Brazil: Cricket in Brazil - competitive and enjoyable

"Cricket was the real winner today." One of the sport's finest clichés, yet so true this past February 23-24 weekend in Curitiba, Brazil.

Organising cricket matches in Brazil takes some doing. Active players are few in number, the only three grounds are hundreds of miles apart, and domestic air travel is quite expensive. The nearest cricket shop is in Cape Town, so equipment is not easily replaced. Local media exposure is almost non-existent.

Despite all this, the Brasilia Cricket Club managed to convince enough players to fly down to Curitiba last week for two one-day matches against the local side, and what matches they were!

After several days of inclement weather, both games were held in glorious sunshine at Curitiba's picturesque, village green-style ground. Located at British bank HSBC's staff sports club just outside town, the field is totally surrounded by a thick stand of tall trees. New sightscreens, changing rooms and a large batting net have helped turn this former dirt parking lot into a proper cricketing facility.

The Saturday match was played for the inaugural Curitiba Cup, to mark the first-ever meeting between these two clubs. Brasilia had previously traveled to São Paulo for a similar series before Christmas.

Formed in 1989, the Brasilia Cricket Club plays a full season of games at its new City Park pitch. Several players are drawn from the city's huge diplomatic corps. Captained by geologist Grant Thomas, the side also features Brazil Cricket Association President John Landers. Further south in Curitiba, cricket has been underway since HSBC built its ground four years ago. Players come mostly from HSBC staff, whose Latin American operations are headquartered there, as well as from the many multinational firms active in the city. The standard of play in both cities is good, as it is in São Paulo, home to Brazil's oldest and largest cricket club.

Batting first on Saturday, Brasilia scored 161 all out in 40 overs. Man of the match Jeff Houston managed 53 with three fours and five sixes, several of which were towering blows. A long partnership with Adrian Odell (31*) kept the run rate going and forced Curitiba to rotate its bowlers regularly, to little avail. After Houston's departure though, caught by Curitiba captain and fellow Aussie John Toshack, the procession back to the drinks tents was a steady one, the last 5 wickets falling for just 13 runs.

Brit Chris Johnson was the pick of the Curitiba bowlers, sending down 7.3 overs of balls right on middle stump and being rewarded 3-27 in the process. Jeetu Khemani, a year out of Hyderabad, made the post-water break session a rough one for Brasilia, going 2-13 in his six overs.

In reply, Curitiba started well, moving quickly to 70 for the loss of only 2 wickets. After this however, the Brasilia bowlers tightened things up and the wickets started to tumble. P. Eason and V. Narula shared 5 wickets between them, making victory a distinct possibility. Only hard-hitting Steve Pascoe put up resistance, clubbing four sixes and three fours on the way to a 48 not out. Despite his last six partners scoring a measly 26 between them, Pascoe was still there at the death to knock off the winning runs, with number eleven Johnson having faced only one ball. Both sides fielded extremely well, cutting off a number of boundaries on this small ground, in addition to taking several difficult catches. Curitiba were of course happy to win their namesake cup, but both sides had to be pleased with the match, and its nail-biting finish.

Curitiba batted first on Sunday, scoring 173-9. Proving that cricket is that most unpredictable of sports, Chris Johnson, the regular number eleven, opened the batting and played a flawless innings of 53 not out, his five sixes equaling his liftetime total! S. Pascoe was a little more subdued this time, scoring just 29, but one glorious six off the back foot through extra cover left your correspondent drop-jawed. In reply, Brasilia started poorly, with Kiwi opener Darren Wright bowled in the first over by yours truly. Once again though, Houston and Odell did the damage, managing 104 between them and seemingly steering Brasilia to certain victory. However, a sudden flurry of wickets from Rohit Khemani (4-10) and Kenny Chadhury's dismissal of Houston for 59 caused heart attacks all around the ground until the winning runs were scored with just 3 balls to go before time. Brasilia were deservedly ecstatic with the win, and were loudly clapped off the field by Curitiba and its supporters.

While Brazil is not a well-known cricketing location, perhaps its very distance from the rest of the cricketing world makes playing here so enjoyable. Each side went home a winner, with nary a trace of dissent, gamesmanship or ill humour to be found. Both games went right down to the wire, and all 22 players had their moment in the spotlight.

Cricket was far more than the real winner this weekend. It was a champion.

For more information about cricket in Brazil, contact the author at montrealconsultants@terra.com.br