Cusco, Peru -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/25/2011 -- The Peruvian national cricket team has enjoyed its best ever tournament in Costa Rica and the Tour Operator Escaped to Peru is proud to have been a sponsor and is a constant supporter of the development of this sport within Peru.

The recent ICC Americas Division III tournament was held in San Jose, Costa Rica between the 14th and 18th of March and featured 6 Latin American teams seeking promotion to the second division. Peru competed against teams from Belize, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Falkland Islands and on pitches that were slow with huge boundaries all the teams battled with the local conditions and struggled to score runs. The Peruvian team played extremely well to beat every team except the eventual group winners, Belize.

Gary Sargent, the Managing Director of Escaped to Peru, is normally a member of the squad but missed this tournament due to work commitments. He explains "The current team is made up of mainly ex-pats like myself who have been nationalized". Gary goes on to say "We are actively promoting the development of cricket amongst Peruvian born young men and women and we are sure that within a few short years we will be able to field a complete team of native Peruvians". Until that happens the nationalized members in the side will continue to represent Peru in a sport that is not yet fully recognized by the Peruvian authorities despite being supported by the ICC, the world governing body.

Some of the private bi-lingual schools in Lima such as Markham and Hiram Bingham are running cricket coaching for their kids, both male and female, and recent junior tournaments bode well for the future. Anyone who is interested in finding out more about cricket in Peru can contact Gary via his office.