Barcelona citizens vote for construction of cricket ground

In what can be a historic decision in the sport’s development in Europe, the citizens of Barcelona voted to utilize a 30 million euros package on the construction of a cricket ground. The city is primarily known across the globe for its legendary football club, FC Barcelona. The Catalan capital might be known to be a home for several other sports, but cricket was never one of them. The project got the most votes thanks to a campaign led by a group of young women. 20-year-old Hifsa Butt is the eldest of the group. It was she who proposed the commencement of a cricket club out of school hours.

When the club was first formed, the women, who are all from Pakistani and Indian families, had not the faintest idea about the game. Their Spanish gym teacher did not have an idea about how the game was played either. She used to be a Latin American rugby player who had never played cricket. However, 20-year-old Butt’s father had been an accomplished cricketer and it was he who had imparted his knowledge about the sport. As per Butt, they took the initiative themselves after learning about the sport.

An indoor cricket league was subsequently created, but the primary objective was to play the sport on a proper cricket ground. They used to play on weekends at the baseball ground on Montjuic until recently. However, with the start of the baseball season, they are left with nowhere to play and hone their skills.

“We want to play proper cricket, with 11 players, with a hard ball and not a tennis ball like we use indoors,” Butt said. “So now we need a proper cricket pitch with real, not synthetic, grass,” she added.

“Training gives safe space to feel enpowered as women”

The proposal penned by the group said that they needed a safe space for training which would serve two purposes. Make them feel empowered and hone their skills to the best they can.

“All the people behind this project are girls,” the proposal read.

“Training gives us a safe space to feel empowered as women and where we can freely develop our skills. At the same time, our aim is to establish a Catalan women’s cricket eleven.”

However, the problem lies in finding a suitable area in the Catalan capital for the construction of the ground.

“Finding somewhere that’s flat and covers 16,000 square meters in Barcelona is impossible,” said Damien McMullen, the Australian president of the Barcelona International Cricket Club.

There is a plan in place to covert the Julia de Capmany dirt field on Montjuic, a shallow hill with a flat top, into an Astroturf cricket pitch, and it was this 1.2 million euros proposal that won the most votes.