Key players, Jung Suk Lee from South Korea, Hirokazu Takahashi from Japan, and Soni Howoe from Indonesia all arrive in Perth this weekend, along with their teammates, for the inaugural ICC East Asia – Cricket 8's Festival from 25 February – 1 March.

The tournament, hosted by the Western Australian Cricket Association, is a key stepping stone in the International Cricket Council's Development Program in the East Asia – Pacific Region. It follows the inaugural ICC Pacifica Cricket Championships in Auckland last February, the second installment of which will be played in Samoa in June this year.

Cricket is "on the move" in these countries with some excellent development initiatives being implemented by the Indonesian Cricket Foundation, Japan Cricket Association and Republic of Korea Cricket Association. The South Korean team actually comprises students of the world's only tertiary credit cricket course at SungKyunKwan University in Seoul.

Adding to this exciting event, with the support of the Australian Cricket Board, the visiting countries will be joined by an ACB/Australian indigenous development team.

All four teams will take part in a practice/preparation day at the WACA Ground on Sunday 24 February with the assistance of Australian cricket great, Dennis Lillee. He is sure to be keen to see the skills of Japan's Captain, Tetsuo Fuji, who is "an aggressive batsman and can bowl with both arms".

Four 20 over eight-a-side matches will be played each day on two adjoining grounds at Richardson Park, South Perth on Monday 25 & Tuesday 26 February, and at Lilac Hill Park, Caversham on Thursday 28 February. The Finals (1 vs 2 and 3 vs 4) will be played on the morning of Friday 1 March, again at Lilac Hill.

For further information, please contact the ICC East – Asia Pacific Development Program:
Matthew Kennedy, ICC Regional Development Manager, 0409 218 883
Tim Anderson, ICC Regional Development Officer, 0407 841 850

ICC Development Program – East Asia - Pacific Region

© ICC 2002