Thiruvananthapuram: The trainees of the Karyavattom Sports Facilities Limited (KSFL), Tenvic Cricket Academy and Kerala Cricket Association's Cricket Academies and Sports Hostels (CASH) were on cloud nine on Wednesday.
The reason: the legendary Australian cricketer David Boon took part in a brief training session in the nets of the Greenfield International Stadium, Kariavattom.
But when Boonie, as he is often referred to, told the budding cricketers that it is more than ten years since he picked a bat, it was their turn to get surprised.
Boon is remembered for his man of the match innings that took Australia to their first world title in 1987 Reliance World Cup at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. When Boon was giving net practice to the budding cricketers here, another high-level delegation from his home state of Tasmania was holding talks with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his office in Secretariat.
An excited Boon said it was fun and expressed happiness to be with the budding cricketers. The former Australian opener, who is now a member of the elite panel of International Cricket Council referees, also inspected the stadium and made some suggestions needed for qualifying as an ICC international venue.
It was also announced during the function that the Kerala Cricket Association will sign a memorandum of understanding with Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), operators of the stadium, to maintain the stadium for the next 13 years paving the way for international cricket and Indian Premier League matches here shortly.
