We caught up with longtime Shanghai cricketer Deep to here about the local cricket scene.

How long has cricket been played here?
The Shanghai Cricket Club (SCC) is the oldest amateur sporting establishment in Shanghai. Over the years, SCC has hosted some of the greatest cricketers ever, including Sir Viv Richards, Dean Jones, Ian Healy and Ian Botham. I have been a member of SCC for the last five years, and now we have 16 teams altogether. Our annual league is divided into three divisions: premiership, championship and development, and players get promoted and demoted according to their cricket skills.

Tell us about your team, the Shanghai Dare Devils.
We realized there are many new young cricket lovers who want to play in Shanghai, so we entered a new team in the SCC this year with the idea of developing cricket and making our players more competitive. But my team isn’t just about playing cricket: we’re also very active socially, and we’re happy to take on cricket lovers of any skill level.

What’s the best thing about playing here?
It’s that you don’t have to be worried about your skills–just a passion for cricket is enough. In countries like England, India and Australia, you wouldn’t even get the chance to play at this level because there’s too much competition. And for me, playing cricket in a developing sporting nation like China is itself a big thing: China’s not a country where you can find cricket facilities very easily, and the SCC has done a remarkable job of developing cricket here.

Where can we find you guys?
We play league matches every Sunday at Dulwich College in Pudong and at the Shanghai Rugby Football Club, and we do nets practice at Tongji University.

Want to get involved? Email the Shanghai Cricket Club at info@shanghaicricket.com