Part 2 of a special report from Nepal: Paul Radley explores cricket’s role in the recovery from April’s devastating earthquake.In this dispatch Paul finds that swinging of the ball and bat provides a welcome distraction in disaster’s wake.
KATHMANDU // In a corner of Tundikhel, the central park and parade ground in the otherwise densely urbanised city of Kathmandu, five teenaged boys have found some even ground on which to play cricket.
They are taking a break from studying for their end-of-year exams, so what better to do than have a bat and bowl?
The ball is old, caked in mud and rock hard, but the wicketkeeper has proper gloves, there are two bats to share, as well as pads to bat in.
The bowler comes in off a long run and fires the ball down. Unflinching, the batsman swings hard but misses.
The daisy-cutter goes too low for the keeper to make a catch, so he stops it with his shin instead. Happy days.
These schoolmates are regulars here. They know the best places in the park – and probably, therefore, the best in all of Kathmandu – for their games of cricket.
Lately, though, the options have been limited. Their boundary line has come in because this land, which is usually given over to joggers, footballers, cricketers, or people doing yoga, has become home to between 1,500 to 1,700 people displaced by the April 25 earthquake.
Of these five friends, two live in this camp, in one of the 150 blue tents provided by the Red Cross Society of China.
“It was totally destroyed by the earthquake,” Bishal Basnet, 17, says of his family home in the nearby residential area of Asan.
“Nobody was injured as they all managed to get out. At the time it happened, I was out at the park, messing about on the swings.”
Despite being a communal open space for all the Kathmandu public, Tundikhel is now guarded by armed members of the Nepal military. The temporary residents air their linen on the coils of barbed wire which keep non-residents out.
A long hit away from this game, at mid on, two long queues are forming as volunteers from the Khansa Aid earthquake relief charity dish out trays of dal bhat, the rice and lentil dish that is a staple of the Nepali diet.
Basnet, though, prefers to stay and play cricket with his friends. He is next in to bat, after all.
“I don’t feel anything,” he says about life in the relief camp. “This is what was given by God, so what to do? Hopefully we will get a new apartment soon.”
Not all of these friends were displaced by damaged homes after April 25.
All had their situations altered, though.
For example, revising for end-of-term exams is not like it was before for Sulav Bajracharya. By comparison to many of the neighbouring residences, his family’s home survived relatively in tact.
As a result, 20 people now live in the two remaining floors of his house. So when he is afforded breaks in his classes, he is happy of the chance to get out and see his friends.
“I study at home, but I need a bit of rest from that, so I come to play cricket,” says Bajracharya, 17.
“I could stay at home and watch TV, but in my home, only two floors are stable. The third floor is badly damaged, so I can’t get to my room.
“Houses around us have been more badly damaged, so people living around there are all living in one room.
“We come here to play cricket regularly. When we get some money, we collect it together to buy cricket equipment. Everybody gives a small amount and we divide the cost.”
Clearly, sport is a distraction from real life, but the powers that be in Nepal cricket believe they can be a force for good at this time.
Although their fortunes on the pitch have been on a sharp upwards swing for some time, Nepal remains a relatively impoverished cricket association, especially when compared to their neighbours.
Just across an open border, India is cricket’s financial superpower, while Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and even Afghanistan all enjoy a vastly superior commercial status to Nepal.
As much as 90 per cent of cricket’s annual revenue in Nepal comes from International Cricket Council handouts.
The biggest commercial deal in the cricket board’s history was recently agreed with the state-owned Nepal Telecom, at a value of US$155,000 (Dh570,000) per year. That is the sort of salary a mid-ranking Indian Premier League player would earn for six weeks of work.
Yet, despite the limited resources, they remain of a charitable mind. A tribute match for the late Phil Hughes was played at Tribhuvan University, Nepal’s one international-standard cricket ground, 14 days before the earthquake happened.
Spectators were charged 163 rupees (Dh6) for entry. The significance was that Hughes was on 63 not out when he was struck on the neck by the delivery that led to his death, but a 63-rupee entrance fee would not have generated enough funds, hence the increased admission price.
Since the earthquake, the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) have initiated a “Bat for Nepal” project, in which eight fund-raising matches are due to be played around the world during the next two years.
The majority of finances recouped from it are due to go directly to the government’s earthquake relief efforts, but some will be set aside to improve cricket’s infrastructure.
Paras Khadka, the popular captain of Nepal, was on tour in Australia at the time of the earthquake.
He returned with A$40,000 (Dh113,000) in funds he had helped raise himself, and he immediately set about organising trips to relief camps for the national team players. They twice played pick-up games with the residents of Tundikhel and handed out cricket kit.
According to Bhawana Ghimire, the CAN chief executive, cricket’s increasing appeal to Nepal’s people means they have an important role to play in raising spirits.
“We are trying to create a smile on people’s faces by going to their camps, helping with relief aid, water, whatever we can do,” she said.
“In the first two weeks, we went to a number of areas where there were camps being set up and played cricket with the kids.”
If the job of the Nepal team is to inspire their compatriots, they have a chance to do just that in Scotland and Ireland this month when they attempt to qualify for the World Twenty20.
Supporters are hopeful live streams of some of the national team’s matches will be available on national, free-to-air television. Their first match is against the United States in Belfast on Friday.
The last time Nepal played on TV, at last year’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, the capital was gripped by cricket fever.
Incredible pictures of Kathmandu Durbar Square, the world heritage site, packed to the rafters with supporters transfixed by the matches went viral on social media. Until then, few beyond this Himalayan nation’s borders knew quite such a passion for the game was burgeoning here.
No matter how the team fare in Ireland and Scotland, the picture will undoubtedly be different this time around.
Durbar Square, the city’s main tourist attraction, was largely wrecked by the earthquake.
The rubble of formerly spectacular temples is cordoned off, with signs warning of a “danger zone”.
The open spaces where people were sat watching projections of the big matches last year are now taken up by more relief camps. A large, blue tent in the centre of the southern most of the three squares is a makeshift school.
Back in the Tundikhel camp, the five friends ponder Nepal’s prospects on the field. Rajib Tamang, 16, was in this exact spot, playing cricket, when the earthquake struck at 11.56am local time on April 25.
“The team makes us proud and winning will help to relieve the pain of the earthquake,” he says.
His friend agrees. “I think Nepal have a good chance,” Bajracharya says. “They have had a good practice camp in Dharmsala, and I think that will help a lot.
“Nowadays, people don’t have anything to do. They just roam around here, but if the cricket comes on TV, everyone will get together and just cheer for Nepal. It will be great.”
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