SRI LANKA / CRICKETERS NUTRITION

During the Asia Cup, South Asia's cricketers speak out on nutrition, sanitation and girls' education. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:00
• Production Date: 24 June 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: LEISURE; SPORTS
• Geographic Subject: ASIA; INDIA; SRI LANKA
• MAMS Id: U100624e

Description

STORY: SRI LANKA / CRICKETERS NUTRITION
TRT: 1:00
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: none
LANGUAGE: NATS

DATELINE: RECENT, DAMBULLA, SRI LANKA

Shotlist

1. Various shots, cricketers practicing
2. Various shots, cricketers practicing next to signs of ‘health hat trick’
3. Wide shot, cricketer with young people
4. Various shots, cricketers arrive at press conference
5. Various shots, cricket captains at press conference

Storyline

Besides batting overs and taking runs and losing innings, South Asia’s top cricketers were bowling hat trick of another kind during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

The four skippers of four of the biggest cricket playing nations in the world, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan, took their eye off the ball briefly to speak from their heart about children.

At a joint press conference between the Asian Cricket Council and UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the message to governments and communities was: invest in a healthy hat trick – good nutrition, sanitation and girls’ education – three critical interventions to save children’s lives.

The shocking statistics that 45 per cent of the population in South Asia lack access to sanitation and 41 per cent of children suffer from malnutrition leading to three million child deaths, has triggered the cricketers into lending their voice to amplify these issues. Cricket for South Asians is like a religion and cricketers are like gods.

With a flurry of activity between UNICEF and cricketers, encouraging cricket among former child combatants, fielding links between cricketers and Bollywood celebrities like at the Indian International Film Academy, sports journalists are sitting up and taking note of children’s issues.