(EJ Salisbury is a Back Page Lead correspondent based in Beijing.)

Cricket is not a sport normally associated with China. Just as one does not pour tomato sauce on a steaming bowl of boiled jasmine rice, the notion of an opening pair of batsmen named Wang and Wu somehow doesn't sound right. Yet Chinese culture admits of ten thousand subtleties and the intricacies of cricket ought to attract a delight among Chinese people equal to that enjoyed in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. But this is not the case. Or at least not yet.

Of course people do play cricket in China these days, and they have for a long time. There are plenty of Chinese cricketers in Hong Kong, too. Originally the cricket clubs in Hong Kong and Shanghai used to play what were then called "interport matches," the first such match taking place in 1866. After one match in Shanghai in 1892, the P&O steamship SS Bokhara returning to Hong Kong was wrecked in a typhoon off Taiwan, drowning most of Hong Kong's players. These interport matches continued until 1948 when the Communists defeated the Nationalists and took over government on the mainland.

It's no surprise that under Mao Zedong cricket did not flourish in China. In fact it was not played anywhere behind the Bamboo Curtain, doubtless excoriated as the pastime of imperialist, hegemonist, counter-revolutionary paper tigers. Then from the mid 1980s as more foreigners were made welcome in China under Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms the game enjoyed a revival, being played again among diplomats and expats. The old Shanghai Cricket Club was reestablished in 1994 and the Beijing Cricket Club was founded in 2005. Both of these clubs have a number of teams who play vigorous competitions every weekend when weather permits.

Finally, though, in 2004 the Chinese Government decided that cricket should be played in China as an official sport. Now readers should understand that in China sport is not a voluntary activity arising from the citizens' desire to play; it is part of government. The State Sports Administration decides which sports Chinese citizens should play and who should officiate at the matches. For reasons not yet clear, the Chinese Government decided in 2004 that China should play cricket. A China Cricket Association was established and an affliliation with the International Cricket Council made formal. The usual crop of businessmen licked their chops at the thought of a billion people lusting after bats, pads, wicket-keeping gloves, and perhaps groin protectors.

Officials announced ambitious targets. 15,000 cricketers would be playing the game in some 720 teams across the country by 2009. China would create a highly organised league for cricket competitions. According to this column's present understanding - not yet enlightened by information from the cadres of the State Sports Administration - these targets are perhaps not abandoned, but realising them has proved quite a challenge.

And as with so many things inside China there was a secret element of politics involved here. Does it surprise us to learn that China has spent $132 million on cricket facilities in the Caribbean, including a $55 million grant to Antigua to build the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, or $30 million to Jamaica for a new stadium? As Pramit Chauduri reports for America's ABC network, this was all about upstaging Taiwan. A small number of Caribbean countries still recognise Taiwan as the official government of China. After a Taiwan-funded cricket stadium in Grenada was destroyed by a hurricane China quickly built the country a second stadium.

Another surprise is the existence of a Pyongyang Cricket Club. This is indeed an alarming development for cricket champions elsewhere. Some readers may recall the news of the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il and his first game of golf. According to Pyongyang media, Kim shot a remarkable 58 on his first round of golf, including a hole-in-one on the first. If the North Koreans really take to cricket in a similar fashion we'll all be their victims. Still, better they bowl vicious bouncers at us than lob nuclear-tipped missiles our way.

Back home in the Middle Kingdom, cricket is making progress, though it must be said the road ahead will be a hard one. In 2009 China played in the Asian Cricket Council Trophy Challenge where they lost all their group matches, including going down to The Maldives by 315 runs. Fortunately China managed to overcome Myanmar by 188 runs in the playoff for seventh place. Again in 2009 during the ACC Twenty20 Cup played in the UAE China was bowled out for just 37 by Afghanistan. In 2010 the team will be back on the field for the Asian Games where it will face its old foe Afghanistan as well as other giants such as Oman, the UAE, and Bangladesh.

We should not tolerate this situation. Despite its occasional lapse into bellicosity, China wants to be friends with the world, and Chinese friends are a lesson in courtesy and warm curiosity. Cricket would benefit from China's stronger and more successful participation. It's impossible to imagine a Chinese national cricket team displaying the bad behaviour regularly on show among the world's stronger sides.

Somehow or other we cricket lovers must step in and help China's cricketers to play better. If the party leadership in Beijing became obsessed with spin bowling or China's latest Test score at Lords, the world would be a vastly better place.