In cricket size really doesn’t matter. That's what the young stars of tomorrow tried to prove during the under-10 tournament at Kalabagan yesterday.

The knockout event held as part of the International Cricket Council's global celebration of the Cricket Week drew appreciable participation.

Although officials said that 75 children were taking part but actually 66 of them from ages ranging from 7-10 were put into six teams named after leading figures of the sport for the daylong tournament.

The teams were Sir Donald Bradman XI. Sir Garfield Sobers XI, Imran Khan XI. Sunil Gavaskar XI, Ian Botham XI and Graeme Pollock XI. Of them, the Bradman and Sobers outfits received first round byes.

In the preliminary stage, each game was of 20-over duration Bowlers were allowed two overs each. The artificial pitch was 18 yards long.

To make it more attractive all players wore coloured uniforms and used real cricket balls.

The Pollock boys emerged champion beating Bradman kids by 38 runs. Batting ilrst. Pollock outfit scored 93 tor nine in 15 .overs. Bradman's flag-bearers could score 55 for seven before exhaustion their share of 15 overs. Rishad of Pollock was adjudged man-of-the-match for his five-wicket haul for only nine runs off three overs.

However, from the time the first boundary was scored to the fall of the last wicket, the commitment shown by the youngsters was tremendous. Each player knew his role.

Those boys were seen practising. talking team tactics or even offering advice or encouragement to fellow teammates all the time. The actions of lensmen and the clicking of their flash bulbs could not faze the little performers.

Whether the player was part of the winning team or not was immaterial. At the end of the day it was really the spirit of friendly competition that counted.

All the players representing some leading educational instj-tut ions brought along their personal gears-- bat. pad. guards, helmet etc. In addition to their very heartening enthusiasms, the kid cricketers were also re-markably knowledgeable on the state of the game, which they shared with this correspondent.

For a nine-year-old Aaqueeb studying in Class 1 at Scholas-tica it was a dream come true to play on such a stage.

"I love cricket more than anything. My favourite team is South Africa." he said.

The Bradman all-rounder picked Jacques Kallis and former Bangladesh skipper Faruque Ahmed, who was his cousin, as his best players.

The nine-year-old captain of the Sobers team Rayid, who reads in Uttara-based ISD (International School of Dhaka), was a die-hard Australian.

The left-handed opener s idols were wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and new pace sensation Brett Lee.

“1 became an Australian (supporter) after watching the World Cup. " he remarked.

Though the majority belonged to Pakistan.

Shabab, aged 7. of the Imran Eleven led the chorus standing by Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar and speed merchant Waqar Younis.

The pace bowler from Dhanmondi Tutorial was very’ happy that his favourite side had won the Coca-Cola Sharjah Cup.

“As 1 fell asleep at one stage during the final I had to ask my father the next morning who won, admitted the Class 1 student."

Rayeed. another Scholastica student, said that The Daily Star helped him to keep track on the sport. He especially read news regarding Pakistan.

The medium-pacer’s heroes were Pakistan tearaway Shoaib Akhtar and Anwar.

For those who braved the scorching heat to watch the proceedings, they' could honestly say. that cricket is in good hands. Now what is needed is take these blooming buds of Bangladesh to the next level.

(Scorecards of the final on page 15)