Mongolian man hoping to get country in ICC member list

A Mongolian man is reportedly seeking to get his country's name in the member's list of the International Cricket Council (ICC), with Afghanistan, Nepal and even China taking their chances into the field.

Battulgaa Gombo is the founder, head and sole qualified coach of the Mongolia Amateur Cricket Association, a fledgling organisation consisting of a handful of Mongolians in Melbourne and expatriate Australians, British and Indians in Ulan Bator, and his mission is for Mongolia to field a team in international cricket.

Although his association has no clubs or teams, no ground, runs on donated gear and is scouting for a suitable and affordable block of land in capital Ulan Bator, however, Gombo is undaunted and takes hope from his friend, psychologist and park cricketer Doug Scott, who said that Mongolia is all cricket ground because of its steppes.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, however, ICC officials, although encouraging, have told Gombo to think of it as a 50-year plan, and as such, Gombo and Scott are planning for a joint Australian-Mongolian team to do an exhibition tour of Mongolia later this year.

The report mentioned that Gombo fell under cricket's spell in 2005 when he visited his wife Daariimaa, who was studying at Monash University and saw the tsunami benefit match at the MCG and was entranced, adding that he found it similar to matka, a Russian bat-ball game played by some in his homeland.