I moved to Germany in 2002. Within a month I discovered that some Indian expats play cricket and with great expectations I went to play with them. In a country full of sports parks and soccer grounds, those Indian expats were playing tennis ball cricket in a car-park, which was largely empty on Sundays. Of course they had to stop for people to cross the car park. They were all very enthusiastic that they had a chance to play cricket irrespective of the fact they were playing in such ridiculous settings. The passerbys did not care a bit for them as they showed no interest to know what we were doing, nor did they make any attempt to walk by faster. I played with them for a couple of times. At the end of the summer those expats left and with them their cricket.
Next season, I found out about the Freiburg Nomads, a club run mostly by English and Australian expats. So naturally it was a far more organized effort, there was full gear, white uniforms, proper cricket bats, leather ball and interestingly, a plastic mat (flix pitch) to function as a cricket pitch in a soccer field. Despite all that, it was still a social affair. We used to host teams from Switzerland and visit them in return on Sundays. Everyone was happy that they could play cricket and no one cared for wins or losses. Every match ended with drinks with the visiting team.
Much has happened since that first season. The first big change can be seen is in the composition of the Freiburg Nomads. In 2002, three Indian students joined and there was one Sri-Lankan in the team. Most members were English or Australians. Next season we had even more diversity, as players from South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand joined. It was a great place to be, where else one could find such heterogeneous people all brought together by one common passion Cricket.
Now in 2011, essentially all the team is composed of Indian and Pakistani students (Desis) with one South Africa and a German!!. It is still an interesting group of people. Clearly, the average age of the team has decreased at the expanse of increased IQ and competitiveness. Now we win more matches (well, lets leave out last two seasons).
But the matches are less of a social affair. Innocence is lost. Now cricket is more competitive. We play to win not just to make or maintain friendship with the opposition team. Afternoon tea is replaced with a rice and curry based meal. We do not set up a tent in the morning for the kids and families who used to come along with the players. Only rarely a new batsmen in the middle is greeted by the fielding team. We no longer clap off the visiting team at the end of the inning. There are no group photos with the visitors. The fridge from the pavilion is gone, as we no longer share a drink with our teammates or with the visitors. Now a losing a match hurts. Earlier it did not matter who won as we would leave the field in a happy state of mind.
No, I am not moaning about the glories of past. I am just recollecting the changes. There is no better teacher than Loss in a cricket match after a good fight. Winning a hard fought match triumphs all. Independent of its social aspects, Cricket survives on the energy of competition.
This change is not just a Freiburg phenomenon. For some reason in every team in Germany, there is a domination of Desi cricketers and English and Aussies are becoming endangered species on the cricket field. This trend is less visible in Switzerland where teams still have at least 50% crickets from England, Australia and South Africa. Fortunately, in Switzerland there is more organized effort and kids of the expats who are being brought up in Switzerland get an nurturing atmosphere to learn and play cricket. This is not the case for Germany in general, and Freiburg in particular.
The increase in Desi players is directly related to the fact that now more of them are coming to Europe to study. But it is not clear why there is a decrease in the interest of expats from other cricket playing nations. Maybe they do not find the excessive competitive attitude of the Desis at this amateur level appropriate. Maybe because Desis don't like to hang out after the matches to share a drink with the team or with the opposition…
With lack of English players, cricket has become less and less organized. This can be seen in the organizational failure of the Baden Wurtemberg League which moves from one dispute to another.
With all these changes, Many things are still the same. We still play in the same soccer ground next to the lake. We still have the same plastic mat to as a make shift cricket pitch. Despite years of experience it is impossible to bowl a good rising delivery on this wicket.
Like always they are many visitors to the matches, mainly because of lake and locals hang out in that area on weekends. They still don't know what we are doing. Perhaps they show a bit more curiosity now, i.e. what those brown colored people are doing in white clothes in a soccer field. Some stay for few minutes and try to decipher the game. Then they have their epiphany-- Ah, its cricket and then they leave. Some people would compare cricket with baseball and still leave… Few rare ones do take the initiative to come to us and ask about it but still they leave…
Next season, I found out about the Freiburg Nomads, a club run mostly by English and Australian expats. So naturally it was a far more organized effort, there was full gear, white uniforms, proper cricket bats, leather ball and interestingly, a plastic mat (flix pitch) to function as a cricket pitch in a soccer field. Despite all that, it was still a social affair. We used to host teams from Switzerland and visit them in return on Sundays. Everyone was happy that they could play cricket and no one cared for wins or losses. Every match ended with drinks with the visiting team.
Much has happened since that first season. The first big change can be seen is in the composition of the Freiburg Nomads. In 2002, three Indian students joined and there was one Sri-Lankan in the team. Most members were English or Australians. Next season we had even more diversity, as players from South Africa, Pakistan and New Zealand joined. It was a great place to be, where else one could find such heterogeneous people all brought together by one common passion Cricket.
Now in 2011, essentially all the team is composed of Indian and Pakistani students (Desis) with one South Africa and a German!!. It is still an interesting group of people. Clearly, the average age of the team has decreased at the expanse of increased IQ and competitiveness. Now we win more matches (well, lets leave out last two seasons).
But the matches are less of a social affair. Innocence is lost. Now cricket is more competitive. We play to win not just to make or maintain friendship with the opposition team. Afternoon tea is replaced with a rice and curry based meal. We do not set up a tent in the morning for the kids and families who used to come along with the players. Only rarely a new batsmen in the middle is greeted by the fielding team. We no longer clap off the visiting team at the end of the inning. There are no group photos with the visitors. The fridge from the pavilion is gone, as we no longer share a drink with our teammates or with the visitors. Now a losing a match hurts. Earlier it did not matter who won as we would leave the field in a happy state of mind.
No, I am not moaning about the glories of past. I am just recollecting the changes. There is no better teacher than Loss in a cricket match after a good fight. Winning a hard fought match triumphs all. Independent of its social aspects, Cricket survives on the energy of competition.
This change is not just a Freiburg phenomenon. For some reason in every team in Germany, there is a domination of Desi cricketers and English and Aussies are becoming endangered species on the cricket field. This trend is less visible in Switzerland where teams still have at least 50% crickets from England, Australia and South Africa. Fortunately, in Switzerland there is more organized effort and kids of the expats who are being brought up in Switzerland get an nurturing atmosphere to learn and play cricket. This is not the case for Germany in general, and Freiburg in particular.
The increase in Desi players is directly related to the fact that now more of them are coming to Europe to study. But it is not clear why there is a decrease in the interest of expats from other cricket playing nations. Maybe they do not find the excessive competitive attitude of the Desis at this amateur level appropriate. Maybe because Desis don't like to hang out after the matches to share a drink with the team or with the opposition…
With lack of English players, cricket has become less and less organized. This can be seen in the organizational failure of the Baden Wurtemberg League which moves from one dispute to another.
With all these changes, Many things are still the same. We still play in the same soccer ground next to the lake. We still have the same plastic mat to as a make shift cricket pitch. Despite years of experience it is impossible to bowl a good rising delivery on this wicket.
Like always they are many visitors to the matches, mainly because of lake and locals hang out in that area on weekends. They still don't know what we are doing. Perhaps they show a bit more curiosity now, i.e. what those brown colored people are doing in white clothes in a soccer field. Some stay for few minutes and try to decipher the game. Then they have their epiphany-- Ah, its cricket and then they leave. Some people would compare cricket with baseball and still leave… Few rare ones do take the initiative to come to us and ask about it but still they leave…
Fortunately, for us, Cricket is here to stay and with all the changes cricket is still a common denominator for many expats and brings those different people together at least once a week.
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