Commemorative stamps issued for Nepal women

The Nepal Philatelic Society lent its support to the national women's side by bringing out 500 commemorative stamps to mark Nepal's first-ever international match. The cover was published just before Nepal's inaugural game of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) women's tournament against Thailand at Johor in Malaysia. Nepal won the match by 55 runs.

"I hope that the girls will bring back some amount of success in their first attempt," Binaya Raj Pandey, the president of Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), told nepalcricket.com. The cover, which oddly has a picture of foreign teams playing cricket, also includes an inset of the Nepal men's side. Earlier this year a five-rupee stamp was issued to celebrate the success of the men's team.

Shreedhar Gautam, the director general of the Postal Service Department, wished the women's team success in the tournament. "Sports especially cricket has played an important role for the pride of the nation," Gautam said.

The Philatelic Society's acting chairman, Jay Rijal, said the society hoped to organise a sports stamps exhibition with the help of the CAN to showcase national and international sporting stamps. Nepal's next match in the ACC tournament is against hosts Malaysia today, followed by group leaders Hong Kong tomorrow.