Bhutan sets up campaign for 2010
Bhutan's rise from ACC Challenge to ACC Elite Divisions at U15 and U19 level over the past three years, as well as its launch of a promising women's cricket team, has infused the side with ambition and optimism for the challenges ahead.
National coach Damber Singh Gurung said: "My dream for 2010 is to be the finalists in the ACC U19 Women's Championship, the finalists in the U16 Challenge and do well in the Elite group of the ACC Trophy."Gurung will also be playing again for the senior side after a gap of four years, so he has every chance of making at least one of those dreams come true.
Bhutan's cricketing rise from absolute minnows to Elite-level contenders has been the result of some dedicated work by its coaches and the Board of Control for Cricket in Bhutan (BCCB) since 2004, the first year it competed in the ACC Trophy. From having cricketers, who learned cricket while at school in India, representing Bhutan, the country now has 34 schools with cricket in the curriculum, a number which will climb to 50 by the end of 2010.
"When we first played in ACC U19 most of the players from other countries were senior and experienced than us but after winning a few matches, we know it is all about preparation and not age,"said Bhutan women's captain Pema Lhaden.
For a country with no history of cricket, without anything like a full-size ground, with a difficult climate and with little access to equipment, Bhutan has done extremely well in getting to the top of the Challenge groups it has competed in, since the decision was made in 2006 to split the 18 ACC non-Test playing countries into two competitive divisions - Elite and Challenge. A first foray into Elite level U19 cricket resulted in a bottom-place finish and thus relegation back down to Challenge, but there is every chance that it'll bounce back.
"More than 700 students played in school tournaments in 2009,"said Gurung, "with national squad candidates being coached in separate programs run by BCCB's ever-growing number of qualified coaches."
"Increased number of coaches is a different thing but what we really want is more and more youth picking up the game,"said BCCB CEO Jigme Norbu. With more cricketers of quality to choose from, Bhutan's performance should hold steady if not improve, as it has been increasingly reliant on the same core of cricketers to carry it through the youth-groups into the seniors.
Currently ranked 43rd in the world (out of 104), Bhutan's first step up the ladder to further global significance will come in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 8 event at the end of the year.
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