Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.06.2017, Side 24

This just in: Iceland has a cricket team.
They might not have a pitch and they
might not have the kit, but who cares.
Iceland Cricket is serious, and they’re
ready to spread the word about the
sport in the face of adversity.
The tradition, barely twenty years
old here, was conceived by Lee Nelson
(of Sirkus Íslands) and friends back in
2002. After twelve years of clowning
around, they decided to get serious,
and now play at the international level.
“In 2014, we decided to come to-
gether and professionalise cricket here
in Iceland. We set up two clubs, the
Reykjavík Vikings and Kópavogur Puf-
fins, and practice twice a week, what-
ever the weather,” explains explains Ab-
hishek Chauhan, Events Manager and
former president of Iceland Cricket.
From cricketing nations
Iceland Cricket is 35 players strong,
and it’s way more diverse than you
would expect. Abhi, like many in his
team, emigrated to Iceland and missed
the much-loved sport of his native In-
dia. The majority of players come from
cricket-loving countries but there are
also two Icelanders in the team.
“Everything is against us,” Abhi
says of the challenges in building up
cricket here. “The weather is a big
problem, we don’t have a pitch. There
also isn’t a cricket shop in Iceland, ev-
erything we buy has to come from for-
eign countries. We hope to have more
Icelanders in the team one day.”
Iceland Cricket made a name for
themselves after international cricket
star Michael Vaughan spread the word
to his fans. When Iceland smashed
England at Euro 2016, he jokingly post-
ed on Facebook: “Oh God. They have a
cricket team as well.”
Iceland vs England
“One of the biggest moments in our
history came when Michael men-
tioned us on Facebook,” Abhi recalls.
“Ever since, we’ve received invitations
to play in England. In May, we played
against Eton College—birthplace of
UK Prime Ministers.”
So should England be scared? Ice-
land continues to punch above its
weight—and it’s starting to pay off.
“We are making progress slowly but
surely,” assesses Abhi. Last year we
took part in the Pepsi Cup in Prague, a
small tournament for small nations.”
“We didn't come last! We defeated
the Swiss clubs and came fifth (out of
six teams),” he continues. “We were so
excited about the tour that we forgot
something fundamental—the balls.
Fifteen of us went to Prague, and not
a single one of us brought a ball. Our
laid-back approach often gets in the
way, as Icelanders are never on time.
We almost missed one of the big
matches.”
Pitch perfect
The team are nothing if not deter-
mined. Without sponsorship, or formal
recognition from the European Cricket
Council, everything they do, they do
themselves.
“We have applied to join the Euro-
pean Cricket Council, but don’t meet a
lot of the requirements,” Abhi explains.
“We need four teams in this country, in-
cluding a women’s team. We are a long
way off but we will get there. When we
go on tour, we have to pay for everything
ourselves, even the flights.”
Is cricket about to kick off in Ice-
land? First things first—we need a
cricket field.
“A lot of the team are used to play-
ing in difficult conditions,” says
Abhi. But still, “when foreign teams
visit Iceland, they complain about the
ground. It’s something we are used to,
but it holds us back.”
Next year Abhi and his team hope
to bring cricket to the curriculum by
visiting schools in Iceland. “I still don’t
think people are behind cricket here,”
he muses. “It’s difficult to understand
and a lot of people come and go.”
“We hope to make the sport main-
stream by introducing it at an early
age,” he continues. “We’re working on
setting up the first ever cricket tourna-
ment in Iceland—like a mini football
league. We’re calling it the Northern
Lights Cup and hope that Icelanders
will see the appeal.”
Iceland vs England, again
Can we do the unthinkable and smash
England at yet another sport? Why the
hell not? “England are intrigued after
we beat them at football,” Abhi says of
a possible grudge match. “They want
to get revenge and beat us at cricket so
we receive many requests. It’s all very
exciting.”
Most recently, Iceland Cricket were
contacted by the legendary Authors
Cricket Club who’ve been “writing books
and playing cricket since 1891.” Origi-
nally The Authors were (as the name im-
plies) authors. Very famous authors, in
fact, like P.G. Wodehouse, Arthur Conan
Doyle and the creator of Peter Pan, J.M.
Barrie. The team was reborn in 2012
with famous faces, and will be headed to
Iceland in September 2017.
While cricket in Iceland is still in
its infancy, this small nation mental-
ity means that anything is possible. By
2020, Abhi assures me that there will
be an avid cricket scene, and that Ice-
land will play in at least one Interna-
tional Cricket Council-approved tour-
nament.
“That’s if we don’t miss the bus.”
You can follow Iceland Cricket on
Facebook and on Twitter at @iceland-
cricket.
24 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 09 — 2017
Lækjargata 8, tel: 5460006
“Oh God.
They have
a cricket
team as
well.”
Words:
Anisha Chandar
Photo:
Iceland Cricket
Batting Up A
Storm
Iceland’s cricket scene
They don’t have a pitch so they play in the park
Smiting is what Iceland does, regardless of the sport