Estevan offers many sports programs and facilities around the community whether it’s soccer, baseball, golf and even wakeboarding. But just recently, there has been a cricket team added to the mix.
The Estevan Storm Cricket Club have been representing the city in the Saskatchewan Cricket Association (SCA) since last year. The Association features 23 teams from various cities, including Regina, Saskatoon, and Yorkton.
Before there was an official team in Estevan some players from the Storm would play just for fun, according to player Lajvinder Singh.
“Before putting a team together we played cricket every summer down by the baseball diamonds,” he said.
He also mentioned that some of the people he played with knew someone from the SCA, and once they had the idea of putting together a team, there was interest in starting up a club.
Their inaugural season was a success as they finished with five wins out of seven games.
Singh said the team dropped their first two games as they had to get used to the regulation cement pitch. They were used to practising on grass.
“The first two games we were adjusting to the conditions. After that we won five games so it was pretty awesome,” he said.
Last year, they practiced at the Estevan Comprehensive School’s soccer field, and since there was no cement cricket pitch, they had to get used to playing on the ones in other cities.
Singh hopes that they can have their own cricket ground to play on. The pitches are usually the size of a soccer field. He said he has talked to the city and the most ideal spot would be somewhere around the Woodlawn area, by the golf course.
Once they have a permanent place to play, then the SCA will help them install a pitch.
“Nothing is final yet, but I’m hoping if we get a cricket ground, we can come up with the pitch. That’s not a big deal," Singh said. “We just need a ground, so we can have some home games and people from Estevan can see us play.”
The season doesn’t start until the end of May, so Singh believes they still have time find a permanent place to play locally.
The Estevan Storm has already started practising for the coming season.
“Last season we used to practice almost every day in the evening. And we’re hoping to be out practicing every day in two weeks time,” Singh said.
Last year, there were 20 players on the team and this year there are 18 players.
Singh said the majority of the players on the team are of an East Indian or Pakistan decent since the sport is much more popular in those countries. He hopes more people from the community will join the team, even if they haven’t played the sport before.
“We are ready to help them learn the game, play the game and it will be a good multicultural team … and that’s what we want, for everybody to be involved with it,” he said.
Singh said he is excited for the upcoming season, because last year they beat teams who had been together a long time, and he believes the Storm can improve from last season.
He said the main objective this year is to raise the profile of the cricket team in the community, while increasing interest and support. Once they get their own cricket ground the community can come to their games and support the team.
He also mentioned it’s good to be representing Estevan in their league and hopes some new people come to see what the team and game are all about.
To learn more about the team or about joining, the team invites people to check out their Estevan Storm Cricket Club Facebook page.
