There aren’t many Irishmen who would have Happy Birthday sung to them on TV by a nation’s leading pop star, nor have a tribute ‘roast’ on the same country’s top comedy programme with an audience of five million.
But the same Irishman could then walk up and down O’Connell Street for hours and not be bothered by a soul, unless there were some Nepalis in town.
Andrew Leonard is one of the world’s leading freelance cricket commentators, most recently seen working on Ireland’s test against New Zealand and currently in the US where Major League Cricket started this week.
It’s the fourth season of MLC, and is live on Sky Sports here.
‘That’s hugely important,’ says Leonard, ‘as cricket tries to break the American market properly for the first time. This will be my third season with the MLC team, and I love trying to help grow the sport here.’
Leonard is a cricket evangelist, travelling the world spreading the game, none more successfully than in Nepal.
His love for the land and its people is reciprocated, and he is known everywhere as Taklu Dai, which translates as ‘bald Elder Brother’, described as a Nepali Jwai Saab, or ‘son-in-law of the nation’.
Eight years ago he was coerced into commentating on an Ireland home game against Afghanistan, which gave Kevin O’Brien an idea. The star all-rounder was heading to Nepal with Paul Stirling to play in the Everest Premier League.
Leonard with Paul Stirling, left, who was playing in Everest Premier League with Kevin O’Brien
‘He told the organisers, “This guy will be great. He’s new, he knows the associate teams very well, he’s passionate about the game, and he’ll probably even know your players”, Leonard chuckled. ‘Kevin pushed hard for me. I think he partly wanted a drinking buddy for the trip.’
Leonard had worked for Cricket Ireland and the ICC in marketing roles – he was the international body’s first Digital and Social Manager.
‘I’d always been fascinated by all Associate Cricket nations, Nepal in particular, but all of a sudden I was seeing cricket in countries I thought might develop.
‘So I went to Kathmandu with Stirlo and Kev, and there seemed to be this immediate connection and bond between myself and the Nepal fans. The only way I can really explain it is a shared passion and obsession and fanaticism for cricket.
Leonard jokes that Kevin O’Brien ‘partly wanted a drinking buddy for the trip’ to Asia
‘I used to always do laps of the ground when playing and coaching so I started doing that commentating to see the different angles and next thing I knew I would be getting mobbed in the crowd and asked for selfies.
‘The producers liked this so would send me up to the crowd a lot, where the police would have to be on call to make sure the packed crowds excitement didn’t get out of hand – but the people are simply the nicest in the world, so kind and so welcoming. And it’s become a huge part of my life now, it literally is my second home.’
Leonard grew up in Dublin, and became entranced by the great West Indies side of Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall. His brother spotted a cricket ground from the Dart, which is why, on his seventh birthday, his father Mark encouraged him to join Pembroke where he is still a member.
The club is something of a powerhouse in Irish cricket at present, with seven current members of the men’s national side, but not even test captain Andrew Balbirnie or IPL fast bowler Josh Little have the global profile of their former teammate.
Leonard was entranced by Viv Richards
He has been back 40 times since to Nepal, and when ICC need a commentator for their games Leonard is top of the list.
The country’s side has continued to improve and played in the T20 World Cup final stages for the first time in January.
‘I call it my second home, with real meaning, because I feel almost more at home there in Nepal than I do in Ireland these days, because I would spend more time in Nepal than I would in Ireland.
‘Cricket is a huge part of the national identity in Nepal. I also think Ireland shares a huge amount with Nepal in terms of both of us living in the shadows of much larger nations next to us — in Nepal’s case China and India, in Ireland’s case Britain.
‘We have both had to endure a huge amount of emigration over decades and centuries, and much like the Irish there are huge Nepali diasporas all across the World now.
‘And both in Ireland and in Nepal, we love having fun, having joy, sharing a drink together, eating great food, listening to good music, and punching above our weight on the world stage. That’s something both countries do.’
Nepal’s first game was against England, and the ground was packed with Nepalis two hours before the start when Leonard strolled in with fellow commentators Mike Atherton and Eoin Morgan, with whom he had grown up playing against in Dublin.
‘All of the fans in the ground at this stage were Nepali, and the vast majority were shouting “Taklu Dai” and “Namaste”, saying hello to me. I was waving back to them, and the two lads thought this was utterly hilarious. Morgan took great amusement in recounting the story that no one had paid any attention to him or Athers, and that Lenny was “big timing” all of us.’
Leonard gets to “big time” a lot in Nepal, where he was once whisked to the prime minister’s palace to be “felicitated and honoured”, and recently had a surprise visit and sung happy birthday by Nepal’s most famous pop singer Sushant KC. ‘I don’t get starstruck much, but this was very cool,’ admits Leonard.
Leonard sporting the ‘dhaka topi’ headwear
Also on his most recent trip he was invited onto ‘The Comedy Night with Champions’, Nepal’s most-watched TV show with five million viewers each week. Entirely in the local language, of which Leonard can speak about 40 words, Comedy Night featured a roast with the Irishman the chief victim.
‘For the full two hours I sat there smiling and laughing nervously, not knowing what exactly was being joked about in front of a 500-person live studio audience. The final act was Android Leonard, a Nepali impersonator of me, dressed in their traditional headwear the dkaha topi.
‘He impersonated me with hilarious precision, using many of the catchphrases that I use on commentary. He also joked with me about the fact that I get so emotional when commentating on Nepali cricket, as there was a viral clip from the commentary camera that did several million views of me having tears in my eyes when Nepal qualified for the T20 World Cup.
‘I was in hysterics and floods of tears on the couch by the end.’
Leonard was a decent leg spinner, getting a few underage games for Leinster and Ireland, and spent two years at the Hampshire academy.
Leonard, right, with his Nepali impersonator ‘Android Leonard’ who uses his catchphrases
He recalls an Irish Senior Cup quarter-final against North County in 2009 who were seen as unbeatable at the time.
‘We were heavy underdogs, and even though John Mooney hit me for one of the biggest sixes ever seen at that ground, I had some good moments and we managed to get up off the final ball to win by one run to spark jubilant scenes. Winning that match to reach our first-ever Senior Cup semi-final meant a lot, especially with my dad watching.’
Having got his break in commentary, Leonard considered it as a career. ‘Almost all full-time commentators are former international players, so I assumed there would always be a ceiling to how much I would get to do. But I loved every aspect of it, the buzz of live television, the storytelling, the craft and the art.
‘I was enjoying the journey and the travel, and I’m very grateful for the ICC Pathways events and their first-ever broadcasts of Associate Cricket. That gave me the opportunity to learn my craft and understand the art of cricket commentary. Everywhere from Papua New Guinea to Oman to Namibia to Argentina to Mexico City to Spain to Jersey to Canada and in between!’
Broadcasting Associate cricket has given Leonard the opportunity to perfect his craft
Now Leonard has done test matches, and commentated at World Cups, and hopes to be back in Dublin in August for the Euro T20 Premier League.
‘There is an element of uncertainty to the existence, no doubt, as all of the work really in most cricket commentary is freelance. But there is so much cricket now, right the way around the world, that I’m lucky to be doing it on a full-time basis as my permanent job.
‘In most years, I will be on the road for between 300 and 330 days of the year.
‘My original dream was always to play cricket for Ireland. I didn’t quite get to do that, but I’ve done the next best thing, and this for me is what I think I was born to do: to help promote and encourage the game to the wider world, and inspire people to get the same joy from it that it has given me across many decades.’
