Despite extreme winters and long journeys to the matches in Stockholm, Umeå cricket club was recently crowned champions. This is despite the fact that they lost half the team before the season started. “I had confidence that we would qualify for the final”, the skipper Sohail Adnan says.
In the heart of northern Sweden, nestled between the Ume River and the vibrant streets of Umeå, lies a club that awakens with the whispers of spring every May. As the warm caress of summer gradually succumbs to the cool, crisp touch of fall, the city takes on a new character as the calendar turns to September.
At the stroke of 10 o’clock, the sun’s rays pierce through the clouds above, casting a warm glow upon the green ground. In Umeå, where the past and present coexist harmoniously, where traditions harmonize with innovation, a tale of success is about to unfold. Recently, Umeå cricket club were crowned champions of the longer format by defeating Märsta in the final.
“This is only about mental strength”, Pardeep Singh, chairman of the club, highlights. Their captain and star allrounder, Sohail Adnan continues, “Everyone is working full-time; it is not easy”.
But let’s roll the clock back to 2012 to understand the story behind the longest commuting club in the history of Swedish cricket. 2012 is the time when the club was established. Once they started competing, no one was stopping them.
“The very first year, we became champions”, Pardeep Singh recalls. But it was not straightforward for them. “There were few players who used to play tape ball cricket who swiftly moved to hardball. It was tough initially, but we have had a good team, ” Pardeep Singh explains.
Nowadays, there are other challenges for the club. They have to commute to Stockholm for league matches, which is 650 kilometres one-way-trip, and it takes them approximately eight hours to travel.
“Before we had 30 playing members but this year, we are only 17 players”, Pardeep Singh says. “It is a challenge to find players so far in the north. Mostly, we have students who come here for masters or PhDs and leave after two or three years. The other challenge is the weather, we do not get enough time to practice outdoors. We start our indoor practice sessions in November but, we did not play outdoors until May.”
Umeå’s winters are characterized by extreme cold – temperatures falling below -15 degrees Celsius – snowy landscapes, and limited daylight hours, as little as few hours in December. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. A famous English proverb attributed to John F. Kennedy’s father, a famous proverb that very few are unfamiliar with. And so is the case for the men in green from the North.
“We work very hard, but we also practice mental and physical strength. The main thing is discipline and the culture; that is most important for us. We do not exclude anyone, that is the one thing we have been carrying forward since we established the club; involvement of everyone”, Pardeep Singh says.
“Also, our club is very diverse. We have players from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. We have also had a few British and Aussies as well. I think that helps us.” Sohail Adnan fills in: “When I came in 2016, we used to practice on a football field, we did not have our own ground.”
Ahead of this season, they faced a real challenge. Half of the team had moved to Stockholm and some left Sweden for life in the UK. And that players come and go is something Singh and Adnan are well aware of. “The community here is not big”, Pardeep Singh recalls.
Therefore, Sohail Adnan was given the responsibility of leading the side as one of the most senior members in the side. As a batter, he scored 431 runs in five innings, averaging 86, scoring two centuries and two half-centuries. But at the start of the season, becoming champions was not something that went through his mind.
“To be honest, no”, he recalls with a laugh. “We had seven new players this time, including a new captain in me, and most of them have never played cricket in Swedish conditions. The biggest challenge for me was to find the right combination.”
In the end, they did find the right combination and the job to qualify for the final turned out to be a bit easier. All of their games in the longer format were scheduled in Umeå. In the aftermath, it is fair to consider that they travelled to Stockholm for 10 T20 games.
“It was an advantage to play at home, so I had confidence that we would qualify for the final”, Sohail Adnan points out.
In the final against Märsta, Umeå won the toss and decided to bat. Märsta managed to bundle them all out for 185, but in their quest for the championship, they failed to chase the total, being all-out for 103. “We know bowling is our strength, our plan was simple; we will fight till the last game and let’s see at the end of the season where we are standing”, Sohail Adnan says.
Ultimately, they emerged as champions. As Pardeep Singh, the club’s chairman, pointed out earlier, it is a challenge to find players up in the north. Therefore, they arrange activities at different schools in Umeå every 2 to 3 months.
“I am glad to say that now we have 15-16 kids and 4 or 5 of them are between 12 to 16 years. During winter, we will work hard so some of the kids will hopefully play in the league next season”, Pardeep Singh says.
Photograph: Personal
