Cricket in South America
A game of Cricket being played at picturesque venue in Chile
When we take up the globe to look at the cricket playing nations in South America; after a long hunt we realize there to be just one - Guayana.
Cricket is a sport which is predominantly played by a few nations who are also the full members of International Cricket Council (ICC) and are qualified to play Test Matches.
ICC just recognizes ten full members which can play test matches recognized by the apex governing body of cricket. Unfortunately due to little history with British Colonialism, cricket could never reach fully to South American nations.
No country in the region is a full member associate of ICC, with only Argentina and Suriname; which qualifies as an associate member. Other than them, most of the South American nations are affiliate members. Let us have a look at how the sport is played in South America.
(We are not covering the Guayana, which form a part of West Indies)
1. Argentina - Associate Member
Argentina has been the strongest cricketing nation in South America, with a history of over 200 years. Daniel Juarez has started a project of empowering the sport in the country along with the national team captain - Esteban MacDermott.
Juarez says that they are teaching the people in the underprivileged regions with basic laws and complication of the sport. Lucas Aguilera, one of the finds of Daniel Juarez has been absorbing the technicalities of the sport with fineness. Looking at the videos, Aguilera masters the art of ticking down the ball in the off side to sneak a quick single.
Esteban MacDermott, the captain of the team has featured for the team since 2004 as an all-rounder. MacDermott says that the internet is an important publicity tool for the sport in the country as they are still making a threshold for cricket, where all youngsters are budding footballers.
It is also difficult to get equipment in the country as it’s mostly manufactured in far corners away from Argentina, which continues to be a major obstacle for the promotion of sport in South American region.
Golden Era for the sport in the region was an early part of the twentieth century, but with the dawn of the World Wars, led British settlers to move back to serve their army. Since then cricket has taken a back step and today most of the people haven’t even heard the name of the sport.
One great thing about Cricket in Argentina is that the girls have become an integral part of the sport, with the country having an active Women’s Cricket Team for all age groups. The country also has a junior girl’s cricket league which is played annually in the country. The women’s team which played its first recognized game in 2007, is captained by Cata Greloni.
As per records, Argentina is one of the early nations to play Cricket when dominant forces from the Indian subcontinent probably didn’t even know about the sport. A leader’s role will have to be played by the Argentina Cricket to popularize the sport in the continent which serves home to 379,919,602 people.
2. Suriname - Associate member
Dr. E Snellpark is the name of once one of the finest cricket grounds which looked more like a cattle field once the popularity of the sport took a major dip in Suriname. Cricket today continues to have just a decent popularity in the region, credit to the geographical proximity with Guyana, a full member of the ICC and a part of West Indies.
The Dutch population in Suriname continues to play the sport and have been developing the game in the Dutch vicinity. Iris Jharap a Dutch international who played her last game against Pakistan Women’s team in Karachi, is of Surinamese descent.
Alongside Argentina, Suriname is the only other Associate ICC member from South America and is ranked 47th internationally and 6th in the Americas region of ICC.
3. Chile - Affiliate Member
Chile, a country more known for developing footballers like Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez has just a little history with modern cricket; although the first versus country fixture was played against Argentina years back in 1893. The World War saw a slump in follower-ship of the sport, resulting cricket to become a minor sport in the country.
Cricket in Chile is played at picturesque grounds in the capital city of Santiago, Viña del Mar and Iquique. Michael Meade President of Chilean Cricket Association tells us, "The sport is mostly unknown in the country and is taking baby steps into the development. Cricket in the country is perceived as an elite sport, played by the British and Subcontinent settlers in the South American Nation”.
Asking about the tournaments in the country, Michael said, “The team regularly features as a part of South American Confederations Tournament (SAC), the highlight cricket tournament of the region”.
In our conversation with Michael Meade, we realized players cannot make a sufficient living, having cricket as their profession. Some of the senior players are Tim Messner (Elementary School Teacher), Guy Hooper (Wine Sales), Simon Shalders (Hotel Owner), Iain Last (Engineering Constant), Hector Fuentazila (Military) and Jose Tomas Andreu (Pilot).
For the growth of the sport, Michael rightly points at the need of the countries to tour during the cricket season in Chile. He says "Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina make a nice tour of South America and one can get a good game of cricket in each country". The complete members can send their junior teams to the continent for expansion of the sport in the country.
4. Brazil - Affiliate Member
Ashok Gondatra, best known to represent Indian National Cricket team for two international matches is a part of the Cricket in Brazil’s board. Gondatra born in Rio de Janeiro played his final international game in 1969 against Australia.
Some of the senior players in the team are also from the Indian Subcontinent Rubabul Islam and Viki Chaudhry. Rio cricket club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in South America but as the cricket faded from the main city of Brazil, it was taken up by Sao Paulo.
The development of cricket in the region can be credited to British multinational bank HSBC holdings plc. In 1999 HSBC constructed a cricket ground at its staff sports facility, which is now home to three men's teams, while São Paulo has three men's teams as well.
Prince Harry in his visit to Brazil preferred a game of cricket over football to promote the sport in the country obsessed with football. Recently, there have been positive strides towards the growth of the sport in a region which has deeper roots with cricket than football. The first recognized game of cricket was played roughly 20 years before the first football game was played in the country.
Henrique Dolabella of the Brazilian International Cricket Team tells that people usually confuse the sport with croquet but when he introduces himself as a part of the international team, people tend to get curious. On the advent of local night cricket games in the country, the sport is further strengthening its roots as an entertaining sport.
5. Falkland Islands - Affiliate Member
Falkland is one of the tiniest nations in the world with a population of little over 2000 people. It is famously known for sending probably the smallest contingents in the international sporting events like Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Louis Charles Baillon is the only medal winner from the island nation, who won gold being a part of England’s Hockey Team in 1908 London Olympics.
Cricket was popularized in the region by the British Settlers who colonized the island. The first ICC recognized fixture was played against Chile in 2004. The first victory for Falklands came playing in Division Four against Costa Rica in which the team captain Elliot Taylforth took magical 6-14 figures, including one hattrick.
6. Peru - Affiliate Member
Chak De is a name of a team from Indian Subcontinent settlers in Peru, who play in the domestic season of the country. Cricket in Peru is played in the Lima Cricket and Football ground and has been taking little steps into the development of the sport into other cities of Peru.
Cricket as a 150 years history in the country where all the important matches are played at the Lima Cricket and Football Club’s grounds.
Recently, Peru Cricket has started a Twenty20 league which has been taken well by the people of the nation. The sport is developing at a good pace in the country, and soon we expect to hear more stories about Peru Cricket.
7. Turks and Caicos Islands - Affiliate Member
There was a 50-over tournament, played in Argentina, featuring 5 teams- Belize, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Turks & Caicos Islands, that had a stunning climax with three teams in a position to win the tournament before the final ball of the tournament. The eventual winners were the Turks and Caicos Islands, who were promoted to Division II.
The crux of the triumph of the team lies in the fact that the Island is an overseas territory of Britain with a population of almost 30,000 people. Cricket is played at Gustarvus and Parade Ground stadiums, which are simultaneously used for other sports as well.
Colin Steerling from Turks and Caicos cricket told that there is very less information available on the internet and to produce more information it will take time. Turks is a small British overseas territory but has already won a few tournaments even after being insignificant in terms of area and population.
Promotion of the Sport in the region
South Americans are naturally compatible to Cricket, they can hit the balls long and the ball at good speed consistently. To take the sport further there needs to be a collective initiative by ICC and major cricket boards of test playing nations.
Meade takes keen interest to promote the game in the region. He looks at South America to be a region which can be a strong force in coming years and perhaps be at the international compatibility level in years to come.
With recent development activities by Meade and Juarez, the sport has started its journey at a good speed in South America on a road that is reasonably a little outstretched.
One thing that comes out after discussion with Michael Meade of Cricket Association of Chile is that, cricket can only be made a strong sport if the major cricket boards send their junior teams to tour in South America. Cricket is a sport invented by the British but over the years the inventors have been defeated by the takers.