For the first time in the history of schools cricket in Singapore, a match will be played between a combined local schools team and an international schools XI.

An initiative of the Non-Benders Cricket Club, whose members are former national players, the match, which will be played at the Singapore Cricket Club ground at Dempsey on May 13, is aimed at boosting the standard of schools cricket and making it more competitive.

"Both sets are on a par," said Bala Narayanan, 49, the Singapore Cricket Association's chief selector and a former Singapore international, who is driving this project. "The cream of the island's schools players will appear on both sides. It will be an interesting game."

Because of the Ministry of Education age-level schools tournaments, schoolboys play most of their cricket at club level. That puts them at a disadvantage as they have to compete with seniors.

"The match next month will see the best schoolboys playing against each other," said Narayanan. "The competition among themselves will lead to healthy development of cricket in schools."

V. K. Santosh Kumar