The Cambodian national team will be led at the SEA Games in Indonesia by newly appointed manager Shigeaki Anthony Nishimura.

The Cambodian Baseball Federation has named one of its vice-presidents, Shigeaki Anthony Nishimura of Japan, as the manager of the national team bound for November’s SEA Games in Indonesia.

Announcing Nishimura’s appointment at a news conference yesterday, the other vice-president of the Federation, Nhem Thavy, revealed the Cambodian squad will comprise 22 players and five officials.

“I would like to thank the Ministry of Education [Youth and Sports] and the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia for clearing the national team and we hope to perform better than what we did in 2007 in Thailand,” Nhem Thavy said.

Nishimura, who is  based in Ho Chi Minh City, said he was “honoured” to be handed the manager’s role and voiced his enthusiasm for the upcoming tournament, which he claimed would “do a world of good for the Kingdom’s baseball.”

“Of course, we have come across lot of problems and we have to tie a lot of loose ends, but overall things are falling in place,” said Nishimura, adding that the next phase would be to bring the national team together after months of inactivity.

“Fortunately, we located six experienced players who had moved on to other ways of life  and have now brought them back to the fold and I expect the entire  team to reassemble in Kampong Speu on September 29.”

The newly instated manager also revealed that “big help is on the way from Japan and possibly from Korea,” with at least three experts from Japan expected to arrive in Cambodia to help out with coaching and conditioning of the team.

“I know the time is short but we will ensure that the team has sufficient preparation,” added Nishimura.