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CLARK FREEPORT: The Metals Exploration Philippine International
Cricket 6’s 2008 inaugural tournament will be held at the Clark
Freeport on Saturday and Sunday. Often called the “game of
kings,” the game bears striking similarities with baseball. But a sizeable number of British, Australian, and South Asian
nationals living in the Philippines has turned the spotlight on the
game, and competitions are becoming more regular fare in the local
sports menu.
History points to a game called creag which
later became krecket being played by Prince Edward, the son of King
Edward I of England in 1300, hence the royal association with the
sport. Yet the game likely started among peasants and
metalworkers in the south of the British isles in the fourteenth
century.
In the Philippines, the famous Nomads Cricket
Club was started in 1914, and survives to this day. The club
provides the core of the tournament that is expected to become the
premier cricket tournament in South East Asia. Teams from the
Philippines, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, the United Kingdom,
Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Korea will participate, beefed up by
the members of a junior academy established by Nomads six years ago.
The International Cricket Council (ICC),
cricket’s world governing body, has endorsed the tournament.
Matt Weisheit, head of ICC East Asia-Pacific, said, “It is very
encouraging to note that the 2008 Philippine International 6’s
tournament will be played in Clark Freeport, Pampanga, with two new
cricket ovals to be used, which can only be a positive legacy for
the future development and growth of the game in the Philippines.”
Metals Exploration PLC is supporting the
tournament and Holiday Inn is the event’s official hotel.
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