EPISODE · Mar 26, 2016 · 50 MIN
Baseball Diplomacy
from Not by the Playbook · host BBC World Service
This week's visit by Barack Obama to Cuba, was the first by a sitting US president since the 1959 revolution. It followed two years of secret talks which eventually restored embassies in Havana and Washington. On Tuesday Presidents Obama and Castro even sat together, to watch a baseball, between the Cuban National team and the Tampa Bay Rays from the US Major League -- a league that features many players who've defected from Cuba. So what does the future hold -- Film maker and author Brin-Jonathan Butler has explored Cuba through sport.Plus when it comes to sport in India, cricket is the boss. But it's said rugby was played in Calcutta in 1872 and every year England and Scotland play for the Calcutta Cup, a trophy made from melted down rupees. Among the groups of cricketers playing in one of the city's open spaces, Sarah Mulkerrins discovered the Jungle Crows rugby team, who are using the sport to divert some of the city's youngsters from a life of crime.(Picture: Sasha Obama, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro attend an exhibition game between the Cuban national baseball team and Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays, credit: Getty Images)
What this episode covers
This week's visit by Barack Obama to Cuba, was the first by a sitting US president since the 1959 revolution. It followed two years of secret talks which eventually restored embassies in Havana and Washington. On Tuesday Presidents Obama and Castro even sat together, to watch a baseball, between the Cuban National team and the Tampa Bay Rays from the US Major League -- a league that features many players who've defected from Cuba. So what does the future hold -- Film maker and author Brin-Jonathan Butler has explored Cuba through sport.Plus when it comes to sport in India, cricket is the boss. But it's said rugby was played in Calcutta in 1872 and every year England and Scotland play for the Calcutta Cup, a trophy made from melted down rupees. Among the groups of cricketers playing in one of the city's open spaces, Sarah Mulkerrins discovered the Jungle Crows rugby team, who are using the sport to divert some of the city's youngsters from a life of crime.(Picture: Sasha Obama, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro attend an exhibition game between the Cuban national baseball team and Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays, credit: Getty Images)
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Baseball Diplomacy
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