On a sleepy Saturday afternoon,
in sleepy Tongle
Village in Shenzhen, a most
curious scene unfolds. In the
center of the field belonging to Tongle
School, a short Chinese teenager, clad
in red and with head encased in an oversized
helmet, guards three wooden sticks
with a bat. He is surrounded by eleven
foreigners of varying shapes, sizes and
fitness levels, one of whom charges in,
red leather ball in hand, and hurls it in
the direction of the boy. Almost reflexively,
the teen aims a full-blooded swipe
but connects with thin air, as the ball
thuds into outsized gloves of the burly
Canadian behind him. Sparse applause
and appreciative murmurs emanate
from the ring of foreigners, and someone
shouts in a distinct South African accent:
"Well bowled!"
This scene has been witnessed on
many a Saturday afternoon in Tongle,
a dusty corner of Nanshan District, for
a year or so since Chinese national
age-group cricket
teams began playing
the Shenzhen
Commonwealth
Cricket Club (SCCC).
Tongle School is, in effect, China's
cricketing nursery, where national team
hopefuls from around the country come
to receive training from foreign coaches
as China sets its sights on becoming a
cricketing force in the region. The SCCC,
on the other hand, marks the first attempt
among Shenzhen's expats to form a
cricket club in an organized manner, play
the game on a regular basis, and help
propagate it among locals and foreigners
alike. It is also symbolic of a growing
interest in both playing and following the
game among residents in the Pearl River
Delta area.
The SCCC has about 15 members
now, from traditional cricketing countries
like South Africa, Australia, England,
India and New Zealand and also from
non-traditional ones like the U.S. and
Canada. Canadian Justin Gallego,
who founded the SCCC and is also its
captain, says he believes that China's
increasing interest in western sports will
only propel cricket's popularity in the
region further. "A few years ago, people
here had never even heard of the game",
says Gallego, who is Senior Manager
of Markets at a Jones Lang Lasalle
in Shenzhen, adding that he is more
than optimistic about where the sport is
headed. "Soon, the team will welcome
two Shenzhen teens who play for the
China under-16s. We're looking forward
to welcoming more locals to the team."
Apart from the SCCC, expats of Indian
and Pakistani origin are also known to
be playing the game on a semi-regular
basis.
Similarly, Guangzhou has its own
group of expats playing cricket on a regular
basis. They hail from all corners of the
globe – India, Pakistan, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, England, the U.S.
and even East Timor – but have one thing
in common- a deep love for the game.