KATHMANDU: For the first time, Nepal will witness its own Beach Cricket Festival 2010 to be organised by Shangri-La Cricket Academy at the Riverside Spring Resort in Kurintar. A press meet held on February 24 where was the organisers, sponsors and promoters shared their views.

Aamir Akhtar, Director of Shangri-La Cricket Academy said, “Basically the idea behind this is to promote the game of cricket and domestic tourism through sports. The participants won’t be veteran cricketers but amateurs from government organisations, private corporates, INGOs, filmstars, et cetera. UNDP, ICIMOD staff, WWF, Chaudhary Group, filmstars led by Ashok Sharma, Rajesh Hamal, Nikhil Uprety, Rekha Thapa are few of the registered teams. We would in fact want to promote women participation.”

Namrata Shrestha is the goodwill ambassador, while Malvika Subba and Gagan Thapa are the official promoters and supporters of the festival.

Beach cricket Festival is scheduled for different weekends that will commence from March 26 and 27. An Indo-Nepal match is scheduled for April 9 and 10 and the Third Inter Bank match is for April 16 and 17.

Only five players per team will play five overs a side. It is an injury-free game for it will be played with special soft balls. A Caribbean pool party, interactive games and live Dj music are among the special features.

Dhruba N Shrestha, working committee member of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 expressed, “Our main motive is to promote tourism in different sectors. Sports tourism plays a huge role in strengthenin