BJSS CRICKET

THE Malaysian Cricket Association have a comprehensive development programme catering for all age groups.

The Bukit Jalil Sports School cricket development programme plays an important part in the association’s coaching structure.

Malaysian Cricket Association vice-president V. Mahinda said the programme, a joint effort with the Education Ministry, has been a fruitful one.

“Players from this programme have gained promotion to the National Under-16, Under-19 and senior squads. But we still have the long way to go. Our aim is to create a big pool of players from the juniors,’’ said Mahinda.

Right stance: Coach Ramani (right) monitoring Muhd Ikhwan Fais Johari during training.

Currently, there are 17 students aged from 13 to 18 in BJSS. The students were selected based on their performance in the Milo-Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) competition and SportExcel junior circuit.

School teacher B. Ramani is in charge of the coaching programme. The training sessions are held in BJSS in the mornings while cricket training is at the Kinrara Oval four days a week.

Besides Ramani, the MCA have four other coaches — Harris Abu Bakar, Roy Dias, Kudikara Tushera and Bilal Azad — in their panel. Roy and Kudikara are from Sri Lanka while Bilal is from Pakistan.

Mahinda said Roy was a former Nepal national coach and comes with a string of credentials.

“Cricket in Nepal flourished after Roy took charge. Kudikara and Bilal have also played for their respective national teams. The coaches take turns to provide special training for the trainees from BJSS.

“Some of the trainees are in Form One. They will be in the programme for five years. With the year-round programme in place, we can see them progressing,’’ said Mahinda.

The intensive training programme has been successful. The players also return to their respective states for national competitions like MSSM championships and SportExcel junior circuit.

Five players from the BJSS programme had represented Malaysia in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Under-16 championship. It was a remarkable outing as Malaysia emerged as the champions after beating Nepal in the final.

“It was a good outing for the Malaysian boys. They played extremely well and made their presence felt. The selection of the players was based on their performance in the inter-state competition. We had a three-phase centralised training programme for the players. It proved to be successful,’’ said Mahinda.

Hand-in-hand: The national team training at Kinrara Oval.

The Malaysian Cricket Association have also initiated training programme in 12 states where a coach is based in each state. They conduct talent identification programmes.

Seven of the current national players came from the BJSS programme. They are A. Sohan Kumar, Mohd Shukri Abdul Rahim, Suhairi Shukri, Rashid Ahad, Izzrafiq Abdul Aziz, Ahmad Faiz and Derek Michael Doraisingam.

Mahinda said they were pleased to see the players graduate to the senior ranks.

“We have a year-round competition to keep their players active. The players from the BJSS junior development programme are allowed to return to their states for national competitions,’’ said Mahinda.

The players from the BJSS cricket development programme:Muhammad Hafiz Mohd Khair, P. Vimalan, Muhamad Na’im Nazley, Muhd Haziq Hashim, Muhd Ikhwan Fais Johari, Muhammad Afzan Zaharuddin, Mohd Ammar Mohd Rahim, Mohd Shamir Idzewal Mat Tajudin, Mohd Shaqir Idzeraf Mat Tajudin, Muhammad Irfan Abdullah, Syafitri Zainal Rashid, Mohd Fitri Mohd Liza, C. Shankar Sathish, Ainool Hafizs Md Yatim, M. Kogilan, Amiruddin Azahar, D. Vivegan.