Indoor Cricket: Singapore set to host New Zealand-Asia Cup in April

History will be made when Singapore will host their first major indoor cricket championship, the inaugural World Indoor Cricket Federation (WICF) New Zealand-Asia Cup. The tournament will take place from 2 – 6 April at the Indoor Premier Cricket Stadium.

The six-nation, seven-team tournament, is slated to be the biggest Open Men’s competition outside of the Indoor Cricket World Cup and begins the road to the 2020 World Cup in Australia.

The tournament, which will be held at the Indoor Premier Court Stadium, a one-court indoor facility, will be host to seven teams including the hosts Singapore and a Singapore Development team (the host nation is allowed to field a second "Development" side in any WICF World Event), India, New Zealand, UAE, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Last year’s tournament, under the banner of the Asia Cup, was a quadrangular series between India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and an Indian Development side, which was won by India.

Indoor Cricket on the rise in Asia

The indoor version of the sport is slowly but surely gaining traction in Asia where outdoor cricket rules but it is beginning to form as a popular alternative. There was no further evidence of this than in late 2017 when UAE became the first Asian country to host an Indoor Cricket World Cup, held in Dubai to much fanfare from a passionate local and expatriate community and right on the doorsteps of the ICC.

A key objective for the Asian sides is to continually grow the game by garnering interest, and it is hoped that events like these will make the sport more transparent to the viewing public.

India vs New Zealand at the 2017 Indoor World Cup (Image Courtesy: Powershots Photography)

The UAE and Malaysia will make their second appearance at a WICF World Event, whilst India, Sri Lanka and Singapore last played in September 2018 when they contested the Australasia Cup in Sri Lanka, which was won by Australia.

The big drawcard for the tournament is the entry of the number two ranked New Zealand side, headed up by two former New Zealand internationals in head coach Leigh Kelly and assistant coach Jon Routhan. They are the only team to have named their playing squad as of yet.

Singapore ready for a major indoor cricket tournament

Though Singapore Indoor Cricket (a division of the Singapore Cricket Association) was established in 2005, the Singaporeans previously used a modified indoor court in Malaysia as their training base before the establishment of their own purpose-built indoor cricket facility in 2015.

They rose to prominence last year with their second ever Open Men’s level victory, a thrilling last-ball triumph against hosts Sri Lanka at the Australasia Cup last September.

Their Junior system is also developing and has shown commitment in sending teams abroad for exposure. Last July their Under-13 and Under-17 Boys’ sides competed in the Australian Junior National Championships in Queensland.

The same sides also travelled to Christchurch, New Zealand for the Junior World Series, the first time Singaporean Junior teams had competed in ten editions of the event. It was there that they recorded their first ever Junior international victory over a New Zealand Development side.

Sri Lanka vs England during the 2017 World Cup (Image Courtesy: Powershots Photography)

These sorts of performances have built confidence in officials that progress is being made, something that Singapore Men's head coach and WICF Asian delegate, Rashid Ahmed Khan, recognises.

"This is an exciting time for Indoor Cricket in Singapore. Although we have had a short life span thus far, Singapore has always been a proud Indoor Cricket Nation. This tournament will be a massive way forward for the sport in this region and we look forward to hosting all the participating nations", says Khan.