Cricket returns to Barcelona - Nathan Long reports
Despite the local weather allowing for cricket near enough 365 days of the year, until last Saturday no games had been played in Barcelona since the old Barcelona Cricket Club (BCC) ceased to exist somewhere between 1997 and 1998. Before then it was a thriving sporting and social club with an excellent squad of players, good sponsors and most importantly a "grass" field to play on. Unlike in the UK, where everyone is probably aware of at least one or two cricket pitches in their local area, being able to play on grass here is a luxury. Amateur football teams predominantly play on a surface made up of grit and sand. And public parks are few and far between, with fewer still actually flat enough to consider playing on. So having a "square", well kept or not, is beyond the dreams of cricketers here, but that wasn't always the case.
BCC used to play at the city's polo ground, which worked well for several years until the polo club changed from a charity to a profit-making organisation. The rate for being allowed to play there rose so dramatically that it could only be seen as a polite "no more wickets and willow here, gracias". Then, with no home, the sponsors were next to go, and with them the ability to travel to away matches up and down the East coast and the Balearics where several teams still prosper. So with no home games possible and away fixtures out of the question the club folded.
The players, however, are still here and several of them who were part of the original BCC (which also toured China in an effort to promote the game) were involved in their first match in six years when they took on a Sitges (a town 40 minutes down the coast) invitation XI. The game took place on a dirt football field in the shadow of the Nou Camp, home of Football Club Barcelona and a lovely grass surface that these cricketers can only dream of playing on. The captain, Peter Szost, had brought the wicket with him in the form of a very skinny piece of matting that was only half the length it should have been. Meanwhile the Sitges Club (made up of two men who are heavily involved with the rugby club in their town but are also trying to establish cricket in their area) brought the pads and bats which they had bought from the defunct BCC, which following its demise, gave all the money it had raised over the years to an Indian charity for children.
Not everyone was in whites, but little did that matter as the young Pakistani men, who formed a large part of the Sitges invitation team, immediately started taking apart the home side's opening bowlers. The new ball soon turned very old after several hooks sailed over the fence into the wasteland alongside of the pitch which was covered with dumped refuse and the remnants of the work of some of Barcelona's late night professionals. The surroundings basically said, "just not cricket" but the enthusiasm of the players, despite the 36 degree temperature, showed that the Catalonian capital could be put back on the cricket map.
One good example of this was a recent "tape-ball" tournament, a fast paced sort of cricket played with a tennis ball wrapped up in tape and a played on concrete. Twenty-two teams, mainly made up of players from the Pakistani community, competed in this competition, which was well attended with the spectators even including a local politician, although it was election time. So if so many teams can come together to play an offshoot of the sport then cricket in the area, given a permanent home and sponsorship, could only be a success, with a city league a very real possibility.
The scoreÖ Well, as both sides were mostly made up of players living in the city, it's best to say that Barcelona won. The teams, as well having a strong Pakistani contingent, included other ex-pats, a few Aussies (one of whom played 2nd XI county cricket in the West country during his time in England) and an ex Indian U16 state player, so in terms of talent the team is set.
As for the next match, no date, time or location is set at the moment but with the will of this group it is safe to say that an umpire will be calling "play" soon - after all they have a good pedigree. One ex-player, Phil Smith, was recently given an MBE for services to the British overseas which included his work with the Barcelona Cricket Club.