As 2024 draws to a close we will have a look back at the 2024 season, a season which started off with many changes to the Sharks and which ended without a big success but with a number of strong new players, hopes for next season and the annual Shards Award Night wrapping up the year.

The start of the season was marked by the changing of the guard in the Sharks management with Marcus taking over from long time president Dave and Anton stepping back from his position as club Manager. Also new in the 2024 season was the Sharks 3rd XI, created to complete in the new JCL Division 4 competition with the dual purpose of developing those new to cricket and letting senior members keep playing. As with most seasons there was the normal traffic of players joining and leaving, however this season the new intake was particularly big – we hope a sign that we are doing something right?!?

The 2024 season also saw the creation of a new word – Sharksmanship (noun)  fair, friendly and convivial behaviour exhibited during a cricket game by a member of the Chiba Sharks Cricket Club.

The Cricket

In 2024 the Sharks competed across 6 different leagues / competitions; the JCL Division 1, 2 and 4, the Japan Cup (East Kanto Division 1), the JCL T10 and the JCL T20.

For our 1st XI in the JCL Division 1 2024 was a season of transition. The side bought in a lot of talented young players. Eight 1st XI debutants: Nikhil Pol, Ben Ito, Al Kadowaki Fleming, Abhi Dewan, Kento Ota-Dobell, Manav Natarajan, Musashi Fujihara, Gufi Mir. In the end the squad finished in 5th place with a 6-4 record. This included losing the last two matches of the season in slow outfields that were not favourable conditions for the side. Probably an underachievement considering the talent within the team however the goal is to play in the finals next year. Highlights for the 1st XI were:

• 6 players making their debut in round 1, a hard-fought win, Nikhil taking a great catch for the last wicket;
• Marcus Thurgate’s epic 95 off 77 balls to get us home by one wicket and retain the Shearer-Thurgate cup;
• Kendel Kadowaki Fleming single-handedly winning the game against Tigers with 155 not out off 86 balls: and
• Gufi’s quickfire 77 not out off 25 balls against Alpha Quashers.

It is also notable that three of the Sharks 1st XI made it into the JCL Team of the Year: Dhugal, Ben and Nikhil!

Our 2nd XI in the JCL Division 2 struggled throughout the season, for the second season in a row, and failed to win a single game. The way they went about this was frustrating for the side as they both failed to protect good scores and failed to chase down mediocre ones. Some element of unluckiness always seems to be against the side. But in cricket as in golf ‘you make your own luck’ so in 2025 this is what the side must do. Highlights for the 2nd XI, though limited, were:

• Sud hitting 63 not out against Rising Stars for 2nd XI’s only half century of the season;
• Tim taking 3 wickets and three catches against MIB; and
• Hammad taking 3 wickets in three separate games.

Our 3rd XI in the JCL Division 4 also struggled, but did not go winless and enjoyed many of their encounters; if they could have changed one thing it would have been stopping the other teams fielding players from their Division 1 sides as a way of battering the opposition – but hey-ho not everyone is a sporting as the Sharks! Highlights for the 3rd XI were:

• Ali getting a five-for (5/58) against the Men in Blue;
• Yasir hitting 86 off 58 balls against KKR; and
• Sud hitting 81 off 105 balls against Tokyo Titans.

The author will also add his own highlight, if not really one for the team, running out the final Titan’s Batsman on the last ball of the innings and at a score of 399 – preventing the Titans getting a 400. The Titan`s won 399 – 66, however, which was the 3rd XI’s biggest defeat of the season….

Our Japan Cup side performed well, if not brilliantly, winning 2 games and losing 3. One of the losses was close fought, so the side have a real chance of improving on this position next year and making their way into the playoffs. Highlights were:

• Abhipray knocking 78 off 40 balls against Tskuba and then hitting 75 off 50 against Myoden the following match; and
• Yugandhar taking 4/18 against Tskuba.

The JCL T10 and JCL T20 are shorter competitions played over a few weeks, and with a playing XI drawn from players in the main squads. In neither of the competitions did the Sharks progress beyond the initial stages this year, however highlights were:

• Muneeb taking 4/18 in the JCL T10 win against Tokyo Falcons; and
• Ben hitting 27 off 15, Takadi hitting 27 off 16 and Abhipray hitting 25 off 7 in the JCL T10 loss against Tokyo Falcons.

The Awards Night

The Sharks wrapped up the 2024 season on November 30th with the annual Sharks Award Night, held under Tokyo Tower in the Siddique Palace restaurant. Sharkies old and new were treated to a non-stop service of Pakistani food and beverages whilst Anton acted as the master of ceremonies and announced the winners of the awards for the 2024 season. The Sharks prides itself on being different from other cricket clubs, and our awards are one of the areas where we are different; each award is unique and hand crafted by our in house Meisterhandwerker Anton (you can see a picture of each of the awards in our Hall of Fame, on the top menu of this site). Whilst the awards were in progress the Japan U19 Asia Cup match against UAE was being projected in the background, so we could see if young Sharks player Tim would help Japan win…unfortunately he didn’t and they didn’t but there was a collective cheer from the Sharks as Tim hit his first run, then a collective groan when he was bowled on a total of 1 after 11 balls.

A total of Ten cricketing awards were presented, with an eleventh award, the much sought after Spirit of The Shark being presented to Hiroshige for his great contribution to the club and doing much so much to help it run smoothly. In the cricketing category Ben picked up the Cricketer of the Year and also the Best Fielder award, Dhugal was the Best Batsman for the 12th time and Muneeb was the Best Bowler. The best T20 player was awarded to Abhipray for his performances across the JCL T20 and Japan Cup, the best 1st Year Player to Nikhil and the Most Improved Player went to Tim. Best 2nd XI Batsman was awarded to Sud and Best 2nd XI Bowler to Hammad, finally the 3rd XI Player of the Season went to Will (your author). Prizes were also given for Sharks players of the matches (as voted for after each game).

After the Awards Night (part one) drew to a close, a Nijikai was held at a venue near by, and rumour has it an unofficial Sanjikai may have been held after that…and that, dear readers was the end of the 2024 Season!

But before we part we would like to close with a thankyou to Interakt, our main sponsor, as well as Libra-Japan and Autocraft, who have supported us over the last three seasons. We are deeply grateful for all the support we receive from our sponsors and could not exist without it. The Sharks is a growing cricket club and also a community that people want to be part of, and we are looking forward to giving back to our sponsors and community with success in the coming seasons. Additionally we would like to give a special thank you to Dr. Wheatgrass for their ongoing support and to Siddique Palace for providing outstanding service at our Awards Night.

See you in 2025!