Neehan Khaunte is into the final few hours of a family holiday in London, and best has unquestionably been saved til last. This 13-year-old from Goa cannot believe where he is, and what he is watching. Wearing an England cricket shirt, he is sitting in the lower tier of the Edrich Stand at Lord’s, his face fixed in a beatific daze. Back home Neehan is the captain of his state under-14 cricket team. He plays every day, early in the morning before school and again after school for more intensive training. Being part of the crowd watching England v Pakistan renders him virtually speechless. “We only have a few hours before the flight back to Goa but we will spend every last minute we can here at the cricket,” explains his father.
Seeing a child so entranced by the experience resonates. Cricket in England appears to be having a complicated existential debate with itself about how to engage with new generations of young cricketers and cricket watchers.
Written by Amy Lawrence at Lord’s
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/may/25/lords-day-out-cricket-test-england-pakistan-amy-lawrence under the title “A rookie’s day out at Lord’s: is cricket best appreciated slowly? | Amy Lawrence”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
