By Adam Hopkins
鈥淚t鈥檚 about making an atmosphere within the club that makes anybody from any background welcome and having an ethos which encourages people to get involved with the club rather than just play cricket,鈥� says Wanstead & Snaresbrook chair Martin Pluck on his club鈥檚 success. 鈥淚t鈥檚 getting the balance right between excellence and inclusivity.鈥�
Wanstead & Snaresbrook鈥檚 men's first XI are one of the strongest sides in the country, this year challenging for the Essex Premier League title right up to the final day of the season and reaching both the semi-finals of the 春梦直播 National Club Championship and the final of the 春梦直播 National Club T20. However, they don鈥檛 just pride themselves on first-team results.
鈥淲e are very proud of our men鈥檚 first team, but they are not our definition of success,鈥� club stalwart Arfan Akram said.
鈥淲e see the club as bigger than that. We define success as people turning up for the first time, slightly nervous with their five- or six-year-old boy or girl, and 10 or 15 years later they鈥檝e become a coach or are one of our 50 or so volunteers. If you get the foundation right and plant the right seeds, every element of a cricket club sorts itself out.鈥�
The club takes great satisfaction from its multiculturalism, charitable fundraising and broadening the horizons of its members. Over the years they have gone on self-funded tours to countries such as Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Africa and Jamaica, combining playing cricket with supporting various causes.
These tours are a big part of why Wanstead & Snaresbrook provides such a welcoming environment to new players and members regardless of their origins. If someone can welcome them into their country and community on the other side of the world, they can do the same back in Essex.
Their most recent overseas trip took them to Pakistan last month where they played fixtures across the country in support of Silk School System, the Aleem Dar Foundation and Shaukat Khanum Hospital, a facility set up by the Imran Khan Cancer Appeal.
The tour started in Lahore and ended 17 days later in Islamabad. They played their opening fixture in Lahore at Aitchison College before moving on to Lahore Gymkhana, the ground that hosted Pakistan鈥檚 first ever home Test match.
Next stop was Sialkot, where they faced the Silk School System and then the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, before a fixture in Jhelum and a match against the Islamabad Club under floodlights in the capital.
鈥淚n typical fashion, the Pakistani hospitality was second to none,鈥� says Adnan Akram, Arfan鈥檚 brother, a regular visitor to Pakistan who was keen to show the country to his teammates who鈥檇 not experienced it before. 鈥淚 did the visas and I鈥檇 say it was around half the touring party鈥檚 first time in Pakistan.鈥�
Some of the tourists had misconceptions and preconceived stereotypes about Pakistan, especially around the current geopolitical situation. Seeing the country firsthand was an opportunity to form their own opinions without any outside influence.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really know what to expect,鈥� says Tom Bentley, one of the players on the trip. 鈥淣aturally, there鈥檚 some caution. You read the western news and you think the situation security-wise is a bit more unstable than you鈥檇 perhaps like on a trip abroad. But when you get there, that鈥檚 not the case at all. My preconception that it might be unsafe was completely wrong. Pakistan is a superb place.鈥�
The players and members of the tour party from non-Pakistani backgrounds were amazed by the positive attention they received, with everyone they met keen to hear their story and talk about cricket.
鈥淣either Tom nor I have ever been asked for so many selfies,鈥� laughs Pluck. 鈥淢y wife came with me, we went to a local market in Islamabad and wandered around and felt totally safe. She was treated superbly wherever we went. It was a real eye-opener as far as we were concerned.鈥�
Bentley adds: 鈥淧eople were so keen to show us the best of Pakistan. Perhaps because we were different looking, people were 10 times more concerned with making sure we were having a good time.鈥�
Tour member and photographer Faisal Kassam added: 鈥淚鈥檇 never been to Pakistan before. I grew up in Zimbabwe but my great grandparents are all Indian and I thought that would be a little bit of a contentious thing. It wasn鈥檛 in the slightest. When I was speaking to people out there about it, they didn鈥檛 even bat an eyelid.鈥�
A notable takeaway the tourists had from the trip centred around how they can reflect similar levels of openness and hospitality back at their own club.
鈥淚 hope we鈥檝e always been a very inclusive club,鈥� says Pluck. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always tried to make people feel at home, whatever their ethnicity, and I think going on this tour to Pakistan made me realise even more how important that is.鈥�
Even as a club already with such a positive culture and reputation for inclusivity, it鈥檚 heartening to see that they still think there鈥檚 room for improvement. Nowadays, players being welcome at a club despite their ethnic background is something that鈥檚 expected, as opposed to in the past when it may have come as a surprise.
鈥淲e were shocked. There was no trying to fit in,鈥� according to Adnan, who joined Wanstead with his brother back in the late Nineties. 鈥淭he guys went out of their way to make sure we were alright. At that time, 25 or 30 years ago, it was a big thing. Now it鈥檚 more the norm.鈥�
Wanstead鈥檚 players left Pakistan pleasantly surprised by a number of aspects of the country, ranging from the food to the infrastructure to the stunning mountain scenery of the north, as well as the population鈥檚 incredible appetite for cricket.
鈥淓very roadside in every city and town had people playing tapeball cricket,鈥� says Arfan. 鈥淚t was mindblowing seeing so much cricket played by people of all ages from all sorts of different communities.鈥�
鈥淭hey love cricket in a way that we don鈥檛 in the UK,鈥� adds Bentley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a culture of cricket. It felt like every five metres someone was holding a bat or a ball.鈥�
The final match in Islamabad provided a fine example of how cricket has become a game for everyone in Pakistan. 鈥淣afeesa Aziz, one of our lady members, was on the tour with her parents and her two brothers and played in that game,鈥� says Adnan.
鈥淣obody thought twice about it 鈥� a girl going out to bat under floodlights during a cricket match with men in Pakistan. Cricket has moved on so much in this country. It just seemed like it was the norm.鈥�
This article appeared in this month's edition of Wisden Cricket Monthly.