Q&A with MCA Deputy President Mahinda Vallipuram

Mahinda Vallipuram, Deputy President of the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA), kindly gave up his time to answer a wide range of questions about Malaysian cricket. Mr Vallipuram provides terrific insight into exactly how the MCA are looking to develop cricket in Malaysia to ensure sustainable success for the national team.

I can’t thank Mr Vallipuram enough for his in-depth responses below, I wish him and the MCA every success in the future and hopefully Malaysian cricket will keep going from strength to strength.

Q. Firstly, I must congratulate you on the recent success of the Malaysian teams (Senior and U-16). What do you put this period of success down to?

A. Thank you. It has been a team effort and a journey over the last few years which has slowly bore fruits. Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) has put processes in place outside of the cricket field. We had a deep look at how we as Administrators contribute to the game positively as it is very easy to blame the players for the lack of performance. We are evolving and this need to be continuous for us to sustain our development plan and achieve constant results.

Under the current leadership of Datuk P. Krishnasamy, our President, MCA has shifted to have an office based system headed by General Manager, V. Clarence Selvam, whereby plans are executed and implemented by the office. It will be nice that we are in situation one day where the office will be led by a CEO, who will be able to put forward plans for the Board for consultation and approval. We have to accept however hard it is that the days of volunteers running a national association have long gone. It can’t produce results the way we want and more importantly to raise necessary funds through branding and awareness. Next steps, perhaps…

Today, we have a Development Manager, Dinesh Muthuraman heading the coaching team with the necessary support staff in place. Bilal Asad, as our Head Coach, has been able to get the National Team together and his hunger to win is slowly reflected by the team.

One of the major factors that have contributed to the success is having an independent and strong Chairman of Selectors and the Selection team. I am grateful that they have been able to stand by their decisions and the ability to put down in writing when a player has been dropped. This has gone a long way in sharing with everyone concern that we will select by a set of principles. This has sent a positive message and yes, there is room to improve as we progress. MCA has laid down guidelines for the selection processes and this has helped players understand the process and understand that the MCA of today will select based on merit.

MCA has been able to increase the pool of players to 60 and this only shows that today we have more in the system to develop and select from to represent the country. The players themselves have responded positively as evident in the record high attendance for training. The players are playing more cricket now and that only shows their commitment. We are fully appreciative of their commitment and responsibility that they have shown. This augurs well for the game in our country.

We will learn from our mistakes and continue to put a structure that will be able to get the best 15 players to play for the country.

Q. You have been involved with the MCA for a number of years, how would you rate Malaysia’s year so far compared to previous years? The best yet?

A. I truly believe that the best is yet to come. The boys are just finding the taste of success and as long as they can envision the future and have the hunger to succeed, Malaysia will progress. Malaysia has just qualified to the ICC WCL Div 3 which is a part of the long journey. We have not arrived yet.

There will be challenges along the way but the objective is clear – we must progress. High Performance programs must be a priority for MCA. The pathway has been shared and the message must be constantly repeated. There is more than one pathway to the top. It is not only about the ICC World Cricket Leagues but also T20 tournaments.

Our players led by Ahmad Faiz Noor have an average age of 24 years. The oldest player currently is Suresh Navaratnam who has tirelessly contributed over the years together with the likes of Rakesh Madhavan and Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam. Along with Ahmad Faiz Noor, we have a number of players who are just starting to bloom for e.g. Shahrul Nizam Yusof, Shafiq Sharif, Aminudin Ramly and Pavandeep Singh.

Malaysia narrowly missed playing in the ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers after losing to Nepal last year. We have beaten Afghanistan in the recent ACC Premier League tournament this year which shows that we can be among the top Associates. However, we need to improve and be consistent in winning.

We have shared with the players that they have an opportunity to play in the T20 World Cups of 2016, 2018, 2020 etc. The players must believe that they can play in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Is this daydreaming? I don’t think so. It is a dream that Malaysia must translate as a goal that can be achieved.

All the current crop of players can be the first ever Malaysians to play at a Cricket World Cup. A point to note is that some of the current players have played in the 2008 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup. I believe that it is a challenge for players and administrators alike.

Q. Seeing as the Malaysian national team haven’t played outside of Asia since 2001 and have never appeared in Division 3 before, what are the MCA doing to ensure the team get adequate preparation?

A. This question has come up even before the last game was played during ICC WCL Div 4. We need to accept the challenge and understand that we need to do things differently in order to play better against stronger teams in the upcoming WCL Div 3. We need to minimize our mistakes in preparation and hopefully close the gaps.

We have seen that by having a High Performance Analyst, namely Sriram Somayajula, has been positive during the WCL Div 4 and enabled Head Coach, Bilal Asad, to work with the data very well. As a result, MCA has engaged the services of Sriram once again and he has already been in Malaysia since 12th August 2014. He will work with the Malaysian Men & Women teams to the Asian Games, the ICC WCL Div 3 team and the Malaysia U19 team.

MCA has also noted that the boys could do better if we had a dedicated and specialized Physical Trainer. We have engaged the services of Shiraz Khalid from Pakistan who has worked with PCB. His engagement with the players is already showing positive signs.

MCA in the past has not had a dedicated physiotherapist that has worked with the national teams on a full-time basis. Frankly, this had to do with the lack of finance. However, this needs to change.

Consequently, MCA has taken steps to have a physiotherapist with facilities at the Kinrara Oval. We will start maintaining data of all our national players and age group players. This will help the coaching staff and the players themselves positively in preparation and more importantly, in managing injuries. In this respect, it is not only the senior team that is benefiting.

We understand that as we go up the ladder, our approach to the game also needs to change in our thinking and how we prepare mentally. I strongly believe that we have the talent but we need to assist our players to grow not only as a “player” but also mentally with leadership qualities. In that respect, we have engaged Dr Salleh Kutty who worked with them just before the ICC WCL Div 4. He will once again work with them in the run up to the WCL Div 3. We cannot believe in miracles and these are the processes that we must start to help our players perform better in the medium term.

We are aware that Uganda will be different but then again as pitches go most are different anyway. We understand from that the Uganda pitches may be slower than most and we will be ready for it. A tour to Kenya or South Africa is on the cards depending on whether the ICC WCL Div 3 is hosted in Uganda as planned.

Q. Besides the national team, how are the MCA making sure that the standard of domestic cricket is high so that this improvement can be sustainable?

A. This is a constant dilemma and we need to have the buy-in of the State Cricket Associations. While I would like to applaud the time and effort put in by the people who run the State Associations, the time has come to realize that we need to move up a couple of gears. We need the game to be run by more organized office set-up at state level to ensure that the development is sustainable and more importantly, we are able filter the best fifteen to represent the country.

I will be the first one to accept that finance is a major issue. However, we must try to get around this challenge and put in structures that will provide mass development, organized tournaments and a talent identification process at state level. Do we have the best 15 playing for all the states? To be honest I am not sure at this point whether we have the support structure in the respective State CAs. We need to close the gaps.

MCA today has been focusing on high performance by sending its coaches to the states on interim basis to have a look at the talent. We organize inter-state tournaments and players are selected accordingly and put into development squads and age group pools. MCA partly funds a development coach in most State CAs and the coach works in that specific state. The fact of the matter is that we need more coaches in the states and also at least one High Performance coach in each State. MCA needs to work with the states to achieve this goal. A pyramid of pathways needs to be built successfully. It is a long road and not an easy one to get all stakeholders on the same page.

The positive side is that we are having states like Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Selangor, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak excelling in various age group tournaments and that means we are moving in the right direction. Players like Wafiq Irfan, Virandeep Singh, Shankar Sathish, Ahmad Tajudin Ismail, Kogilan Muthu, Anuar Rahman etc have come up through this system but we need more. MCA has many plans and all stakeholders must recognize that each have an important role to play to ensure the wheels are turning in the medium term. We definitely can do better…

Q. It’s always great to hear that there is more participation in cricket across Malaysia but how do you plan to take participation and interest in cricket up to the next level?

A. To some extent, the question has been answered. However, I would like to add that the Ministry of Education has been a great supporter and partner to Malaysian Cricket. We have approximately 350 schools playing cricket in Malaysia and they are giving us support to have more. The success story of the engagement with the Ministry must be the Bukit Jalil Sports School cricket program which has produced current national players like Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam, Ahmad Faiz Noor, Anwar Arudin, Mohd Shukri Abd Rahim etc.

The Bukit Jalil Sports School cricket program has gone through a positive transformation under our Academy Head Coach, Thushara Prabath Kodikara, in the last 10 months. The school team finished runners-up in Malaysian Premier League Tier B over the past weekend.

We need more of these types of Academies across the country and the Ministry has graciously helped by providing approval for Centre of Excellence in SMK Sg Layar in Kedah and SMK Anderson in Ipoh, Perak. We are currently working to get one school in Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur and Terengganu to be a Centre of Excellence for cricket. The goal is to have a centre of excellence in every State under the preview of the State CAs and monitored by MCA.

Whilst school cricket is certainly alive, the same cannot be said for club cricket. Here is an area that we in Malaysia need the biggest improvement to have the game sustainable. It is a fact that when the teenagers leave school they may not necessarily play cricket any further as there is not enough club leagues at districts and state levels. MCA in the past had a National Inter-Club league tournament which is certainly being revived.

More importantly, I would like to urge all State CAs to look within and organize more state level inter-club tournaments. This will not only enhance the quality but more significantly keep the young cricketers playing the game. We will definitely see more talent in the coming years. Malaysia needs to learn that all types of leagues can be played simultaneously and we have room to evolve in this area.

I believe that this is how we will get better state teams and see healthier competition in the future in the national tournaments. The base participation will increase and this almost certainly guarantees better performance at National level.

MCA started the Malaysian Premier League (MPL) in 2012 which is an open tournament for any team to participate. There is a process to qualify but the idea is to have top quality teams playing one another with foreign player participation. We need to increase the quality to get better and there is no shortcut for success. Clubs need to apply to be an Associate Member of MCA and if the criteria are met, they can play in the MPL.

MCA needs to grow and enhance the domestic two innings inter-state tournament from the present two days to three days by 2015. With better club tournaments at state level, I believe that we can get good players to represent the state. This is an important step to build the discipline and basics that is needed to play the game. This will give players to build on their mental strength. I strongly believe that the longer version of the game is an important aspect of building better cricketers as we move up the ladder. Again, we need the buy-in of all stakeholders.

Lastly but not least, is that MCA is looking to place 25 players abroad in the Indian subcontinent to play good competitive cricket. We need to place players abroad not just for exposure but to build players as individuals with strong characters. Building people first at this level must be the priority for MCA. These are some steps (not limited) that the Administrators are evaluating within MCA today.

Q. What challenges do you face when trying to promote cricket in Malaysia?

A. Challenges are plenty but we have managed to come so far. I cannot stress enough that all stakeholders whether states, clubs, administrators, selectors and others must place their roles.

MCA has been for many years sustaining from private funders such as MILO, SportExcel, BAUER, Sunway, IJM, Kasel Sports and well wishers. Apart from private funders, the ICC and ACC are the other largest contributors to fund the game in Malaysia. The government through the National Sports Council has lent some support but more has come through the State Sports Council.

Whilst we appreciate that cricket is not part of the eight (8) core sports in Malaysia, we would like to humbly share that we are ranked 25th in the ICC rankings and 2nd placed in the ACC rankings. As such, we are appealing to the Sports Ministry to support cricket as a priority sport and hope very much that they will fund cricket more.

I strongly believe that sports must be funded on merit and whether the National Sport Association has a structure/plan in place to support the objective must be a question asked when funds are granted? I truly believe that we at Malaysian Cricket have a structure that can help us reach the objectives in the medium term. We also appreciate that funding may be scarce for the government to support all sports equally. However, it would be nice if they could, in addition fund the national coaching staff and players’ placement program into the Indian Sub-continent. We will be submitting accordingly again to the Ministry for their consideration.

We need to dissect the question of funding into smaller bites. The President of MCA has in the past few years worked hard to bring money into the game and has knocked on his loyal supporters’ doors all the time. It is time for companies and corporate figures to put money where their mouth is…

What do I mean? The ideal scenario for MCA in the short term is to have the following in place:

National Coaching Staff with a Director of Coaching
5 x Academy Coaches with a National Academy Coach Director
15 x Development Manager @ State CA
15 x High Performance Coach @ State CA
15 x Development Coaches @ State CA
Support Staff of Physiotherapist / Trainers / Coach Educators

The MCA today organizes various tournaments at National Level and has even started a corporate tournament. These tournaments are mostly run and funded by MCA and not necessarily funded by sponsors (Title and Co-sponsors). MCA is looking to for corporate organizations to come in at this level and become Development Partners to build the game. Sadly, corporate organizations more often than not, talk the talk but rarely walk the talk. They would like immediate return of investment in branding from print media and TV. Perhaps putting money into local development of sport specifically cricket could be a priority rather than fund the EPL teams. There needs to be a balance to achieve sustainable development.

In 2012, MCA had opened the national tournaments to the State CA’s to “ purchase” the rights to host and to raise fund for themselves by a having a property. However, there were no takers. Perhaps it is about time that MCA opens the “right to host/franchise rights” to event companies to “purchase” the rights for a fee and with earnings. This will free up MCA’s money that is tied-up to hosting events and utilize it for high performance programs be it at national of state level.

There is only so much available fund in the pool at the moment and it is being invested on a priority basis. The funds invested on high performance are showing dividends in terms of the National Team’s performance but the fact of the matter is there is a lot more to do.

We are embarking on getting players’ contract done on a permanent basis for approximately 25 players according to grading of players. This will require funding too. I do believe and feel strongly that players at certain level must be given some monetary assistance as they do make sacrifices. The contract must allow for players who do not perform to drop out and the players who are performing to be placed under contract. This will also provide a healthy competition to remain competitive.

As you can see that whilst corporate funding is important, the print, internet and satellite media are even more crucial. Corporate organizations even if they were going to put money into cricket will want brand exposure and coverage accordingly. Balanced coverage is necessary and it will be great to get our players profiled. With players profiled, there is a greater awareness of the game and consequently, more young players have a local role model to look up to. All these interviews and profiling are positive ads for the game and will bring more confidence to the national players themselves. Media plays an important part in all aspects of the game and not just funding.

MCA has a game that is producing results and with many talented and committed players doing more than their fair bit for the country. Please look at Malaysian Cricket Association for its plans and objectives.

Q. The Malaysian women’s team hasn’t quite progressed at the same rate as the men’s senior and youth teams. What are the MCA planning to do for women’s cricket?

A. I will be the first to admit we can do a lot more to promote women’s cricket. It has been a question of priorities and more importantly funding priorities. We have had women’s cricket since 2007 but the crux of the matter is that we need more school girls playing cricket. Here is an area that perhaps China and Thailand has got it right. They have focused on bringing girls into cricket and the results are showing today, as they are ranked one and two respectively in ACC.

We certainly have stepped up our activities in the last twelve months but there have been challenges. We do not have all States CA’s on board promoting the game among the girls. We have just started to get support from the Education Ministry. For your information, MCA has signed an MOU with Tunku Kursiah College early this year to start a girls’ program and we are learning on how to increase the participation. I believe we will learn from our mistakes and hopefully increase funding for women’s participation in 2015.

On a positive side, Malaysia won the inaugural Saudari Cup against Singapore. We won two out of three matches and it was fantastic to see our girls like Winifred Anne Duraisingam, Nur Aishah Iqbal, Jannadiah Halim, Intan Jaafar, Christina Anak Baret and Emylia Rahim showing their maturity. These are early days yet and the best is yet to come!! I would be wrong if I did not acknowledge the Malaysian Armed Forces for their contribution in promoting and developing women’s cricket positively in addition to their massive support and contribution for our Men’s National players.

We are grateful to OCM for allowing our Women’s team to compete in the 2014 Asian Games. However, they have raised the bar to semi-final qualification in order to get OCM funding. We have taken the challenge as the girls are showing positive signs and we need to support it. Only through participation and results can we build a team of the future. When the base numbers are low, we need competition and recognized tournaments to build the numbers further. It is an investment that Malaysian Cricket needs to recognize and invest accordingly.

The positive side to Women’s cricket as China and Thailand have clearly shown is that the capacity to grow in a short space of time is very high when comparing with their male counterparts. This is also something that I hope that we can convince corporate organizations with women in mind to invest money and time. This will be the same advise to all stakeholders, women in cricket is within our targets and we should do our part to engage them to see cricket as a sport that they can play and excel. In 2015, we will see the introduction of the women’s inter state seniors and U15 cricket league.

Q. Malaysia has been successful in hosting many ICC and ACC events over the years. Are there any plans to bring a major series/tournament to Malaysia (such as the DLF Cup in 2006, U-19 World Cup in 2008)?

A. It will be great to have another DLF type of event or to get Pakistan to see Malaysia as a possible neutral venue. Malaysia has a number of world class grounds and the logistics to go with it. We are in the midst of starting to build another ground similar to Kinrara Oval and if all goes well, it should be ready by June 2016.

This gives Malaysia the opportunity to bid for an ICC event like the T20 World Cup or even host a Tri-Series. In short, we are always on the lookout to host any event in Malaysia be it ICC WCL qualifiers, ACC tournaments or a bigger event such as the DLF type. This is part of the branding and awareness that Malaysia needs to get a buy-in from the public and corporate alike apart from the obvious exposure for the players.

We would need to put it to the Government that Cricket is the second most watched sport after F1 based on an event basis. As such putting seed money into cricket to host international matches is not only worth it as a tourist destination but in the medium term will help Malaysia develop it as a mass sport and in turn produce greater talents that will achieve the desired results.

Q. The ICC appear to be looking to downsize and potentially abolish regional offices such as the ACC with a view to the ICC directly running each region, what do you make of the proposed changes and how will this affect Malaysian cricket?

A. Certainly the world of cricket is watching how the ICC will develop in the next couple of years. The ACC has been a great help to countries like Malaysia and we have moved up accordingly. Their help has not been limited to developing the players only but I believe a greater contribution in putting a structure for developing umpires, scorers, coaches etc. To some extent, the ICC is already working with the member countries albeit indirectly through the ACC or regional offices.

In today’s world where funds are tighter and that we live in a smaller world, ICC could well be more efficient and provide funding based on merits directly to the countries. The criteria and policies will have to be worked out and effectively communicated to all member countries. The challenge may not well be in the execution but actually in managing the criteria set and the evaluation of the funds given out.

Without knowing some of the details as yet, it will be difficult to say whether the regional offices can be taken off. Perhaps a reduction in size with direct management is a way to go. Again a point to note that the ACC has been managing the Asia Cup and the funds that are derived from the event has been channeled into development to the member countries. This is a challenge and I am sure will be hotly discussed. However, in my personal capacity, I can accept the principle that funds must be better spent and a higher % of money in the dollar be spent on direct development and tournaments. Countries should be rewarded on performance, merit and ethnic representation whilst a % of funds are left for development of cricket within the country.

This will give the developing countries a target to reach to get the bigger pot of money. This may well apply to Malaysia as well.

Q. Many Associates are keen on the idea of cricket being in the Olympics but it looks unlikely to be added any time soon. If cricket was in the Olympics (and Malaysia took part), what would it do for Malaysian cricket?

A. This is certainly a dream at the moment and the ICC will have a few challenges to overcome. HRH Tunku Imran has devoted some time to work on this project and also to get the game into the Commonwealth Games. I certainly hope that he carries on the good work in trying to bridge the gaps.

The most important thing that the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics will bring is the acceptance and recognition of the game in funding terms by the Ministry of Sports in majority of the member countries. This will also help the Sport in a big way by opening the doors of the Ministry in terms of profession resources with the National Sports Council and Institute of Sports Science.

However, we will endeavor to push the Ministry to evaluate Malaysia’s current rankings. We would also like to share that we are within striking distance to get into the 2016 and 2018 T20 World Cups and the 2019 or 2023 World Cup. The reality is that not many sports can say that in Malaysia today, be it an Olympic Sport or not.

Q. The USA Cricket Association (USACA) have safety and security concerns over ICC WCL Division 3 being held in Uganda, do the MCA have any similar concerns?

A. Malaysia has officially written into the ICC requesting for guidance on the matter. Certainly we are concerned about the health issues and we are awaiting their advice. We will look to ICC to take the responsibility and in confirming that the venue is safe.

Q. Malaysian national cricketers play lots of 50 over matches internationally and domestically but not too much T20 cricket so how important is it that Malaysia do well in the upcoming Asian Games ahead of next year’s ACC Twenty20 Cup?

A. The Asian Games will be important to us in a number of ways. Firstly, this is a recognized event as set by the Ministry of Sports and Malaysia’s performance is important in the standing of the Ministry. Therefore we need to take the challenge and show the Ministry that we are worthy of what we are saying.

The tournament in itself will give us a platform for the 2015 ACC T20 Cup but more importantly it is a pathway to T20 World Cup in 2016 and 2018. We narrowly missed the opportunity when we lost to Nepal. We should pay attention to this format of the game as the T20 World Cup comes every two years.

Secondly, a point to note is that the ICC is constantly being asked to increase the number of countries participating from the current 16. The ICC needs to understand that this is the best way to build a stronger and better global game if they increase the number of teams that can participate in the T20 World Cup. Associate member countries will automatically get better opportunities to fund themselves. Anyway, Malaysia either way has a good opportunity to progress in the T20 tournaments.

MCA are looking to introduce more forms of T20 and namely, the Corporate T20 Leagues in 2014 and the Malaysian T20 Championship and National Inter-Club T20 in 2015. We do have some recognized players in the T20 arena such as Ahmad Faiz Noor, Shafiq Sharif, Anwar Arudin, Aminudin Ramly, Suresh Navaratnam, Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam, Shahrul Nizam Yusof and others. Of course, we would like to see more names come through the new tournaments that will be introduced.

Q. Of course the ultimate goal is for Malaysia to make the World Cup one day but in the short term, what would you say are some realistic targets for the national team?

A. To a large extent the question has been answered and in summary our goals are as follows:

Men’s
2014: Asian Games – Semifinalist
2014: ICC WCL Division 3 – Top two finishing
2015: ACC Elite – Champions
2016: ACC Premier – Top two
2016: ICC World T20

Boys U-19
2014: ACC U-19 Premier – Top Three (Point to note: Due to the dates of the tournament, a number of our players will be sitting for the Malaysia School “O level”/SPM exams)
2015: ACC U-19 Asia Cup

Women’s
2015: ACC Elite – Champions
2016: ACC Premier – Top two

Thank you for the opportunity to share my views.