Chinese teams compete in Twenty20 event

Cricket reaches North Korea

Cricinfo staff

April 18, 2008

On May 2, Taesongsan Park in Pyongyang will be the host venue for the first ever formal cricket matches in North Korea.

Two teams from Shanghai and the newly-formed Pyongyang Cricket Club will take part in a triangular Twenty20 tournament with the winners receiving the inaugural DHL Pyongyang Cricket Friendship Cup. This landmark event will take cricket into one of the last countries left where it has neither been played nor witnessed in the hope that it may start one of the most unlikely development programmes the game has ever seen.

An trio comprising a Scotsman and South African both living in Shanghai and a North Korean enthusiast from Angola have been the driving force behind an initiative that has been eight months in the planning and which will feature players from ten nations, including one 14-year-old schoolboy.

In recent years there has been a rapid expansion of the game in China where the 2010 Asian Games will include cricket for the first time. The Shanghai Cricket Club has played a key role in the game's expansion in the country.

© Cricinfo

Add to del.icio.us | digg this | Stumble It What's this? If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content on cricket, you may use these buttons. When you add them to any of these sites, you "social bookmark" them for others to find and rate. More on del.icio.us>> More on digg>> More on stumbleupon>> Close

Live scores, results, news, features and more - just a click away Download the Cricinfo Toolbar NEW: West Indies v Australia fantasy cricket game Enter your teams here Cricinfo on the go - our mobile services WAP, Genie and Mobicast

Teams

China