star’s bat auctioned for Rwandan stadium

British Prime Minister David Cameron has auctioned a cricket bat signed by cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar at 3,400 pounds (3m Rwandan francs) to raise money for the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation.The autographed bat by the Indian cricket legend was one of his ‘most valuable possessions’, that was donated to raise money for the first modern cricket stadium in Rwanda.The bat fetched 3 million Rwanda francs at a fundraising dinner held recently at the Lord’s cricket ground, the biggest in the UK to raise funds for the stadium project.The event was organised by Conservative Friends of Rwanda and attended by a host of cricket icons including West Indies legend Brian Lara as well as Rwanda Cricket Association president Charles Haba.The auction, held in the Long Room at Lord’s, was to commemorate the life of Christopher Shale, Cameron’s constituency chairman, who was found dead at the Glastonbury festival last summer. Shale’s son, Edo, said the event raised almost 130,000 pounds (Approx 124m francs) for the project. The Rwandan cricket team represents the country in international cricket matches. They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2003. Their international debut came in the African Affiliates Championship in 2004, where they finished seventh. In 2006, they competed in Division Three of the African region of the World Cricket League, improving their performance and finishing in sixth. They will remain in Division Three in 2008.Rwanda has a junior U-17 team participating in the East Africa regional U-17 Tournament. In their first match in the 2008 version of the tournament, the team lost to Uganda by 10 wickets.

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star’s bat auctioned for Rwandan stadium