Cricketers to get best rooms at Asian Games: Japan chief

TOKYO – Cricketers at the Sept 19-Oct 4 Asian Games in Japan will have better accommodation than athletes from many other sports, the head of Japanese cricket said on Sept 2, after concerns were raised about a lack of five-star hotels for players.

A Sri Lankan official said this week that some of Asia’s top teams had raised doubts over facilities and accommodation at the Games, which are taking place in Nagoya and the wider Aichi area from Sept 19.

Cricket is a minor sport in Japan and games will be played at a new purpose-built ground with reports of tents serving as dressing rooms and distant washroom facilities.

There is no dedicated athletes’ village at the Games, with organisers instead relying on cabins in a cruise ship, rooms in temporary wooden containers and hotels.

Organisers said last week that accommodation was already stretched to the limit after the number of Asian Games athletes ballooned to 17,000.

By comparison, there were around 11,000 at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The cricket tournament is being run by the Asian Games organising committee in collaboration with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

Naoki Alex Miyaji, the CEO of the Japan Cricket Association, told AFP that the two bodies had been discussing accommodation options “for a long time”.

“The participating teams in cricket are being offered hotel accommodation,” Miyaji said on Sept 2.

“Many other sports are being accommodated in much more limited facilities such as a cruise ship or container hotels.”

Matches will be played at Korogi Sports Park, a converted baseball field that is a 40-minute train ride away from central Nagoya.

Media reports in India said the country’s cricket board was unhappy with arrangements and might send a second-string squad after originally naming 15 players led by Shreyas Iyer and including 15-year-old rising star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Miyaji said that Japanese organisers “only had 17 months to prepare and had to start from scratch” for cricket at the Games.

He said they had been working “to ensure that the best facilities are provided within the limited timeline and facility restrictions”.

“Despite being temporary, the facilities will provide as comfortable a space as possible for the players and officials,” he said.

Miyaji said the pitch, which is being prepared by the curator of the 35,000-capacity Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka, would be of a high standard.

“From what I have seen, the playing surface and field will be the best seen in cricket’s inclusion in the Asian Games,” he added. AFP