SHIVANI'S MASTER STROKE

Small-town girl Shivani Mishra is finally making her mark in the world of cricket after being stumped by tradition in her earlier quest for a sporting chance.

The impressive all-rounder was cajoled into learning the finer art of bowling by her cricket-loving brothers and now boasts a top coaching badge.

Mishra is the only woman coach from Bahrain to have passed her Level Two course held recently in Malaysia under the auspices of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and hopes to use her skills to inspire the next generation of players and set up a national women's team in the kingdom.

"There are 11 women who regularly turn up at the Sehla nets and I am trying to get more women to join," she said. "Once we have enough players I plan to approach the Bahrain Cricket Association (BCA) to have a women's team to participate in ACC tournaments."

The 37-year-old physical education teacher at New Millennium School - DPS Bahrain, in Zinj, was shortlisted by the ACC, along with Bapco's Prachur Shukla, to be the two candidates from Bahrain to take part in the advanced tuition after coming out with flying colours in the Level One course.

The mother-of-two has a growing reputation for her cricket coaching prowess and was appointed by the BCA as deputy to national team coach and former Pakistan cricketer Mohsin Kamal during the Bahrain Under-16 team's trip to Nepal for the Elite Cup tournament in March where the squad finished sixth.

As well as her PE teaching role she also spends time assisting at the Bahrain Colts nets at Sehla with well-known coach F. B. Arulvasagam, popularly known as Rexi.

Mishra, who was a big fan of former Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar, used to play cricket with her brothers and cousins in the town of Basti, situated in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. She said: "I always played with my brothers and cousins in the big ground in front of our ancestral home. I would rarely get to bat as the boys would get first turn and being constantly asked to bowl I became quite good.

"I played for my school and college and was able to shine as an all-rounder."

In 1989, while attending an athletics event in New Delhi, which was taking place simultaneously as a national women's cricket camp, she was asked to join India's top players after the coach spotted her bowling in the nets and was stunned by her ability.

However, at that time conservative small-town Indian families never allowed their daughters to stay away from home for long periods. Mishra, therefore, had to forego the opportunity of attending the two-month-long camp.

Nowadays, her sporting endeavours have full family support from husband, Devendra Mishra, a logistics manager of DHL Aviation, and their daughters, Shivi, 13, and Divi, 11, who turn up to cheer whenever she is playing or coaching.

Mishra also receives encouragement from her school as well as the BCA. She said: "I am grateful to the school management for providing excellent support to me as well as providing great indoor facilities for the children to play cricket round the year.

"The school also offered me with the opportunity of a lifetime to work with former Indian cricketer and well-known coach Madan Lal during his six-day coaching stint in Bahrain last year.

"I am also indebted to the BCA for facilitating my coaching and evaluation by the ACC, who have appointed former Sri Lanka cricketer Rumesh Ratnayake to develop cricket in Bahrain. I also had a great learning experience working with Mohsin Kamal who conducted a summer camp for school children organised by the BCA."

As well as coaching Mishra still enjoys competitive action in Bahrain and has played in a number of tournaments, including the Indian Club Open.