UK’s Famous Cricket Club MCC Urges Tourists to Return to Nepal

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A team of 15 members from the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) based in St. John’s Wood, London, United Kingdom, visited Nepal in November 2015, to play a few fixtures and to see the country, as support in the post earthquake scenario when Nepal needs tourism to heal.

Awed by the warmth and hospitality of Nepali people, the team was also totally impressed by the diversity to be found even during short sessions of tours in between games. If the highlight of the team’s Nepal visit were the cricket games and coaching sessions with Nepali youngsters in Kathmandu and Pokhara that received ample national press coverage, the unforgettable should have been the ever-adored mountain flight from Kathmandu’s domestic Tribhuvan Airport.

“Rarely do you get to experience an entire country in one day,” said a statement by Mr. Richard Wilkinson, cricket player and one of the team members. “Flight over Mt. Everest, the most breathtaking view I have seen and we would need a far more talented writer to describe it here, suffice to say, if you ever find yourself in Kathmandu you simply must!”

The team also paid a visit to the British Gurkha base in Pokhara where they even got an insider’s view of the Gurkha selection process for the British Army. In Pokhara the team also teed off at the world-class Himalayan Golf Club.

“Essentially a golf course built around a river-cut natural gorge, it included some the most scenic and iconic golf holes that can surely be created,” said Mr. Wilkinson

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In Kathmandu, the team also visited heritage sites at Kathmandu Durbar Square, Buddhist holy site Bauddhanath and Hindu cremation site at Pashupatinath. The experience, a unique one, gave a preview of the earthquake devastation, although most rubble had already been cleared and reconstruction and renovation were under way. At Kathmandu hotel, they were also guests to a slight aftershock, a reminder of the shaky days.

The team also received warm welcome by the British Embassy in Kathmandu.

The touring party had departed London with the “promise of some life-changing experiences” with new friends and strong test on the field.

“Like many of the tourists at present MCC could have avoided Nepal, but we didn’t,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “In our own cricketing way we stood by our friends and a country which is crying out for the lifeblood of its visitors to return and for that I feel the club should be immensely proud.”

MCC founded in 1787 is one of the world’s most active cricket clubs and owner of the Lord’s Ground in London. It is also “the guardian of the laws of the game” as per official website and has been dubbed a “private club with a public function” by one of its former presidents.