Beijing, April 24: North Korea is to host its first cricket tournament, with an English team taking on the home state’s finest in Pyongyang next week.

The three visiting teams for the Twenty20 tournament will be largely expatriates from England, Australia, South Africa and Holland who are based in Shanghai. The North Korean side will be boosted by staff from the Indian and Pakistani embassies.

The tournament was planned by Bryan Clark, a British employee of the logistics firm DHL, which has an office in Pyongyang, and the Shanghai Cricket Club, which has been leading attempts to develop the game in China. The games will be played in Taesongsan Park, usually the setting for May Day dances. It is the only place in Pyongyang with a suitable expanse of grass.