Enthusiasts rallied for a gentlemen’s tournament on the frozen River Ishim
in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The
idea came about one afternoon playing cricket on a six-a-side football court
just before the first snow in late September.
It was minus eight degrees Celsius (about 17 Fahrenheit). A couple of
months later during the Remembrance Sunday service, temperatures had dropped to
there usual -30 (minus 20 Fahrenheit) for November, the Indian Defence attaché merely
asked when the game would take place when asked if he would be interested in
playing cricket on the frozen river. End
of February was the hasty response.
The
end of February came around very quickly as these things tend to do. One way to
get things done is to share your ideas with the right people. Permission was needed for an organised event. Who has cricket equipment to play on the
frozen steppes of Astana? It turned out
one Englishman did, whose kit was quickly commandeered.
At
the last minute some discarded matting from a building site was acquired for
the wicket. The accounting firm PWC, kindly sponsored shirts and caps. A local firm, GSSR, sponsored a trilingual, (Russian,
Kazakh and English) banner and Astana Cricket Club was inaugurated with a
tournament on the frozen River Ishim with the futuristic Astana cityscape as a
backdrop.
Eleven
six-a-side teams were formed from the sixty odd enthusiasts who turned up on
the day. A few Kazakhs were given quick batting lessons. Many Indians were initially puzzled to
discover that not everyone in the world was born knowing how to hold a cricket
bat.
Other
than asking fast bowlers to restrain themselves due to the hard wicket and
proximity of other bone fide winter games, such as ice hockey, the tournament
looked like an everyday Sunday afternoon six-a-side cricket tournament you
might witness on a cricket green in England or Queensland, Australia or
even a patch of wasteland in Pakistan or India. Except that the spectators, waiting batsman, umpires and scorekeepers were attired in
parkas and ski jackets and standing on discarded cardboard to keep frost bite
at bay. Probably one of the few times
umpires have been truly grateful for bowlers' discarded clothing.
It
was a foggy start to the day making conditions initially damp, but by the end
of the morning sunglasses were needed. A great day of cricket; the only complaint - we had not arranged a two-day tournament. Astana Cricket Club now has an enthusiastic
core of players willing to play regularly and teach Kazakhs the gentlemen’s
game. Talks are now under way with
sponsors to purchase equipment and find a training and regular fixtures venue
for the warmer months. We are now another step closer to a steppes cricket league.
