Japan Cricket Blast: A Tokyo Photo Story

The sharp crack of a plastic bat hitting a ball, followed by a flurry of small legs and excited shouts, isn’t the typical sound of a park in Akishima, Tokyo. But this was the scene at the 2020 Japan Cricket Blast Mayor’s Cup. It was my first chance to photograph Japan’s growing passion for cricket.

The competition was a part of the Cricket Blast series. That is an entry-level program run by the Japan Cricket Association for children. The JCA hopes to grab their interest to increase the game’s popularity.

My inspiration for cricket photography in Japan

I’ve been a cricket lover since my teens when I saw Carl Rackeman get 11/118 against Pakistan in 1983. That game motivated me to take up the sport. I didn’t have the build to become a fast bowler so I became a legspinner and played club cricket for my hometown Caloundra. Since then, I’ve watched the game as much as I can. I also have to admit I haven’t warmed to the Twenty20 format.

But when I saw the Japan Cricket Association advertise its event at Suginami Festa in 2020 I contacted them. They gave me the okay to photograph it and liked my photos enough to invite me to Japan Cricket Blast.

Japan Cricket Blast reinvents the game

Many people say that cricket is slow and complicated. The JCA gets that. Japan Cricket Blast has modified rules to maximize action and minimize frustration to get kids hooked:

• Batters get a free hit when a wide is bowled.
• No leg-before-wicket (LBW) dismissals.
• The balls are of soft plastic.
• Six players per team.

Multicultural youth sports in Akishima, Tokyo

There were four teams for the day. Players were from Bangladesh, England, India, and Japan. The kids were from seven to twelve. They were competitive.

Some of them came from long distances to play. One was from Edogawa Ward. That is in the extreme east of Tokyo, about fifty kilometers away. These kids were keen.

As the teams were young, they lacked skills, which was understandable. You could see the enthusiasm in their grass-stained knees and the way they sprinted for every ball, even if it was rolling slowly to a stop. Dropped catches were never a problem. They took them in their stride. Next ball!

The eventual winner was the Akishima Junior Club. They played very consistently. Their trophy was well-deserved.

It was an enjoyable afternoon. Cricket fans were delighted to see the game played locally in Japan. We can only hope it continues to grow. Check the Japan Cricket Association’s official website for more information.

Can cricket find a place in Japan?

Watching the Akishima Junior Club hoist their trophy, surrounded by friends from across Tokyo, I felt a surge of optimism. While baseball and soccer may dominate the landscape, the future of cricket in Japan isn’t in stadiums or on TV. It’s in the boundless energy of these kids and the simple, joyful sound of a bat hitting a ball.

The foreign kids were from England, India, Pakistan, and Australia. They have years of cricket knowledge in them as those countries are world leaders in the game. But the Japanese kids weren’t far behind. So even though there was a skills gap, it should eventually close as more join the game. The future is looking bright.

My photography gear for this shoot

• Camera body: Fujifilm X-T2
• Lenses:
  • Fujifilm XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
  • Fujifilm XF 55-200 mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS

The photography challenge of cricket

• You want to keep your camera gear away from the ball, as even a soft one can damage your gear if it is hit hard enough. The longer your lens, the safer you’ll be. At times I felt my 55-200mm lens was too short and found myself in the middle of the field trying to get closer to the action.
• Using single shot mode will make you lose much of the action. Keep your camera in burst mode and an extra battery and SD card in your bag.