THE Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) which has seen its share of ups and downs, now has plenty to shout about, having achieved numerous successes under the leadership of Mohammed Iqbal Ali Kassim Ali and his team. Iqbal was elected its president in May 2021.
The most recent feather in the cap was the successful hosting of the second edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
The World Cup, which showcased the future stars of the game, took place from January 18 to February 2 in Malaysia, who were hosting an ICC event for the first time since 2008.
“We would like to thank the Malaysian Cricket Association for the successful hosting of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025.
"From the fantastic venues to the competitive cricket on display, Malaysia provided a fantastic platform for the future stars of the game to shine.
“We congratulate them on delivering a successful event and look forward to working with them again in the future," said ICC chairman Jay Amitbhai Shah in his letter of appreciation to the MCA.
According to MCA deputy president Dr Arun Kumar Beshamber Nath, the national men's and women's cricket teams are currently ranked at 24th spot in the world, while Malaysia stands at third out of 96 countries in the ICC scorecard rankings.
"It was tough when the new Exco took over in 2021. Just a few months later, we lost Kinrara Oval in Puchong in March 2022.
"The landowner, Perumahan Kinrara Berhad (PKB), had ordered us to vacate the more than three-hectare site due to arrears of more than RM1.8 million in assessment fees.
"Apart from losing Kinrara Oval, we were left with the arrears which had to be paid off," he said.
MCA occupied Kinrara Oval in 2003 and signed a 15-year lease agreement with PKB, a joint venture company between I&P Group Sdn Bhd, Armed Forces Fund Board, and pilgrims’ fund, Lembaga Tabung Haji.
PKB had paid the assessment fee, believed to be about RM200,000 annually, for several years to the Selangor government after MCA had failed to do so.
Widely recognised as a world-class cricket facility, the Oval had been the home of Malaysian cricket since 2003.
Challenging times
Despite the numerous setbacks, Arun stressed that the new Exco team was determined to beat all odds and after losing Kinrara Oval, they moved to Bayuemas (Bayuemas Cricket Oval) which was at the time overgrown with weeds and in poor condition.
"We focused our efforts in sprucing up Bayuemas and after lots of hard work and determination, we successfully organised a Tri-series in October 2022 ... just a few months later.
"We are also proud to note today that the MCA now has ten Centres of Excellence (COE) around the country and with the Ministry of Education’s support, cricket has also been incorporated in our national schools’ physical education syllabus," said Arun.
He also said that the MCA enjoys a strong working relationship with Youth and Sports Minister, Hannah Yeoh and in October 2024, the Prime Minister announced a grant of RM1 million for the development of cricket in Budget 2025.
Apart from these achievements, the MCA also lobbied to get cricket included in 2022 Sukma KL and 2024 Sukma Sarawak, said Arun.
"When the new Exco took over, we found that there was only close to RM2 million in MCA's coffers. Today, we are proud to say that we have raised the amount to close to RM9 million," he added.
Dedicated president
Arun also praised the dedication and commitment from Mohammed Iqbal who is determined to continue pushing cricket to greater heights - both locally and internationally.
"Under Mohammed Iqbal's leadership, we have built a strong Broadcasting team that has created a global audience,".
Other achievements include the refurbishing of Bayuemas pavilion and the re-surfacing of Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar (KTJ) into a natural turf.
"We are also in the midst of launching the National Cricket Academy (southern region) in Johor Bahru and setting up another COE in Sabah.
"The MCA has also helped to partially fund the Borneo Cricket Ground and the refurbishment of the Dr Harjit Cricket Oval," said Arun.
He stressed that the Exco still has numerous plans to carry out and are confident of steering MCA and cricket to greater heights.
"There is still lots to be done, and we are confident that with Iqbal's leadership and support that is increasing, we can achieve all our targets and much more," he added. - February 17, 2025
In part 2 of this story on MCA - Is there an attempted coup d'etat in the making because of the success and recognition? Who is behind this conspiracy?
