Guangzhou hosts first tournament

The first tournament has been held at the state-of-the-art Guangzhou stadium in the grounds of the Mega High Tech Education Centre.

The Chinese National Women's Championships was held ahead of the Asian Games taking place in November.

The top three women's teams from the eight regions playing cricket in China reaching Guangzhou for the final stages, where they were joined by Hong Kong. The Final was played between the Special Administered Republic and Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang winning by 25 runs in a low-scoring 20-over match.

"The stadium is incredible," says the indefatigable Chinese Cricket Association Deputy Secretary General Zhang Tian, "Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee has done a great job."

Work on the stadium started in May 2008 and even in August 2009, the ground was little more than a flattened patch of mud. The ground now has a full-time Bangladeshi curator in Jasimuddin, seconded from the Kinrara Oval in Malaysia, and is close to completion with just a heavy roller needed to season the seven playing strips (the women played on a mat) as well as the placing of sightscreens and an electronic scoreboard.

There will be eight practise wickets at other Guangzhou sites during the Asian Games.

"The ground is going to be a worthy home for the first ever Asian Games T20 cricket tournament and it is has every chance of being of an ODI-standard after that," says ACC Development Officer for China Aminul Islam.

The ground was designed by Chinese architects with materials sourced from Guangdong province, the wicket square using clay from Shaanxi province in central China, the certified seed turf being imported by the Chinese Cricket Association from America.