Three Cheers for Cricketeers

Anytime one of our friends in Thailand use the words "cricket" and "dinner" together, my kids get a little nervous. But tonight's fare was unrelated to the protein rich members of family gryllidae. It was, rather, a celebration of 9 students who have competed at the highest levels of cricket in Thailand and Around the world.

Eight of our "cricket champions" joined us for dinner; one of our boys -- Narabed -- was unable to pull away from studies to do so. The kids voted unanimously to eat at an open-front, roadside restaurant called "The Pig Pen" (The name is justified by the unlimited servings of raw pork, fish, squid, chicken and beef you can grill on gas-powered braziers in the middle of each table.)

Among the nine, we have three young players who are truly world-class. You may remember that Parichat and Jutamat were two of only 14 girls nation-wide who qualified for Thai National Team, which competed in the world championships in Kuwait last year. They will also travel to New Zealand for international competition in a few months. And Narabed (not pictured; he was home studying) represented his age group on an international level in Malaysia.

It is amazing that out of all the youth cricketers in Thailand, three of the very best were raised at Asia's Hope. For all nine of the teens we celebrated last night, their success on the pitch represents untold hours of hard work and indicates a certain drive and character that will serve these kids well in whatever endeavor they choose in life. 

I don't know much about the game of cricket, but I do know that I'm really proud of each of these wonderful kids.