Cricket Actually | Full Documentary

No matter what it means to you we all know... that this, is a silly game. A silly game from a different time. An old game made up of time. Of days Of weeks Of seconds Of seasons. A game of queues, you wait your turn. A game of skills, so hard to learn. A spreadsheet sport that talks in code. Empty fields forever mowed. Played for five days ends in a draw. Stats and stories from your father in law. The English game that stops for rain. Fresh white trousers that always stain. A vision of the count

ry sewn into the grass, built on bricks of empire, institutions of class. Many left outside waiting to be integrated, all in all, it's fair to say this game is complicated. Harris! The captain Junior Barbados cricket. As a kid, you get a bat, a ball, and you play cricket. This is West Indian atmosphere. At some stage we've had something like 20 teams in the competition. This year we've got ten. Obviously, there's an issue. The clubs are falling apart because of finances, etc... The future of our

club here, I do feel worried about it. The Caribbean cricket is so much fun. It's an entertaining thing and it's in our blood. We just love cricket. We're born into cricket. I wonder what the barriers are because we have got players that were good enough to play at county level, but they just never made it. You know, they were working class young people that went to local comprehensive schools. So where is the pathway from being at a comprehensive school that doesn't play a lot of cricket to st

ep out to the next level? This is the first club that I joined, been playing men's cricket for them since I was 12. If you say anything about Leverstock Green, Troy's name would probably shortly follow. I think he's been brought up around it, ever since I've known him. It's literally been cricket. It's been my dream from young. I'll train hard enough, make sure I'm performing all the time to make sure I go pro. I mean, everyone's got dreams. I mean, for him personally, he has exceptional talent.

He can make it in the big leagues. There's no plan B at the moment. That's the main plan. He loves cricket too much to do anything else. I can only think of one of African-Caribbean person that plays in my cricket division. Yeah, it's a bit of a sad reality, to be honest The thing is it's about not being treated equally. As the only black team in Hertfordshire Cricket League, it was not easy for us, any close games we weren't going to be on the winning side. Troy was 12, he was batting last and

we were about to draw a game. After a while he's walking into the crease. The captain went up to him and asked him, “How old are you?” And he said, he's 12. And he said, You're not allowed to play. You guys will be disqualified. And that's it. Sixty points penalty. Demoted by two leagues. Won the league again. And you went back two divisions, when you went up to divisions they said our ground wasn't good enough for being in that division, which we were playing in the previous year. It was reall

y blatant that they didn't want us up in there. It's not easy to take. You know, when you look at the county games, how many black players are there? I don't know. But there's not very many is there. So this was McKenzie's first game for Ludlow. This is where it started. All the work I did in schools with quick cricket. The problems started really with finances, were when he got noticed to be at County, when you had to start buying double the amount of kit and they start growing. And I think tha

t's when it started to hit home that it was more real and you couldn't just keep borrowing kit really. And that's really upsetting because a lot of his friends were going and he was gifted enough to do it. Being that struggling single mum who was going to help me, It's important in what I do now in the fact that I'd love to do something to help those people that aren't so fortunate to get involved in cricket as well. I am good at batting, to be honest. I just bat the ball like high to the sky, H

e used to be withdrawn. He wouldn't let anybody in his bedroom. He wouldn't talk to anybody. He went from playing out in the street and sticks and stones thrown at him where we used to live. From the experience of him being discriminated against at different club. And they were saying, Joseph can't do this. “He’d upset the team, he'd give away runs.” If I didn't play a cricket, I would just I’d just be upset. It's quite difficult in the queer community to be part of sports clubs, giving people a

home in cricket where maybe they've not had a home before. So I think a lot of LGBTQ+ people have found cricket a little bit alienating, as a sport. It took 35 years since I last played a game of cricket. I just felt who would want me? What it was like at school, I was at all boys schools, and I'm not a big person. When you just get assumed that you're not any good at sport you don't get picked, you don't get the coaching or the training. You get put with the the weirdos. You can go off and pla

y cricket, you know. So I never did much. And then that was built in in my head. Wow, I could never play cricket could I? I just have had 50 years trying to be a man, and then about the age of 50, it's... oh... that's why! I've been confused. Relationships haven't worked. Wondering why I didn't understand, why I didn't fit in. And I don't know what finally triggered it, but it was just That's me. Last year I read in social media about this new cricket club starting in Birmingham, Birmingham Uni

corns who were only the second ever LGBT cricket club in the world. Then I realized it's at the cricket ground, which is literally a minutes walk from where I am, so I got a couple of mates along and we went down to cheer them on to support. The next evening there was nets practice there, so I went along, take more photos. They said go on have a bowl, 35 years since I last bowled a ball. It didn't go too far wide, I think it was quite respectable. So I went along for a few Monday evenings, then

started to feel I'm okay, aren't I? So I paid up my membership fees and got in the team. Just start of the cricket festival, so some more cricket people arriving today. Do you always call them the cricket people? Yes, I always call them the cricket people. The minute the dates are released they rebook for the following year. But the crowd I get probably middle aged or older. Not, not really the young people, some of them. So don't do internet or anything like that. So soon as the dates are annou

nced, I contact the guests and then send out a paper confirmation to them. Virtually all the same people that come every year. I like the festival for the people to come. I'm not really a cricket follower myself, if I'm honest. It's something everyone looks forward to. The businesses look forward to it, the shops, the bars, the restaurants. It's a really nice atmosphere in Scarborough when the crickets on. And a very warm welcome to North Marine Road for the second day of the LV County Champions

hip match between Yorkshire and Hampshire. Just to let you know ladies and gentlemen that Sir Geoffrey Boycott is with us once again today. He's going to be signing copies of his new book from 1:15 until about 2:00. So do you head over and see him Now I shan't be signing books at all today, but I'm here if needed. Lunch will be taken by 1:10, tea at 4:00, The close by 6:30 or thereabouts. You get into the sort of rhythms of coming to the ground, lunch, the afternoon session, tea, a day that you

grow into, and it becomes the norm and it becomes something special, doesn't it? The finest cricket ground in the world. You can't beat this place. This is cricket, as we remember in the sixties and seventies. This place hasn't changed over the years, which is so attractive to us. It's the same as it always was all those years ago. And the other driving force is that we're all school buddies from half a century ago, so it's nice to meet up, sharing stories and reminisce and that fits in with cri

cket as a game. I've not missed a county championship game of cricket at Scarborough in 53 years. I would think that you'd meet friends, which I never knew these before I came to Scarborough and quite a few of the people who are out here at the moment. Time you sit and watch cricket, but you don't only watch cricket, so it becomes a bit of a way of life if you want to put it that way. But the thing that we have to be aware of, is you can rely on tradition and history, but the world is changing.

This is probably the quietest I've seen it. This year it is a bit quieter. Does require a concentration span that seems to be alluding a lot of people nowadays. There's no one that watches four day cricket in Australia or India or anywhere else in the world. It's only in England where there's crowds still watching it. You could call a time warp, but sometimes you don't improve as you move on. Sometimes you think maybe it should have been left alone. Yeah, newer isn't necessarily better. But cric

ket has always changed People forget that it's changed throughout its existence. It will always change. So when I started playing, there weren't any females playing disability cricket at all, because before that I hadn't really watched anything. Until you see it, you don't think it's possible. There wasn't a pathway really for women to play at a high level. You could play alongside the men But if you look at other sports, there is a parallel between men's and women's games. I don't see why crick

et should be any different. It’s very new, it’s not new for the men, but actually for women it is very new still. And that's not disability, that's just women's cricket. Back in the days it was very easy to find grounds and, you know, go out and play cricket. But now it's so hard, especially in summer, to just find a ground When the season starts, It's very hard to get a cricket ground, especially like floodlights. Unfortunately, there is no such as facility like football. Yes, you can, but cric

ket, no. We are in a East London car park, in Leyton and we are just about to start our tapeball cricket, which is about 7:30 at night. So back in the days like in Pakistan, we used to play literally every day. Sometimes we used to play in normal streets on the roof of our houses This doesn't have to be like a proper ground you just play it wherever you feel like it So my brother, like he was playing cricket, my cousins, they were playing and we were sitting out and watching them and I was think

ing, you know, one day I will do the same thing. In Ramadan, the best part is so you start playing and then by the time you're done, it's time for you to eat and pray and then go to sleep. So yeah, we did started in Ramadan because it just suited every one of us. I was just saying I could hit six sixes in a row. But they’re not sending me! In early days when we came in UK when you're working hard and you want to relax, I was looking for something like this. You want something like a gym, but you

can't afford to go gym. You know, you have to pay something like this. This is easy. You just need a bat one ball and a couple of tapes. Everybody can chip in one pound each and then just play together. All like lovely guys here You can see now it just we just send them a text message and they are here now. I think there are six teams here playing tapeball cricket and now they know each other. It's a cricket community. It's kind of natural to them. They know this game. They can express themsel

ves. When we reach the finals, you should see the celebrations. It's just that love with the cricket. Whenever you get a chance day or night, bring it on and we play We’re just about the cricket. Like I have to go to work tomorrow, but I don't care what time it finishes. I will be here. I am quite a loner. I live on my own. I am an introvert, but with the right group of people. To feel part of a group, especially a new group, was so exciting, you know, only we only started last year. To feel par

t of that at the beginning of something is exciting. I can feel it a couple of drops. Yeah, it's lovely. It's beautiful. It's an English summer's day. I’m hoping we get some overs and let's try and play a game. We won't give up. The Barmy Army are the infamous supporters group for English cricket. They follow the English team, the world over. And I knew that Barmy Army will be in the area for the test match tomorrow. I approached them and said how about a game. It's exciting. I mean, it's fantas

tic they agreed to play us. Spread the name of the Unicorns of the Graces to try and encourage a bit more inclusivity and diversity in the game. And I think it's great that we use these two clubs to try and grow the game in that community. It's a really important way of sharing the message that cricket is a sport for absolutely everybody. So tonight, friends getting together, enjoying a game of cricket. Finally, finally, we have a team. It is our team and we're doing wonders. But then where do w

e put the fielders? Or we could just put it slightly inside a little bit. You coming to join in today? So if we've got four sets of stumps, how many sets of bats are we going to need. So fielders spread out if you get, if you catch them out, if you stump them out, you are officially in bat Ash, were you paying attention? I think when you driving in, you don't expect this to be here. When you do not expect the amount of depravation and struggle of these families that are here. And that just shows

until you dig into these pockets of Telford and Shropshire and all around the country, you don't really know who's around. And then when you learn their personal stories and you actually think this is pretty amazing that these people would love some engagement, but until we get out there and find them and it is a case of boots on the ground, I didn't even know this place was here. These youngsters are left to their own devices. You know this kids vaping this, kids on joints and all sorts of stu

ff around here. But what matters is for this hour, for this hour and a half a week, they're safe, they're happy, and they've got somebody to talk to. But you wouldn't know in this mugger today who's got the issues and who hasn't because they're all engaged. And that's what makes it special. Every week is absolutely different. You get a different cohort of children. Sometimes I feel like a social worker, sometimes I'm a youth worker, sometimes cricket’s in the background, the team I work with, I

can leave them and then I can go and, you know, speak to that little quiet boy that's in the park or go and check in with the hub and see how things are going. I think it's more of a community based project than just us delivering some street cricket. Shropshire is made up of very wealthy and very poor communities, so it's a case of us looking for those pockets that need that extra support. And when you see them, you find them. They are like gems because they are full of the most amazing people

that deserve the opportunities. I will back them. I will be that voice for them because I didn't have anybody being that voice for me. In these urban areas cricket is their passion. You go to an urban park on a Sunday or Saturday afternoon and it's full of families engaged in cricket, so why can't they have the opportunity just the same as everybody else? Somebody needs to fight for these people. My mum's very important to me. I don't think she knows that I think it a lot. Troy just had the natu

ral ability where I could see that cricket was in him. So this is what life is like usually. Troy, I wait for him. Most times he come home with me after training. This is our routine. How many times do you think you've done this now? From since he was four years old. I can't even calculate how many how many times. Because I do the scoring as well as I help the teas and look after the other kids whose parents aren't here. I've been doing it for nearly 25 years. Yes, I've always been involved in i

t. It becomes natural. It's like organizing everybody for cricket. Then there we go. This is where for the past eight years, while I was home with him, he'd done most of his training so I can keep an eye on him and cook and everything at the same time. So Troy's 18 now, so this is about 14 years old? Yeah, a 14 years old. He's been practicing with these as well worn, but it works. Cricket has always taken priority every game to try that we are there to support. I've probably missed maybe three g

ames in his whole life. Troy's all I have, and I'm committed to support him in what he wants to achieve. that's all I can do, is give him that support and then he takes it from there and hopefully someone notice that he's got the ability and he gets where he wants to get to. That's me looking small as ever. Always been the youngest That's class. And a 16 year old at Lord's, as easy as you like, goes to 50. The Hundred was kind of my first year of A-levels that summer, so it was kind of a bit of

balancing of getting my first year done. It's put me into a different situation to another 17 year old. Most of my mates are meeting up, going to parties, things like that. And then after The Hundred, it's been manic the last 6, 12 months This is where I kind of got recognized and they put me forward to the Surrey trials when I was nine. I think I kind of just progressed with the new progressions of the system ready with my career, so it's been nice. And yeah, now there are female domestic contr

acts and so you can see a future as a career in cricket. Well you're definitely getting a day in the life because this is what it’s like to get to training. When you go into a sport, you think about doing well and you think about kind of scoring that 100 or scoring that 50 or winning the game, but you never think about what happens after you do that. It was only until after The Hundred that I kind of saw this side of cricket and this side of being a professional athlete and started to experience

this. Do you want to go from the start? Yeah. Okay. So do you want do give it a spray? What to camera? Probably just up. Thank you so much. Inside the work, we need to do some work for our cricket. We need to start something for our next game. We've got a limited time we need to manage so many things. We organize a nine team league as well, and we've got so many things to do. This match and you need to go practice session. Obviously work, you need to do work and cricket is our passion. We love

cricket. That's the main thing. We were wondering when you were at work you be thinking about cricket? Yeah, definitely, definitely! Because we always want to play because no matter, we win or lose. Or how far it is, come in like a one and a half hour drive does not matter for us. We are like working evening as well, but we still we make some space for cricket. Try our best though. Yeah, you could play. Cricket in England. You need to play football. We're playing on Monday because most people a

re working in restaurant, and Saturday is busy. They finishing at work around 2am late night, it’s very hard to play on Sunday. So they put it on a Monday because most of the people are going to have Monday and Tuesday off from the restaurant Nine teams - is that nearly 99 people and there's all Bangladeshi players that's why this is very special for our community. The Bangladeshi cricket is everything over there. Cricket means everything to me that's why... Come on, boys, come on! Good batting!

Good batting! Yeah cricket is my passion. I just want to say a few words, really, about Julie. Julie's passing has meant Fair Oak Cricket Club have lost a loyal servant. And Fair Oak W10, have lost not just team member, and fellow gin drinker, but really good friend We miss her dearly. But standing here. Sorry, I feel Julie, also known as the Gin Queen, would be looking down on us and she'd want you to have a good drink as well. Thank you. Was that alright? Thank you. Adam have you got the shir

t on? Yeah, that's Julie’s shirt. The Gin Queen. We played together for seven years, and she was a real dear friend. Yeah, a friend. More than a team mate really. She's just not here when you look out for her at matches and things like that. So she's very much missed. The club is exceptionally good at wrapping its arms around its members and making sure that they get support that they need, whatever. They very much helped him tremendously, I think just to do as much cricket, because cricket is,

well for you is a way of life. Yeah, pretty much. So it's essential that he carries on as much as possible And I think Julie would have wanted that. His first ever game, he come in and he took a wicket and what I think encouraged more is that the team all ran in and celebrated with him and he ran straight back to his parents and celebrated with them. And his confidence grew and grew, week on week. Joseph d’you want to try one overarm? We welcome everyone with open arms and work work to their abi

lities. Everybody thinks autism is a barrier but it’s easily broken down by the understanding. Doesn't get rid of autism, but it's the understanding of people. I was ex-forces and I struggled a lot with post-traumatic stress disorder. My relief was cricket coaching and in playing cricket. So I've kind of getting to know how much cricket means for people. At first he would only use about 10 minutes and then there was one of the other girls that came over and said, Joseph, do you want to come and

help me with something? And it was nice not to see the kids picking on other kids. There's something about the cricket game that a lot of autistic people enjoy. I think it's more of a sensory regulation, Confidence, self-esteem. Yes, I've got a disability, but it doesn't mean I can’t. It's nice to see other people not scowl and tut and move away... they’re saying, “The poor lad are you alright? Can we help?” Wow. Where did that come from? With the help of cricket and the support, he will now com

e and say, I'm not feeling 100% right. Well, you feel more of a family with a cricket club, you feel more welcome and people will come and talk to you. You don't necessarily need to know them. You'd still be welcomed as part of the family. I was brought up on a housing estate in Kidderminster. It was very much we were left our own devices. You get kicked out the house at nine in the morning, you're back when the street lights come on. It was a bit like, who's there for us? We're trying to break

down this barrier that it's elitist. But actually, what is the pathway from community? There isn’t one. Whereas in county cricket, there's all these pathways there’s learning journeys and everything. I'm going to be really blunt and say it's elitism. I work with a few people who do not think that the next big thing is going to come from there. Why are we doing it? We’re just babysitting them. We're in these areas where children don't have a lot. They don't have a lot of opportunity. But I know t

he joy that I got taking my son on that journey as well. So I want other people to experience that. I want the pride I want that kind of connection that you'll never get again because soon they’re flying the nest. You know, there have been times in my life that actually even this year I was handed food parcels because I was struggling financially. And I think any struggle you go through to get somewhere, you appreciate it and you pass that on. And I think that's really powerful. So now my son is

on a different journey now he's doing all his sports and things, but I'm starting again with some of these youngsters. When I went to watch some of the children in the skills and development last Sunday, and I was nervous and I thought, my goodness, I'm not even their parent. But the pride to see some of the children that you've picked up along your journey progressing is fantastic. I would encourage anybody at county level, at club level to come on one of these projects and see these kids face

s, see their eyes light up when they see you. The next big thing doesn’t need to come from county pathway club cricket, particularly, there are kids out there that deserve the opportunity. So we're here with the ACE Academy, I'm captaining today. It's a cricket academy trying to develop players from the African and Caribbean background. I'd say I’m our best spinner, so I'll come on first change probably, and I'll bat in the middle orders around four, five, six ish I'm so glad that a day like tod

ay is happening not just as a way of recognizing the contribution that people of Caribbean heritage have made to cricket at this club, but as an acknowledgment of the difference they have made to club cricket across the length and breadth of the British Isles in so many ways. It's a gathering of people who've been involved in cricket, and some of those people have really been highly instrumental in developing and forming the game and cricket clubs in this country. The stories that these guys are

recounting are stories which are unheard and they need to be told and they need to be heard for those young people. I wanted them to understand what has gone before to them to use that as inspiration at the moment. Let's face it then, not too many Afro-Caribbean kids engage in cricket. It's always helpful to understand actually, that others have gone before you and there is a history there. When he's with the ACE programme, you can see the best comes out of him you know different fight all toge

ther. I think it’s one of the best things that has happened to us. It's so nice for them just to be themselves. I was the only African Caribbean boy throughout a lot of the teams I’ve played in. The majority of us at the academy, we would be the only one in the team. So to bring a team of us together is brilliant. And you can see it brings out a different side to a lot of us. I feel like you get to express yourself more. We don't really have any big players that have come from Hemel, that I can

think of anyway. - You will be the one. -Yeah I'll be first! Yeah, and we will look after the community. How are you feeling today? Excited Should be fun So since the last time we had another training session here as well, that was just as good as the first one. It will be nice just to get out there and play some cricket as well today. There wasn't a pathway really for women to play at a high level, so you could play alongside men at county level disability cricket, but actually, if you wanted

to go on, you couldn't. I think it's actually watching the Paralympics that summer. That got me of thinking about disability cricket. So I just googled it, found the contact details of Richard. So said, are there any opportunities for women in disability cricket? Khush was actually probably the first lady that she said to me, “What about a women's team?” So at the time there was no county disability cricket So that's my job really to kind of get that off the ground. You've got to go out and get

people to start something off. then other people see that And be like “I think I could do that too” and they’ll join. If you just sit around and say, well, there's not enough people, then there's never going to be enough people. Just sort of like a pilot for the Women's Disability Premier League this is the first step to getting that on the road. It’s the first time ever in the world, that they know of, they've actually got a pan disability women's team together. So I think for a female it's pro

bably very different to a male. It’s like my county training, it’s like “where do I get changed?” Whereas here, so we came in today and said, right, that's your changing room, we can go in there and leave our bags in there. I think a huge part of team sports is the changing room atmosphere. This doesn't matter about the way you look, it doesn't matter about the way you walk, the way you know, the shape of your body. None of that really matters, What really matters is the fact that we're all able

to gel as a group and be able to just play the game of cricket. And it's cheesy and it's cliched, but it's literally been life changing. When it’s raining and just sitting in the clubhouse, waiting for it to stop raining, I often ask myself that, why do like playing cricket again? It's an individual game, but it's also very team orientated as well. It's very supportive, it encourages teammates and it's just nice has a nice feel. The spirit of cricket is a bit cliche, but actually it's important

to what makes the game. I think when you find the right club for you and the right team for you, it just kind of gets into your blood in terms of playing with some of the other players, particularly those who have come back to cricket after a break. I think the effect has been profound. At the end of the season, we had our awards. Last award was the chairperson’s award for overall contribution to the club, and it started talking the story of this person and the journey they've been on. And of c

ourse, oh my God, that's me. So my first ever club, age of 58, I've got a trophy, my first ever sports trophy, and yeah, I was so chuffed I cried. I made a tearful speech and it was it was wonderful. It's kept me going. The teams, my tribe, I love them. Yeah. I was just gobsmacked and proud and happy. It was one of those great moments in my life. All people have their peculiarities and their enthusiasms One of our enthusiasms is a game But cricket past its own peculiar glow. On school ground, on

city street, on village green, they play on, the urge wells deep, and in the land they spring from. Cricket is a wonderful sport, but I think we're still learning as a sport how to be as inclusive as we can be. Cricket is a way for different characters and different groups to all come together. If you look back to when the West Indies are at their prime, that's how they they watch their cricket, they make noise, they celebrate it. And I think we should embrace that and not try and put a lid on

it. Cricket as a sport, there are so many different opportunities to get more people involved in the sport in general. And actually if we kind of close off to half the population because they don't fit into one of these categories that it's easy to find players for, then that actually your limiting the growth of the sport. Finding a home, finding a community, finding friends, or finding a place to play cricket has been way more profound than I ever imagined it would be. Everybody thinks autism i

s a barrier. However, if you work with people and not against people, the barriers easier to break down The Unicorns and cricket kept me part of a community. It's like a family now. It feels good, if feels really good. That’s the most important thing, just to be where you could be yourself. Cricket is a game of time Ever moving forwards ever writing new stories ever building new traditions ever finding new homes living on in quiet places deep in the hearts of those who love it.