The World Cup is the biggest event in world cricket. Seventy per cent of the people of this country still live in villages, and as with other international events, the excitement the World Cup creates in towns and cities largely passes rural people by.

To narrow this gap between town and village and spread the joy of the World Cup across the country, in 2011 we organised an unusual initiative, a symbolic "Farmers' Cricket World Cup". For the occasion, a field in the remote village of Charpuliamari in Shambhuganj, Mymensingh, was turned into a cricket ground after the Aman crop had been harvested. A stadium and gallery were built from bamboo.

The Farmers' Cricket World Cup programme was recorded at night under floodlights in front of thousands of spectators. Symbolic Bangladesh and Australia teams made up of farmers took part in the tense match.

Two of the country's renowned commentators, M A Hamid and Manjurul Ahsan Mintu, commentated at the event. Both have since died, and we pay deep respect to their memory.

Source: Shykh Seraj. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.