Cricket is one of the world’s oldest and most popular sports — but also one of the most niche. The “gentleman’s game” is played almost exclusively in countries that made up the former British Empire. Complex rules make it daunting to understand for the uninitiated. Traditionally it was a pastime of the elite.

All of these factors have conspired against cricket gaining popularity in North Korea, a country fiercely opposed to external influences and famous for its militant denunciations of colonialism and its vestiges.

But 15 years ago this spring, a one-of-a-kind competition in the heart of Pyongyang brought the