‘It’s surreal’: Hawke’s Bay’s Koji Hardgrave Abe on his globetrotting life as a Japan cricketer

Hastings Boys' High School student and Japan under-19 cricket captain Koji Hardgrave Abe. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke’s Bay has a new rising son.

From Japan to Te Mata Primary, Hereworth, Hastings Boys’ High and all the years of junior – and now premier men’s – club cricket for Havelock North, Koji Hardgrave Abe is now the Japan under-19 captain.

And the 17-year-old is well aware of the esteem in which the rest of the cricketing world holds his nation of birth.

Or, at least, held.

“People think of Japan and go ‘Oh, easy game. They must suck’,’’ Hardgrave Abe said.

That was until two tournaments this year that changed the top-order batter’s life and maybe the trajectory of Japanese cricket.

The first was in Darwin, in June, where Japan finished second to New Zealand in the Under-19 World Qualifiers for East Asia and the Pacific.

Japan beat Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, losing only to New Zealand.

Hardgrave Abe’s 255 tournament runs were bettered only by New Zealand’s Tom Jones (283), which helped earn Japan a trip to the ACC Men’s Under-19 Premier Cup in Malaysia last month.

Ranked 12th of the 16 teams, Japan won their pool, finished third overall and are now off to next month’s Asia Cup in Dubai, where they’ll play hosts the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

“It hasn’t sunk in that we’ve qualified for the Asia Cup. I’m still thinking back to Darwin and how much of a cool experience that was,’’ said Hardgrave Abe, who moved to Hawke’s Bay from Japan aged 3.

“We came in being thought of as the worst team and to pump everyone there apart from New Zealand was incredible.’’

As is the change in Hardgrave Abe’s cricket career.

It was in 2019 that the idea of playing for Japan – and following in the footsteps of Asian-born players such as Mark Chapman and Tim David – first emerged.

Chapman was born in Hong Kong, going on to represent them at age-group and senior level before becoming a Black Cap. David played for Singapore, where he was born, and is now a regular member of Australia’s limited overs sides and a staple of the professional Twenty20 circuit.

Hardgrave Abe contacted the Japan Cricket Association about representing the country of his birth, but Covid kept that from becoming a reality until April this year.

He and his Japanese mother spent two weeks staying with his grandparents, ahead of games in the Japan Futures Under-23 League and Japan Premier League.

By the end of the trip, Hardgrave Abe was Japan’s under-19 captain, having been named best batter in the Futures League.

“It’s surreal. It’s such a cool experience going from driving myself to Anderson Park to being on a [team] bus in Malaysia driving to the ground with the police escorting us. It’s been such a quick turnaround.’’

As happened with Chapman and David, Hardgrave Abe hopes playing for an emerging cricket nation is an opportunity to test himself on a world stage and then turn his attention closer to home.

Co-captain of the Central Districts under-17 side last summer, it’s there that his heart truly lies.

“CD is always my goal. That’s my dream, playing for the Central Stags in first-class cricket and playing that red-ball stuff.’’

For now, he’s trying to get his head around the “pretty cool” sensation of being an international player and convincing any remaining doubters that there’s nothing funny about Japanese cricket.