The BBC’s Fred Dove investigates cricket’s prospects in China:
“It’s a paddle. For a canoe. Isn’t it?” We had just shown a cricket bat to a lady in a park to see if she knew what it was.
Night was falling, and many people were strolling among the trees, enjoying cooler evening temperatures. From nearby came the rousing chorus of revolutionary songs, sung by dozens of men and women, who could remember different times in China.
Other passers-by, shown the bat, were similarly perplexed. But there was some recognition – one boy said he had seen some cricket coaching at his school.
That was reassuring, because this little unscientific experiment was taking place in the north-eastern city of Shenyang, described by some as the “cricketing capital of China”. [Source]