Cricket teams are building a community in Moncton, on and off the pitch

Cricket has been a part of Venky Kulkarni's life for more than 40 years.

He started playing the game as a young boy growing up in India and went on to play competitively.

When he moved to the United States, he played for the U.S. national team in the late 1990s. So it was an adjustment when he moved to Moncton and realized a "limited" number of people in the area played cricket.

"There were five of us," he said. "We met by chance."

Kulkarni said people from cricket-playing countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand are passionate about the sport.

"It's just in the DNA of people when they're growing up," he said. "Just like hockey around here."

This small group of cricket players was determined to play, so about five years ago they joined a team in Saint John and for the next two years, they travelled every weekend to Saint John and Fredericton to play games.

"We ended up actually winning the provincial cups both years," Kulkarni said.

Nithin Ramesh, who was also part of that original Moncton group, said he too started playing cricket as a child in India but gave it up as a teenager.

He rediscovered the sport when he moved to Moncton in 2019.

WATCH | 'It's family away from home':

Cricket is growing in New Brunswick, especially in the greater Moncton area

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Thanks to the sport's growing popularity, the N.B. Cricket Association had 10 teams from across the province playing in the summer league. The greatest growth is in the greater Moncton area, where the sport helps build community for many newcomers.

"It's good to be back," he said of his return to the sport. "I haven't stopped."

By 2020, Kulkarni said enough immigrants from cricket-playing nations had arrived in the area to form a mass of people who wanted to play.But Kulkarni, Ramesh and the other players realized there was no way for these newcomers to access the game in Moncton.

"So we started seriously thinking about building and developing cricket in Moncton," Kulkarni said.

The idea took off.

Today, the Greater Moncton Cricket Association has five teams that compete in different leagues.

The association has about 50 adult men who play outdoors from June to October.Their winter league, which has about 100 players, continues from October to March.

More than just the game

Although these players all got involved because of their love for the sport, playing cricket is about more than just the game.

Kulkarni said people moving to a new country without their family or friends are looking for activities and a community that are familiar.

"The one thing they look for is friends and, you know, expanding what they did in the past to what they want to be here," he said.

Ramesh said it can be hard to start a new life in Canada.

"It takes a lot of sacrifices when you leave your home country and move here," he said.

A link to something familiar

Playing cricket can be the link to something familiar.

"Cricket is probably that sport for us that joins, and we get to meet new people," said Ramesh."I think for them it's about finding a new family. It's family away from home."

Ramesh said those friendships eventually become "much bigger."

"We have each other's backs," he said.

Kulkarni said he believes sport is key to helping immigrants settle into their new lives.

"They don't have a family support system around when they come to a new country," he said.

"Recently, one of our members lost their mom and most of the folks that were supporting him was this family. There are many people that are just having new babies. For them, this is the support system."

Kulkarni said having that social cohesion also helps immigrants integrate into the larger community as well.

"A lot of people have got jobs through this," he said. "People have actually started businesses. They've got properties they invested in in the greater Moncton area."

"So a lot of these things lead to greater things in life."

Mandy Bregg doesn't play cricket but was excited to see people playing in a community park in Dieppe.She said she called out to one of the players and asked if he was practising for the IPL, the Indian Premier League.

"He was so surprised that I had known about this league," she said. "And so I explained that I come from South Africa, and cricket is one of our games."

That was the beginning of a close friendship between Bregg, her husband and the player.She said her family "adopted" him and now consider him as a son.

Bregg said attending cricket practices and matches to cheer him on became her "raison d'tre."

"I still come. I've only missed one game since the inception of cricket here in Moncton," she said. "I think it's wonderful. The growth is phenomenal."

Kulkarni said the growth of cricket in Greater Moncton is attracting people from other cities and provinces to move here.

"Sport was the vehicle, but it is a network that brought them here, and then they stayed here," he said.

"I know of people that actually moved from Quebec recently that say, 'You know what, I want to come back here because I get to do this. It is an affordable place and it's a place where I can still have fun and grow my career.'"

Kulkarni said "it makes a big difference" whenpeople are considering where they wantto settle and the lifestyle they are seeking.

He said the Greater Moncton Cricket Association is also looking toward the local future of the sport.He said there's a lot of potential for growth and thatincludes people who already know the sport as well as people interested in learning how to play.

"How many times in a lifetime do you get the opportunity to say 'I'm going to learn a new sport,' right?"

The association organized cricket lessons for schoolchildren and teenagers.

"They were so excited," Kulkarni said. They want to learn."

"My dream would be in 10 years that we have some of those students coming in and playing in this league."

Hoping more girls will join

Bregg said she would like to see the game introduced to young girls in schools, too.

"We've got baseball for the girls, we've got soccer for the girls. So let's see whether or not we can introduce a girl's cricket team and start in the primary schools."

Ramesh described training kids to play cricket in schools as "baby steps."

"We really want to develop the game. We would love to go ahead and make this a bigger sport in Canada."