Hot and sunny weather was the order of the day for the inaugural National team trials held in Fuji on June 1 and 2.  This was an historic couple a days in the history of Japanese cricket for many reasons.  The first being that it was the first time national trials have ever been held with almost every team from Japan having the opportunity to nominate players.  Players from as far a field as Fukuoka and Sendai were in attendance.  Secondly, was that it was the first time foreign players were eligible for the national team following a decision by the JCA (Japan Cricket Association) in February.  (Foreign players had to have fulfilled the 5-year residency and current visa status requirements before attending the camp)
Another first was the opportunity to play on a new ground.  A lack of places to play cricket is one of the reasons that cricket is not developing as quickly as in other countries.  The flixi-pitch system of cricket is one such way around this problem.  A flixi-pitch can be easily transported and set up on any existing baseball or soccer ground.  The bounce was fairly true and most players were very happy with the way it played over the two days.
About 40 players attended the trial over the two days.  Saturday saw some drill work and two games of “eights”.  Following the success of the National team in Perth at the East-Asia Pacific tournament in February, many of the players who went on that trip were able to show some of the skills they picked up in Australia.  Sunday was more of a traditional trial with two games of “conventional” 35-over cricket. 
All games had a mixture of foreign players and Japanese players, experience, and skill levels.  An ability to “get on” with other players is one key criterion the selectors were looking for among ten other points that were covered before the trial began on Saturday morning.
The selectors (Mark McTamney and Robb McKenna) now have the difficult task of selecting a twenty-man squad for the 2002 season.  This team will be announced at the beginning of July and will be posted to the both the Japanese cricket homepage and the ICC homepage along with a proposed itinerary.
Thanks must go to Anton McCloy for giving up his weekend to come and umpire and also to Naoaki Saida for his part in organizing the weekend.