A CRICKET CLUB GROWS IN SHELBURNE

BY EMILY DICKSON • PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSEMARY HASNER

It was an idyllic summer day a few years ago when Shelburne’s Ahsen Siddiqui, a lifelong cricket enthusiast, was watching two of his three boys playing the game in the street with the neighbour’s kids, using just a cricket bat and a tennis ball. The scene brought up nostalgic feelings of growing up with his Pakistani family in Saudi Arabia and doing the same for hours – a common sight in cricket-loving nations.

Ahsen remembered the excitement and pride of playing competitively after joining the ranks of the Jeddah Cricket League (now the Jeddah Cricket Association) and the National Cricket League. And as he watched his boys mimic his own fast-bowling style and run back and forth between two folding chairs that functioned as makeshift wickets, he knew they needed a safe place to play away from the traffic. But where?

He had heard that other nearby cities, such as Mississauga, Brampton and Barrie, were investing heavily in the game, and began to wonder if he could find a sports field in his town that would be suitable. His imagination and enthusiasm took flight; if enough people were interested in playing and there was a good turnout, they could perhaps gather a team or two with uniforms, equipment, matches and even community events – in other words, form a real cricket club.

“Cricket is a special game that’s played all over the world, second only to soccer,” Ahsen explains, bubbling with excitement. “It’s a game with a rich history that spans so many countries. And we are a growing community here in Shelburne with people from England, India, Pakistan, South Africa and so on. We could see something was missing, and that we had a unique opportunity to bring the game here.”

So Ahsen and a handful of supporters got to work, and it turned out there were indeed enough people interested. One of those people was Creg Parker, who grew up attending school opposite Sabina Park, Jamaica’s National Cricket Stadium, but whose sport was soccer. He didn’t try cricket until a few years ago when one of his Shelburne neighbours invited him to a friendly match and he was introduced to Ahsen.

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