Beijing Ducks Push the Boundaries of Social Cricket

What’s the world’s second most popular sport, after soccer? Basketball? Hockey? Golf?

Actually, no. It’s cricket. Admittedly, its 2.5 billion enthusiasts are geographically concentrated, mostly in the Indian sub-continent. China, on the other hand, is not known as a hotbed of cricketing fervor, but a new club aims to change that – or at least, to put the fun back into the game locally.

“I’m not the greatest cricketer,” Tom Ashton admits to the Beijinger, “but I enjoy a beer after the game and having a yarn.”

Ashton, originally from New Zealand, met Brit Simon Ashmore when they were both playing for DareDevils, one of the four teams in Beijing’s cricket league at the time. Matches are held at the city’s only cricket pitch, on the grounds of Dulwich College Beijing.

“We realized we both had to get a taxi back into the city,” Ashton says, “and got chatting. We agreed it wasn’t like cricket back home, and that we missed going for a few beers and having a chat about the game. So we counted up numbers, and reckoned we could wrangle up 11 bodies.”

And so Beijing Ducks Cricket Club was born. (No, they’re not named after the basketball team. It’s a self-deprecating gag – a “duck” in cricket is a score of zero.) They’re a diverse bunch, Ashmore said.

“We’ve got Americans, Brits, Australians, New Zealanders, Zimbabweans, Malaysians, Indians, Pakistanis … no West Indians or locals yet, unfortunately.”

“And all ages too,” Ashton continues. “Our youngest member is only 13, though he hasn’t played yet, all the way to the Vicar, who’s in his 60s.”

The sporting standard is as varied as the players’ backgrounds.

“We’ve got people who never played before, and people who were semi-professional in South Africa or the UK,” Ashton says. “There’s one or two who like to drop big names ...”

“We finished second to bottom in the league this year,” Ashmore laments, “fourth out of five, but we were runners-up in the T20 knockout. We’re getting better as our pool of players grows.”

“Because of the high turnover of expats in Beijing, we’re always on the lookout for new players, always actively recruiting,” Ashton says. “Even if you haven’t played before, you’re more than welcome, if you just want to come down for a beer. We meet at Paddy O’Shea's every Thursday at 7pm, for a general catch up, or we arrange to come down and watch games on TV.”

“Paddys have been very good supporters of the club,” Ashmore continues, “and they’ve sponsored us since last season. Paul [Rochon, manager of Paddy O'Shea's] advertises on our behalf, and every couple of months we get the chance to host a quiz. We throw in a bit of cricket-related trivia, and that usually stumps everyone!”

The club is holding a special sign-up night at Paddy O’Shea’s on Mar 9.

“There’ll be a DJ playing, darts, maybe some competitions, depending on the weather. We’ll offer discounts on full season membership if anyone wants to sign up, we’ve got merchandise for those that are interested, and Paddy’s will have drinks offers.”

We asked whether they thought cricket would ever catch on in China.

“In a word,” Ashmore says, “no. It’ll be played, and there will be a national team, but that will be the limit. If there’s funding that’s how it’s going to grow, and there won’t be funding, if you look at all the other sports China’s trying to develop.”

“I don't see them introducing it into schools,” Ashton adds, “and that’s where it develops; if you get the kids interested. Unless a senior CPC guy becomes a fan …”

“We just want to be social, have fun, and provide a community for people interested in cricket,” Ashmore concludes. “A community of cricket players … and drinking partners.”

If you’d like to join the Ducks community, whether or not you’ve ever played before, and you can’t make it on Mar 9, you can find out more at www.beijingduckscc.com, or ask at Paddy O’Shea’s.

Photos courtesy of Tom Ashton