For those of you who keep an eye on this sort of thing expect news on this page in the next couple of months on cricket activiity in two countries not previously associated with the Development process.

A group playing cricket on the coastal regions away from the capital of their respective country have now emerged from isolation and are looking to make contact with the ICC. Full details soon.

From correspondence received in the nearly three year existance of this page it is heartening to know there is a genuine interest amongst cricketers in Test playing countries in seeing the game expand past its traditional boundaries.

Local cricket clubs in Test playing countries should not underestimate the effect their potential end-of-season trip to a non-Test country may have on cricket in non-Test playing countries.

When a team from a Test country visits a non-Test country, it benefits the non-Test country in two ways - it almost certainly provides the non-Test country with a standard of play it normally doesn't have access to. More critically, the national association is saved from spending money on sending teams/players overseas for such much needed practice.

While it is commonplace for British clubs to visit Spain, Malta or other sun-drenched destinations in Europe, it is not a frequent phenomena for clubs in other Test playing countries to visit their non-Test counterparts.

Although Australian clubs are enthusiast participants in various Sixes tournaments throughout South East Asia, few see a trip to the South Pacific as a potential way of combining a holiday with a chance to play cricket in the tropics.

The national associations and clubs there are increasingly looking to the sports/tourism market and the Fijian and Samoan national associations would especially welcome a visit. National contact details for both countries are below:

Fiji - Peter Knight cromptons@is.com.fj Samoa - Jim Dunlop fairdun@samoa.net

If your club wants to visit any other non-Test country and would like contact details feel free to drop me a line. Vice versa if you are based in a non-Test country and want to receive clubs.

One of the easiest people to work with in compiling this page was Mark Burns, who finished in his role as Operations Manager of the Hong Kong Cricket Association on New Years Eve.

Mark has been working for the HKCA since 1998 during a period which has seen the HKCA evolve into a highly motivated organisation with a strong emphasis on junior development.

I am sure all of those of involved in cricket in Hong Kong will wish him well in his future endeavours.

The formation of the Falkland Islands Cricket Association is one of several initiatives by officials to consolidate the game's future in the windswept South Atlantic outcrop.

Progressive minded officials there see this as the first step towards eventual International Cricket Council membership, with the application likely to be heard in June, 2003.

Already junior coaching sessions have started and net facilities have been constructed.

On the playing front, it is hoped to start fixtures against teams from the southern Chilean town of Punta Arenas, which is the closest centre on the South American mainland to the Falkland Islands by 'plane.

Locally, the annual match between the Governor's XI and the Commander of the British Forces match on February 15 will be preceded by two matches, Stanley (the Falklands' capital) versus Mount Pleasant (the Falklands' second town) and a Chairmans' XI versus a President's XI this month.

Out of East Timor comes the news that nine East Timorese are enthusiastically playing in matches organised mainly by Australians based in the United Nations administered territory.

According to Australian Jim Richards, one of the chief instigators of cricket acitivity there, the East Timorese' athleticism has been evident in their fielding, although not quite matched in their batting or bowling.

Mr. Richards said the lack of clear property laws during East Timor's transition from an Indonesian proivince to an independent state meant any attempts at creating lasting infrastrucfture, such as establishing a proper cricket ground and facilities would need to be delayed until its independence in May this year.

You can cross three countries off that list of cricket playing countries which appeared in the November edition of 'Beyond The Test World'.

According to officials in West Africa, the game has died in both Burkina Faso and Togo, with the latter a casualty of a dispute amongst Lome's Indian expatriates.

Continuing civil unrest in the Solomon Islands has curtailed any cricket activity, although enthusiasm for the game has been bolstered by the arrival of gear from the office of Matthew Kennedy, the East Asia-Pacific Regional Development Manager.

On a more positive note, cricket hangs on in Ethiopia through the staff of the Indian Embassy in Addis Ababa. Around seven or eight are playing with a tennis ball in the Embassy compound. It is not known whether the good work of Paul Gilbert, who had introduced cricket to children at one of Addis Ababa's International Schools has been continued since his transfer in his employment to Brunei.

© ICC 2002