Cricket! What is the Status of It in Nepal and How Has It Changed? CAN? :Toranvichara

Background:-

I was searching and exploring google trends to find the topic for my next article where I found that cricket and cricket related queries have been asked by people recently due to which I decide about writing this article where I have stated people's opinions, facts and information of cricket in Nepal.

Rises in Cricket queries in Nepal!

This articles comprises of history of cricket and has it is been managed.

Introduction:-

Cricket is a sport that now require requires no introduction ranked among the most popular sports in the globe with it's global governing body as ICC ^[2] with holds 108 members ^[3] and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London which maintains it's law ^[4] . With billions of fans in which it's world club final have been seen by around 300 million people in 2023.

General depection of cricket fans

History:-

Cricket as other sports have evoled with time.

The reference of cricket dates back far behind to 1500s in which John Derrick, a coroner, testified that he had played cricket on the land when he was a boy in about 1550.^[5] In which it's major activities are record in England. Where it have it's various variant in which it remained a low-key local pursuit for much of the 17th century.According to the social historian Derek Birley, there was a "great upsurge of sport after the Restoration" in 1660. Where gambling in sports became an problem due to which parliament had to pass the 1664 Gambling act too. The Hambledon Club was founded in the 1760s and, for the next twenty years until the formation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)

and it became the custodian of the Laws of Cricket. Where New law included leg before wicket(lbw) and three stump wicket. In which it went through major development in the 18th century.^[14] The first ever international cricket game was played between the USA and Canada in 1844 at the St George's Cricket Club in New York.(Canada Won).^[6] In which Don Bradman

Bradman

dominated the inter-war years. Cricket players are expected to uphold the "Spirit of Cricket," which includes fair play, sportsmanship, and mutual respect, in addition to adhering to the Laws. This mentality has always been regarded as essential to the game.

Woman's Cricket:-

Women have played cricket for centuries.

Watercolor painting from 1779 of a ladies cricket match played by Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby and other women

The first recorded women’s match took place in 1745 in Surrey between (according to the Reading Mercury) “eleven maids of Bramley and eleven maids of Hambledon”.^[7]. In which in 1958, the International Women's Cricket Council was founded.In 2005, the International Women's Cricket Council was merged with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to form on unite body to help management and improvement of cricket.

Administration:-

The organization that oversees cricket worldwide is called the International Cricket Council (ICC), and it is headquartered in Dubai.

In which On 30th November, 1907 the President of the South African Cricket Association, Abe Bailey, wrote a letter to F.E. Lacey, MCC Secretary. Bailey, having accompanied the South African team on their tour of England, was now on his way home.Bailey suggested the formation of an 'Imperial Cricket Board'. The Board's function would be to formulate a set of rules and regulations to govern international matches involving England, Australia and South Africa. He also wished to promote a Triangular Test series between the three countries in England in 1909. Which marked the establishment of ICC.

Influence:-

Cricket have given birth to various phrases as:-
To have a Good Innings
To Hit Someone For Six
To be stumped

Similarly notable cricket paintings includes :-
Kent vs Lancashire at Canterbury (1907)

It was commissioned by the Kent County Cricket Club at the suggestion of chairman Lord Harris to celebrate their first County Championship title win

The Cricketers (1948)

by the Australian artist Russell Drysdale

In Nepal?

In Nepal cricket is among the most loved sports in which it was first of all introduced to Nepal during the Rana regime when they returned from studies in England and Indian In 1920s but the game was kept within them. Later they started the Cricket Association of Nepal in 1946 to promote cricket.^[8]

Status:-

Nepal has demonstrated a lot of promise in the game of cricket. Their road has been one of tenacity, diligence, and willpower. Nepal has advanced significantly in the sport despite many obstacles, hitting several benchmarks along the way. In which in 2021 Nepal qualified for the Asia Cup for the first time.

Nepal qualified for the Asia Cup for the first time.

Nepal defeated Malaysia in the final of the Asia cup qualifiers to secure their place in the tournament.

CAN? (Cricket Association of Nepal)

As CAN being the governing body of cricket in Nepal.

CAN have been surrounded by various controversies.

Controversies:-

1.In 2014, Nepal had unrest off the field as its players boycotted the national one-day event, with captain Paras Khadka criticizing the Nepal Cricket Association's handling of national players.^[9]

2. The Commission for Investigation into Abuse of Authority immediately began looking into the board. Subsequently, after determining that 18 CAN members, including the then-President Tanka Aangabuhang, had misused around Rs. 14.31 million (1.4 crore), which had been intended to be spent for developing the game domestically, the CIAA initiated a complaint against them. As a result, a number of CAN members resigned from their positions for moral reasons. ^[10]

3.In April 2016, the ICC suspended CAN due to government interference with its operations. ^[11]

4.The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN)'s inaugural franchise cricket competition, the Nepal T20, concluded unsatisfactorily. After six foreigners and six Nepalis were implicated in the fixing fraud, the Nepal Police inquiry came to this conclusion. Bail was granted for both Ansari and Alam. Even though they haven't released their findings, the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit team visited Nepal to conduct an investigation. ^[12]

Opinion

On the article on cricnepal.com ^[13] by Sushil Thapa wrote that:-

"Nobody disputes the fact that we have a large pool of talented players. Every year a good number of immensely talented and exciting young players surface only to be wasted. They quickly come under the radar of national selectors and a few make it to the national team. The big irony is that many of them fall by the wayside in no time. The Cricket Association of Nepal is the root cause of problem. The continuing weak leadership, poor governance, unaccountability, mismanagement, the radical politicization of the cricket body and internal strife have hindered development of the sport as desired."

and he also stated that

"The ugly truth is that players are victims of a failing system. As long as the cricket body is run in an unprincipled and unprofessional manner there will be no end to cricketers woes and frustration on and off the field."

Cricket! What is the Status of It in Nepal and How Has It Changed? CAN?

The article is based upon facts and can be trusted. The references are provided below

Article Author:-Toran Jung Bam