, Sarang Dev Krishnan 2/28, Mohit Kulkarni 2/30, Yusuf Aslam 2/41) defeated Singapore 119 all out in 29.5 overs (Reza Gaznavi 35, Usman Tahir 3/27, Abdul Jabbar 3/28) by 57 runs. MoM: Apoorv Gaur

At Lab, UAE 271/9 (Abhijeet Shanker 62, Don JM Muthukuda 59, Abdul Wahid 3/64, Sanullah 2/32) defeated Saudi Arabia 56 all out in 17.5 overs (Farhan Kazi 14, Aqib Malik 6/24, Rohit Singh Jamwal 3/9) by 215 runs. MoM: Aqib Malik

At IOE, Thailand 82 all out in 39 overs (Ishan Karla 25, Ahmed Faeiz Redzuan 2/8, Keithan Goonasagaran 2/10, Mohd Nazril Rahim 2/14, Mohd Ammar Rusli 2/22) lost to Malaysia 83/0 in 12.5 overs (Zubair Asyraff 59*) by 10 wickets. MoM: Zubair Asyraff

Nepali cricketers celebrate victory over Hong Kong.

PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT NEPALPHOTOAGENCY.COM

Nepal defeated Hong Kong by 154 runs to enter the semifinal of the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007 as the Group B winners. Nepal will now meet Group B runners-up in Sunday’s semifinal at TU Cricket Ground while Hong Kong plays Afghanistan at IOE. Click for complete scorecard. Read More »

POINTS TABLE
(Updated Nov 29, 2007)

GROUP A

GROUP B

* qualified for semifinal

HEROES OF THE INNINGS: Nizakat Khan of Hong Kong scored 57 while Weerachai Maneerat of Thailand claimed five wickets as Hong Kong was bowled out for 148 runs.

Hong Kong entered the semifinal of the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007 registering their third win in the tournament at the BSAM Ground. They defeated lowly Thailand by 28 runs.

From Group A, Nepal and Hong Kong will advance though the group winner will be decided on Friday in the match between the two teams. From Group B, Afghanistan has already advanced.

Hong Kong 148 all out in 37.2 overs (Nizakat Khan 57, Sagar Chandra 16, Tom Holden 15, Weerachai Maneerat 5/19, Kshitij Jhaveri 2/20) defeated Thailand 120 all out in 37 overs (Nizakat Khan 3w) by 28 runs.

PHOTOGRAPH COPYRIGHT NEPALPHOTOAGENCY.COM

Cricket is a game of uncertainty; a proof of the statement was seen at the IOE Ground on Wednesday where Nepal pulled a stunning one-run victory over Oman to book a berth in the semifinal of the ACC U-15 Elite Cup 2007. Read More »

Gaurav Honavar, captain of Oman, scores a flawless 79 in his unbeaten knock against Nepal, but played failed to score two runs in the last over required for win to hand Nepal an one-run win.
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