Nepal's mountain to climb

By Ayanjit Sen BBC, Colombo

Dias played 20 Tests for Sri Lanka between 1982 and 1987

Nepal coach Roy Dias fears a lack of facilities and exposure could harm the long-term prospects of players in the Himalayan Kingdom.

Dias, 51, knows all about fledgling cricket nations, having played in Sri Lanka's first ever Test match against England in 1982 and later coached them.

Although cricket is catching up with football in terms of popularity in Nepal, Dias says a lack of sponsorship is hampering the team.

"Though Nepal has played in U-15 and U-19 international competitions, more exposure is required," he told BBC Sport in Colombo.

"Our players should get more regular opportunities to play against good teams."

There is no dearth of talent in Nepal, and victories against Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh junior teams in recent years prove that.

These results are heartening considering there is only one decent cricket pitch in the country. The rest are all matted surfaces.

BRIGHT FUTURES

Dias identified batsmen Sarath Vishwaka and Mehboob Alam, fast bowler Vinod Das and left-arm spinner Shakti Gaucham as players with bright futures if they can gain exposure against quality opposition.

Though he may be familiar with the plight of emerging teams, Dias admits there was already a structure present in Sri Lanka when they started playing international cricket.

In Nepal's case, they are starting from scratch.

But the Asian Cricket Council has invested money in Nepal with a central academy to be established in the country.

With ongoing assistance from the ACC, Nepal can aspire to competing in the Asia Cup, which similarly minor cricketing nations Hong Kong and UAE did in the recently held tournament in Sri Lanka.

With many cricket clubs in Nepal and regular television coverage of international cricket, the interest in the game is growing.

Nepal chief honoured

The head of cricket in Nepal, Jai Kumar Nath Shah, has recently been honoured by the International Cricket Council for his service to the development of the game.

It will be some time yet for Nepal to be considered more than a minnow in world cricket.

But Dias is committed to passing on his experience to the boys and wants them to fulfil their ambitions.

The first step has been taken.