00:00Colombia is home to the second most watched sport on the planet.
00:03Obviously, football is number one, but the next one isn't basketball, not by a long shot.
00:07baseball, it's cricket.
00:09And although for many Colombians this name may seem strange and its rules indecipherable,
00:13Around the world it moves millions of fans and in countries like India, Pakistan or Australia, it is part of the
00:19popular culture.
00:20Cricket arrived in Colombia with the English; there are records of its practice dating back to 1897.
00:25But, unlike football, it never managed to spread among the local population.
00:30More than a century later it survived, and this time those who keep it alive are mainly migrants who found it in Colombia.
00:36a new home.
00:37I imagine it was the immigrants who brought him to the country.
00:42But that was consolidated with the founding of the club, this club, at the old headquarters,
00:49And so all the expats played, as they say, the English, the Scots, the Indians.
00:57In other words, cricket is the second most played sport in the world.
01:00For decades it appeared and disappeared in step with those communities,
01:03until, in 2014, a group of players began to organize clubs, competitions and national teams in a more structured way.
01:10Currently, we have eight active clubs.
01:15two in Bogotá, two in Cali, Medellín, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Barranquilla.
01:20And we also have three women's teams, in Barranquilla, Cartagena and Santa Marta.
01:25In terms of players, we're talking about roughly 100 to 120 people
01:32who actively participate in competitive cricket.
01:36It's a small community, so small that gathering 22 players to complete the two teams for a match is difficult.
01:41This can become a challenge due to scheduling conflicts and the lack of available spaces.
01:45And he even goes close to a court to find another peculiarity,
01:49And that's because most of the players who represent Colombia in this sport
01:52They originate in other latitudes.
01:55There are 24 or 25 players who came today to play,
01:59of which two or three are Colombians and the rest are foreigners from the British community.
02:08Marty is one of them.
02:09He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Colombia a decade ago to work as a coach
02:12of the national squash team.
02:14He hadn't played cricket for many years until he heard two Australians
02:18speaking English in a gym in Bogotá.
02:19I was told that there was a foreign community that played cricket here in Bogotá
02:25And they asked me if I wanted to play, and well, obviously the same.
02:29I hadn't played for a long time and I thought, well, I like this and that's how I came here.
02:34That was about eight years ago.
02:36Similar stories are repeated.
02:37Some came for work, others started a family in Colombia
02:40And many come from countries where knowing about cricket is almost as normal as knowing about football is for a Colombian.
02:45This was the case for Amit and Vijay, who come from India,
02:48where this sport is a religion.
02:50Someone tells us, we're interested, and then we become part of the group, we're going to play
02:55And depending on the performance, one already wants to play, even just to practice.
03:00Or it gets more professional, like being selected for the Colombian national team and all that.
03:05Since childhood, the first sport we played was cricket.
03:08Almost every child who plays cricket wants to represent the Colombian team.
03:12We want to bring a sport to this country.
03:17that grows a lot and changes a person's life.
03:22But wanting to play is just the beginning,
03:24Because practicing a sport in Colombia designed for settings that practically don't exist here...
03:27It forces you to improvise.
03:29A huge area of grass is needed around it.
03:32In Colombia, finding it regularly available is one of the main problems.
03:36We really need almost two football fields.
03:38The hardest part is finding a court, and obviously also getting involved with the community.
03:44There are 24, 22 to 24 people who can join together to play on a Saturday or a Sunday.
03:52The solution has been to look for land originally intended for other sports.
03:56And there's still another challenge: paying for everything else.
03:59Well, the love of art is the main driving force behind this sport in Colombia.
04:02Its structure, for the time being, depends solely and exclusively on the migrant population.
04:06passionate about this sport.
04:08Because it's a new sport, it's sometimes very difficult; it's hard to get sponsors.
04:15Because viewership figures, everything that works for a sponsor,
04:20It's complicated right now because it's something new.
04:23In Colombia, it sustains participants thanks to the efforts of the players themselves.
04:30volunteers, clubs and some sponsors are growing in this project.
04:37We are not yet an organization with large resources, nor do we have a structure of paid employees.
04:45Much of the work is done on a voluntary basis, and that includes organizing matches.
04:52tournaments, travel, all things.
04:54So, three friends and I decided to sponsor the Colombian national team and participate in the World Cup
05:03so that sponsorship is not a barrier.
05:07However, reducing this story to matches and money would leave out what it explains
05:11Why do these people keep meeting?
05:13For many migrants, playing cricket meant regaining their identity, whether in Bogotá, Cali, or Medellín.
05:18a part of their lives that they had left thousands of kilometers away.
05:20Well, for me it's very special; I'm always eager to connect with Colombian culture.
05:25But also, on the other hand, to have a link with my own culture, UK cricket
05:30and connect with people from Venezuela, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean, and South Africa
05:34It's something very special.
05:36Personally, I don't find it so easy to find in other parts of the world.
05:40then it feels like a mini house away from home.
05:44It's a very social sport, and when the game on the court is over,
05:50The teams get together, have a beer together, and laugh.
05:55I would say it's a very gentlemanly sport.
05:58Today the team brings together players with diverse and exotic backgrounds,
06:02as is the case of Sri Lanka, the country of origin of the captain of the Colombian national team,
06:06Ian Perera.
06:07But those building the project acknowledge that there is an inevitable question.
06:10Can there truly be a Colombian cricket if those who practice it
06:14Are they still mostly foreigners?
06:16If we want cricket to have a future in Colombia,
06:19We cannot rely solely on foreign communities that already know the sport.
06:25We need to get a Colombian child to discover cricket
06:32and fall in love with the sport and can grow within it.
06:39That's why we're working with schools, with universities,
06:42with local communities, bringing cricket directly to children.
06:47We are starting with women and children,
06:51because we need them to play towards the future.
06:54So we already have three women's teams on the coast,
06:57one from Cartagena, one from Santa Marta, and one from Barranquilla.
07:00Obviously the idea is to get them infected, because it's a very contagious game.
07:06Curiosity has already led some adult Colombians to the courts.
07:10One of them is Edwin.
07:11He used to play baseball and discovered cricket through social media.
07:15I've never felt lost here,
07:16surrounded by people of different nationalities and cultures.
07:21It's really beautiful to be here surrounded by them,
07:25willing to learn from 100% of people who were practically born
07:30and they breathe cricket.
07:31I found it to be a fascinating experience to get here.
07:34Now their aspiration sums up perhaps the biggest challenge of the entire project.
07:38Their goal is to play Colombian-style cricket.
07:41where less and less English is spoken during tournaments and matches
07:44and that Spanish prevails through a new generation
07:46and with a base of native Colombians.
07:49Before we know if that new generation will appear,
07:51the men who support the project today
07:52They have had the opportunity to represent the country in international competitions.
07:57For example, these days, the selection of over 40 years old
08:00He traveled to Guyana to compete in the world championship for his category.
08:03Yes, that's the most important tournament for Colombians in cricket right now.
08:13That's a World Cup, more than 40 years.
08:16And Colombia is the only country in South America participating in this tournament.
08:22We have opportunities to play cricket with other countries that are more leading in this sport,
08:30For example, India, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
08:35The leap is enormous.
08:37In fact, this year Colombia hosted the South American championship,
08:40He organized the tournament in Mosquera and came in third.
08:43Therein lies one last paradox.
08:44Several members of the Colombian team were born in some of the countries they faced.
08:49This time, when they were on the field, they did so wearing a different jersey, that of Colombia.
08:54I always say, I'm playing cricket for my son.
08:57When I grow up I can say that my dad played for the national team, he represented Colombia.
09:04And most of us play for that.
09:08But perhaps their story cannot be measured solely in numbers.
09:11For more than a century it was a foreign sport practiced within Colombia.
09:14Now, some of those who came from other countries are trying to ensure that the next generation
09:18You don't have to come from the other side of the world to find out what a wicket is or how to hold a bat.
09:23And perhaps the real challenge is not simply getting more people to play cricket in Colombia,
09:28but to ensure that, one day, it will no longer seem strange to say that cricket is also Colombian.
09:33Thank you!
09:36Thank you!
09:38Thank you!
09:41Thank you!
09:44Thank you!
09:45Thank you!
09:45Thank you!
09:46Thank you!
