"Cricket has a history of 300 years, while China only imported the sport officially one year and two days ago," the Chinese Cricket Association (CCA) deputy-director Cui Zhiqiang told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"Only one year ago, we have no players, no umpires, and no coaches for the sport. It was nil at that moment, but now things start to roll on."

The CCA, which came into being and joined the ICC (International Cricket Council) and ACC (Asian Cricket Council) in 2004, has spent a whole year to develop the sport in China, with initiating a core base of players, umpires and coaches as its priority.

Cui said China has already have 63 umpires of international level and qualified coaches while the governing body has introduced cricket to 19 primary schools, 20 middle schools and more than 20 universities throughout the country with 6,416 students learning the game, 995 of which turned players.

And the competitions. The inaugural national cricket championships are being held in China, with divisions of U13 and U15 concluded this summer and division for universities being underway until November.

"We will select eligible players to take part in the U-15 ACC Cup to be held in Thailand at the end of the year," said Cui. "The association has mapped out a short-term and long-term plan, and the international competitons will remain our focus.

"The ACC Cup for U-17 and U-19 in 2007 will be in our sight. And China will produce more teams and more players, coaches, and umpires, from quantity to quality."

The materials for the cricket skills and coaching course have also been translated and printed. Mandarin editions of the laws of cricket have been available in China.

Of course, the progress could not be ignored by the ICC and ACC, who just combined together to pay a visit to China's cricket venues and training courses in last five days.

"Since the CCA became a member of the international cricket, the organization has made great progress. We've been very pleased to hear that some plans are in place, and some works have been carried out already." said Malcolm Speed, Chief Executive Officer of the ICC, which will provide a total of 200,000 US dollars to the CCA on top of the same amount of supporting funds offered by the ACC.

"Many countries have been playing cricket for 300 years, and China has only played for one year, but I think they should look at the works that have been done by China.

"We appreciate what they have done, they have just put cricket on the map of China."

But China, which is without the cricket tradition and much experiences, has already looked forward to the great leap in long future.

Cui voiced the ambition for cricket as he said the CCA was hoping that by the end of 2007 China would have 30,000 players, 600 coaches, and 600 umpires. The target for 2020 would be a striking 150,000 players in China.

The association is also hoping that the sport can become part of the National Games set-up and recieve more government funding.

The CCA only chose the best schools and universities to which they introduce the sport and cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou with strong economy and open-minded thinking would serve as staring point.

"They are just trial bases. If we can succeed there, we would promote the sport to more places in China, like Shangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang."

China's development on cricket is linked to a large extent to the help from the ACC and the ICC.

The ACC has so far sent seven coaching delegations to China since 2005 in a bid to help the fast-track China as a competitive cricket nation.

"Developing a cricket culture takes time, but one thing we can be sure of is that China is now ready, willing and able to pace the way for cricket." said the ACC Chief Executive Syed Ashraful Huq, who promised more funds, facilities to Chinese cricket and a head coach to Chinese U-15 men's team.

"Their Olympic athletes impressed us all in Sydney and then Athens, and they have emerged as champions in a very short space of time.

"China themselves have prepared a comprehensive plan to develop the game within the country. They have come to us, and the ACC help them realize their vision."

At last, why cricket in China?

"There are 96 sports in the State Sports General Administration of China but what makes cricket special is that it is a game of the physique, it is a game of the heart, and it is a game of the mind," Zhang Xiaoning, director of the Munlti-ball Sports Administrative Center, Wednesday told Xinhua.

"It is a game for the individual within the team. It is truly a noble game that is perfectly suited to the Chinese people. It is being introduced in China at the perfect time."