Cricket in Japan has a history dating back to the 1860s, with early games played by British troops. The sport has gained popularity in recent years, particularly with the influx of expatriates. The national team, once composed entirely of Japanese players, now includes many with Japanese heritage who grew up in cricket-playing countries. The team recently won all matches in a qualifying tournament in Korea, advancing to the next World Cup qualifying round.
Yokohama Seasider got a sit-down interview with Alex Patmore, who balances his professional commitments as a teacher at Saint Maur International School with the fitness and discipline required as a player for the Japanese national team. He reflects on the recent tournament and the next steps that may raise the profile of Japanese cricket both domestically and internationally.
How popular is cricket in Japan, and how did it develop here?
If you walked onto the street and asked people at random what cricket is, I don’t think they would know too much about it, even today. However, cricket has been played in some form or another since the Europeans came in the mid-1800s, and one of the first places was here in Yokohama. In the last ten to fifteen years, we’re seeing more people from South Asia–India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka–increase the participation numbers in Japan. Japan is also trying to grow the game with more Japanese domestic players. The city of Sano in Tochigi is sort of the cricket hub, where the local government has been on board. They deliver cricket in PE lessons; it’s embedded in the curriculum in elementary, middle school, and so on. I have Japanese and UK heritage, and we’re accessing a lot of cricket players who currently live or grew up in places like Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan, who have a Japanese parent, and who are connected to Japan in some way.
Are there lots of mixed-heritage people on your team, then?
About six or seven years ago, everyone was Japanese–born and raised in Japan. About four or five years ago, there was a shift in policy, where they were willing to look overseas for players who might have a Japanese passport. In the tournament we just took part in, of a squad of fourteen, there were three Japanese players born and raised in Japan, while nine of us were half Japanese, half either British, Australian, Kiwi, or Pakistani. There were also two players originally from India who have lived in Japan for long enough that they’ve become eligible to represent the country. However, we’re very conscious of maintaining and promoting the Japanese identity of the team. On the field, we speak in Japanese when we don’t want the other team to understand what we are talking about!
What were your experiences at the recent tournament in Korea, held in September 2024?
This was the first stage of a qualifying tournament for the next men’s cricket World Cup to be held in 2026, hosted by India and Sri Lanka. We played against South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and it was a clean sweep–we won all our matches. So we’ve progressed to the final qualifying round next year, which will be sometime next autumn. If we advance through that, then we’ll have made the World Cup. It’s going to be difficult because we’ll be playing against all of Asia. There will be nine teams, and only the top three teams will qualify. Four of those teams already featured at this year’s World Cup. So the odds will be stacked against us. Six or seven of the teams are fully professional, and Japan is starting to head towards semi-professionality. We’ve still got a long way to go to catch up with some of the teams next year, including Nepal, Oman, the UAE, and Papua New Guinea. In Nepal, for example, it’s their number-one sport, and some of their players are on contracts worth millions of dollars around the world. We’ve still got a long way to catch up in terms of how much time we actually get to train and play together.
What challenges did you and your team face during the tournament, and how did you overcome them?
We realized that in previous tournaments, we would start well, but (like one we had in Thailand earlier this year) towards the end, our performance would drop off. So we identified ways that we could be a bit smarter in managing rest and recovery diets. Something that’s overlooked is how to eat well when you’re staying somewhere new, especially given all the amazing Korean food there is everywhere. It was about trying to maintain that sort of discipline, and it paid off. By the last day, I think we showed we’re fitter than the other teams.
Was there a specific match that was really memorable for you?
Yes, the first game of the tournament, actually. We were in a sticky situation against the Philippines, who were going into the tournament quite confident themselves. I helped to drag us out of that, and we were able to get over the line and win that first game, which was the tightest game that we played–a nail biter. After that, we dominated the rest of the tournament. I like to think that the tournament could have gone differently if I hadn’t played my part in that one game.
Finally, did you expect yourself to be on a national team when you were young?
I wanted to play for England when I was growing up. It wasn’t until I was at university in England that I even knew there was cricket in Japan. I didn’t actually even know another Japanese person, or half-Japanese person, until I came to Japan. I was in the university gym on my bike, and they were showing a cricket match (England versus South Africa). They turned the camera to one of the boxes, and the commentator said, “Today we have the Japan national cricket team in attendance.” I didn’t even make the connection until a couple of years later. I thought to myself, “I’m half Japanese. I could probably play for them.” So when I came over, I contacted them and got on to the team. I’m kind of envious of the young kids who, from an early age, are really part of this community. It motivates me to keep going for as long as they’ll have me, or as long as I have the energy.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and giving us insight into Japanese cricket, Alex Patmore!