As China laps up the plaudits for its staging of the Beijing Olympics, some within the world’s most populous nation are turning their attention to cricket.

Administrators in various sports have long regarded China as one of the great untapped markets and cricket is no exception.

Traditionalists, more comfortable with the concepts of a ‘Chinaman’ (a ball from a left-arm spinner which turns the opposite way from his normal delivery), or a ‘Chinese cut (a false shot off the inside edge) than playing against a team of Chinese may be sceptical, but ignoring a population of 1.3 billion is not an option for cricket’s rulers.

And having topped the overall medal table at an Olympic Games for the first time, the rest of the world ought to be aware of what China is capable of when it sets itself a sporting goal.