For the past two months, Rob Moran has been in Mongolia building the game of cricket.

The Highlands teacher was selected as a volunteer cricket coach for the Mongolian Amateur Cricket Association (MACA).

While for many people the idea of cricket in Mongolia may seem like a strange one, but Rob believes the country has plenty of potential.

His fourth-month stint in Mongolia began in July.

He has been working closely with Battulga Gombo, who has been the driving force behind Mongolian cricket, to help mentor cricket coaches.

There is now a national cricket team and junior teams.

He has spent a lot of time at Mongolia’s one and only cricket ground- the Mongolian Friendship Cricket Ground, where the pitch and wicket were slowly being improved.

The ground, complete with training nets is located in the UlaanBaatar National Park.

Early on in his trip, Rob attended a reception hosted by the Australian Ambassador to Mongolia, John Langtry, to meet both the Indian and British ambassadors, and a number of other Mongolian officials.

He was able to share with them what he and the cricket association will be doing over the next few months.

Recently Rob visited the Nairamdal International Children’s centre. 

The centre is an orphanage that also runs a camp during school holidays. 

An introductory cricket session was held at the centre for 100 eight to 10 year olds.

The Mongolian Amateur Cricket Association has been working with several children’s centres during Rob’s time in the country, donating equipment and sharing its knowledge of the game.

Rob has started a blog- An Aussie Cricketer in Mongolia- to give those at home an idea of what his trip has involved so far.

On the blog he said when school starts back up next month, they would begin rolling out the school program.

The long term goal of MACA is to have a team that could potentially compete in the ODI World Cup within 50 years.

Visit https://i99678.wixsite.com/cricketmongolia to follow his Mongolian journey.