Cricket continues to grow in the Maldives

In what will be the busiest year yet for Maldives cricket, 11 domestic tournaments will be played, along with two ACC tournaments.

"They're climbing the ladder no doubt," says ACC Development Officer for Maldives Rumesh Ratnayake, "and also doing enough to ensure they don't fall back after some years of steady growth."

To play cricket in a country on which there was no turf for many years, turf nets for only the last two years with its solitary fully-turfed ground in existence for only the past few months (in a far-flung atoll however), is quite an achievement. The Cricket Board of Maldives have spread their net to include 50-and 40-over domestic cricket tournaments in January and February, a men's T20 event, a school cricket league and cup, an 11-team youth tournament, a 24-team Tape Ball tournament, a corporate tournament as well as an inter-resort event. There are also school cricket develop programs running across the atolls.

Football's big on the island but in football Maldives are nowhere near as high as they are in world cricket. The school events create an opportunity for young cricketers to test themselves, the corporate events ensure that a significant number of employers are supporters of cricket and the international events give the whole nation a channel to focus their energies.

The first and the most recent international events won by the Maldives, the ACC Emerging Nations Tournament in 2005 and the ACC Trophy Challenge in 2010 resulted in Presidential receptions for the victors back home.