In 2006, the Saigon Cricket Association was founded by a community of expats, and was renamed the Vietnam Cricket Association in 2009 to commence formal applications for incorporation and membership of the Asian Cricket Council.

The 18-member Vietnamese team have gathered recently to prepare for the Games. Most of them come from the HCM City University of Sport. Several members of the squad have experience in baseball, volleyball and football. The team began playing in the VCA league to gain experience, which had previously been expat-only.

The players are coached by Australian Mick Blinkhoff. In preparation for the SEA Games, which run from August 19-30, the team have been training five days a week at the Phu Tho Sports Centre in HCM City.

The captain, Le Hoang Dang, 25, was a gym instructor, earning about VN?8million (US$347) a month but he decided to quit to train for cricket full-time with a monthly allowance of VN?5 million ($220) from the government.

Dang previously played in the SEA Games in 2011 for the national baseball team. “Cricket is an interesting sport,” Dang said. “The whole team are training hard and learning cricket’s rules, which are rather complicated. Although we are all new to the sport, we will try our best not to finish bottom at the Games”./. (Source: http://english.vietnamnet.vn)