Bob Simpson reports on his recent trip to Nepal

Fancy a game of cricket in the foothills of the Himalayas - then Nepal is the place for you.

Yes, the fascinating Kingdom of Nepal is now one of the fastest growing cricket nations in the world.

With three cable TV stations beaming cricket into Nepal almost on a daily basis, it is little wonder the game is prospering.

When I was there recently on a 12 day fact-finding and coaching assignment for the ICC, I had the choice of watching live Test cricket from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Australia on the same day. Time zone differences meant I could watch 12 hours continous cricket and view a delayed telecast for another six hours.

These telecasts and an enthusiastic push by the Cricket Association of Nepal has seen an enormous growth in cricket in the last few years.

Cricket was believed to have been introduced to Nepal by the Royal Family who brought it back after studying in India and England. Cricket enjoyed a boom after the War and the CAN was formed in 1946.

While the game struggled in the 1960s and '70s it is now booming - rivalling football in popularity.

The Asian Cricket Council Trophy was successfully staged there in 1998 and recently the Nepalese Under 19s team qualified in Singapore for this week's 2000 Under 19 World Cup.

While geographically centred around the capital, Kathmandu, cricket is now being played in most cities and towns. Most of the development has been occurring not surprisingly in areas close to the Indian border, with regular fixtures being played across the border.

As in Australia, most of the talented youngsters are coming from the country and of the 20 youths I coached in the Under 19 training camp, only two came from Kathmandu.

Nepal's qualification for the Under 19 World Cup has aroused great interest and the Government is now allocating areas to be developed as cricket grounds. Most of the cricket is played on turf or clay with a coir matting cover. The quality is poor and I have recommended that they initially install concrete pitches in as many places as possible. This will give them a low cost ideal surface with the material available locally.

In Kathmandu, they do have a magnificent oval with the pitch and outfield as good as most Test playing centres in India and Pakistan. It is set in an ideal position with high terraces on three sides of the ground. Plans have already been drawn up for a new pavilion, which has obviously been based on the pavilion at Lords.

It is here where the CAN hopes to stage international matches. They contend (and it has been seen in Sharjah and Toronto), that international one day fixtures can be staged anywhere as long as you have TV coverage.

They hope to link Kathmandu and Pokhara, a tourist town nestling in the Annapura Range of the Himalayas, in promoting international cricket. Both are ideal venues with good quality hotels and an attractive allure for tourists.

Pokhara is only 35 minutes flying time from Kathmandu and the Government has already promised an ideal site for the development of at least two cricket grounds, one of which the local Cricket Association envisage as an international venue. Certainly, this venue, if developed properly, could rival Adelaide Oval, Newlands in Cape Town and Trinidad as having the best backdrop in cricket.

When I was there in December, the day temperature was an ideal 24 to 26, with snow still covering the tops of all the mountains.

I have little doubt that it would provide not only a magnificent setting, but a brilliant playing surface with the most precious of all commodities available only 300 metres away from a spectacular river gorge. Similarly, I am just as certain that Pokhara would produce the most stunning TV shots of any ground in the world.

Growth numbers alone should not be the only criteria when judging an emerging cricket nation - talent is also vitally important.

I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw.

The Nepalese style of cricket is very similar to their neighbours, India. Most of the youths are slight in build, but had great timing when batting, and with surprising power.

I was thrilled to see they have four bowlers who could swing the new ball, a rare commodity these days, and three excellent left hand finger spinners. No right hand spinners of note, which was unusual.

They have an amazing passion for the game, with their heroes picked from every nation in the world. Like youths everywhere, they have copied the hairstyles, fashions and mannerisms of their heroes. Obviously most of their favourites, come from India, with Tendulkhar the King.

Nepal is not the easiest place to develop cricket with about two-thirds of the country covered by the mountains.

They have a good airline system covering most centres but road travel is very slow. Calcutta is only a 60 minute flight away, but a day and a half trip by bus with six hours being taken to get through the mountains.

It is to India, and of course the ICC whom Nepal is turning to for assistance. India, the closest and perhaps the richest Cricket Board in world cricket, has the capacity to help enormously. Obviously money would be a big help, but assistance with an interchange of tours, coaching and umpire training is also vital.

Nepal, a rugged and proud nation, needs help badly, but still wants to retain its own national identity.

I salute them in writing into their constitution that only Nepalese nationals can play in their team.