By Martin Castro (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: April 9, 2014
If you’ve been at the Abbotsford campus in the past couple of weeks, you’ve most likely seen a group of bat-wielding students out by the path that leads from Tim Horton’s to C and D buildings. If you’re anything like me, you probably had no idea that UFV has a functioning cricket club. Club president Yadwinder Sharma and team manager Bommy Ahuja were gracious enough to answer some of my questions when I ran up to them one sunny afternoon and interrupted their practice.
When was the UFV cricket club formed?
Yadwinder: Around four years ago.
Does the club usually practice out here on the green?
Bommy: Oh, yeah.
Yadwinder: Almost every day.
I hadn’t seen the club practice out here before, is it just the start of the season?
Bommy: Yeah, the season is just starting; you’ll see us more [during the] summer, because the [weather] will get nicer.
Do you play against other universities?
Yadwinder: Yes. We will have a tournament this coming summer, at UVic.
How does one play cricket?
Yadwinder: Mostly, people think this game is kind of like baseball, but it’s different.
Bommy: Totally different.
What are the rules? And what is the goal of the game?
Yadwinder: There are 11 players on each team, [with] two batsmen playing at a time and one bowler [throwing] the ball. The ball has to touch the ground one time.
So it has to bounce?
Bommy: Yeah, just one bounce. If the ball directly hits the wicket (a set of stumps at each end of the cricket pitch), then the [batman] is out, and if one person hits the ball, and the ball directly goes to a fielder, and they catch it, that’s an out.
So if the ball hits the wicket, that’s an out.
Bommy: And if the bat touches the wicket, it’s called hit-wicket, and the batsman is out. There are 20 [or] 30 ways of outing the batsman.
Yadwinder: [And] the total [circumference] of the field is 68 metres.
How does one get points?
Yadwinder: If the batter runs up to [one end of the pitch] that’s one point. If he comes back, this is two [points].
Bommy: If they hit the ball out of the boundary, that’s six points.
Yadwinder: If the ball hits the ground, and after that crosses the boundary, that’s four points.
Bommy: And there are overs in the game. In one over, there are six balls.
Are those kind of like innings?
Yadwinder: Yeah.
If a student would like to join to join the club, who would they have to contact?
Yadwinder: We have a page on Facebook (“UFV Cricket Club”). They can message us on there.
Bommy: Anybody can come and practice, but if they want to be part of the team, [joining] us for the tournament, we [hold] trials.
When are trials usually held?
Yadwinder: Next month.
Do you teach people cricket as well?
Yadwinder: Yes, people always like to come up to us and learn.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
