They’re the first cricket team ever established in the Sea to Sky Corridor, and they plan to be around for generations to come. Established last November, the Squamish Cricket Club consists of a few dozen passionate players training out of Brennan Park, and their founding directors are dreaming big following their successful performance against the West Vancouver Cricket Club.
The April 10 competition was their first away game ever.
“We bowled first and held them to 138 runs. We batted next, and our opening pair, Rudi Botha and Koushik Sridhar did really well. Between the two of them, they had over 100 runs, so of the 139 runs we needed they were at bat for over 100 of them,” said founding director Taurean McCarthy, who acted as captain for the day.
“We ended up beating them by six wickets. We got all 11 players out, while they only got five of ours out. I think they were a little shocked by the quality of players we have in Squamish.”
Going into the event, the directors weren’t sure what to expect. Many of the players were new to the game, some not speaking English, or hadn’t experienced a competition before. Going up against the West Vancouver club, an 80-year-old institution with a clubhouse and permanent venue, gave them perspective on where they’d like to be decades from now.
According to McCarthy, it felt a little like David toppling Goliath.
“Many of our players hadn’t ever played with a real hard leather cricket ball before, so that’s part of why it was so exciting to get out there on their real pitch and give our players some experience. There’s a heightened level of difficulty when you play with a harder ball, but it’s more fun and a lot more goes into it,” he said.
McCarthy was captain for the day, and at one point, he invited his players to reflect on their place in history. Comparing them to West Vancouver, he asked them to imagine what the local club could look like 70 or 80 years in the future.
“I said to them, ‘this is our first game ever, and in 70 years, you could be out there watching your grandkids play for Squamish.' We kept the ball from the game and got all the players to sign it, and it’s going to be kept at our clubhouse at Howe Sound Brewing. We’re trying to create history, so when people look back their names will be there for everyone to see,” he said.
The club has a huge amount of diversity, according to the directors, thanks in part to the recruitment efforts of Channi Singh — the local owner of Squamish Green Taxi, and an influential member within the South Asian community. They have players from countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, England, and Australia, to name only a few. Now they’re hoping to attract more female players, and ideally a female director, as well as more participants of varied ages.
“Not only women, but people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Everyone is welcome. Some people still think cricket is very much part of that European culture where it’s a man’s sport where you drink beer and be macho, but this sport isn’t about that at all anymore. And it shouldn’t be,” said founding director Ben Cole.
They’re seeing a lot of overlap with other sports, baseball in particular, with players participating in both sports. With 160 members in their Facebook group, they’ve had 71 members join the team and 37 sign the waiver required to compete. Cole said they’re now looking into linking up with the local middle and high school to do training sessions in school and recruit new players.
“We want this to be a multi-generational project. It’s not just some guys in their 30s and 40s growing old, we want this to have a long-lasting effect in the community.”
Find the club at Squamish Cricket Club on Facebook.
