There are many countries around the world that have taken cricket to their heart. The game that began its life in England took on a new life when it made its way to India and Pakistan, whilst the Ashes shows how much the Australians care about it.
The one place that has always struggled to adopt cricket as a major sport is North America, but it might be starting to take root close to the region thanks to an initiative that is seeing cricket games played in Mexican prisons.
The programme that sees incarcerated people in state and federal prisons won the ICC’s Development Initiative of the Year award for 2024, so what’s it all about?
It’s a Sport of Respect
When Mexico’s National Commission of Physical Culture and Sport found out about the fact that the umpire’s decision is final and is respected by the players even if they disagree with it, it became clear that cricket was a sport that they could get behind.
As the Secretary of the Mexico Cricket Association pointed out, ‘they liked the discipline element’. The result of the Commission’s discovery around cricket was a decision to include cricket as part of extracurricular activities that people in prison would be allowed to take part in.
@askkait My jaw is on the ground watching this #cricket #crictok #minewyork #majorleaguecricket #newyork #usa ♬ original sound – askkait
With more than 230,000 people in jail in Mexico, it is a decision that makes some sort of sense. The country as a whole has one of the highest levels of crime anywhere in the world, with those that are sent to prison being just as in need of returning to society as anyone.
Cricket is a game of rules and respect, so getting that into the minds of criminals is a perfect way of ensuring that the sport can help people change their approach to life. As a sport, cricket is competitive but still allows people to learn about the importance of teamwork.
How it All Began
In the October of 2021, the Mexico Cricket Association stepped forward to host the ICC America Women’s T20 Regional Qualifier, with the United States of America still struggling to allow access in the wake of the global health crisis of the time.
Member’s of Mexico’s Sports Ministry went along to watch the event, which was taking place at the Reforma Athletic Club in North West Mexico City, then four months later invited the MCA to give a workshop to the Sports Ministry about cricket. One of the people there was Eduardo Acevedo, the Chief of Department for the National Commission.
Acevedo realised how good cricket could be for prisoners, suggesting that it could be part of the physical activities that prisoners carried out. The MCA, a voluntary organisation, began to provide the equipment as well as advice.
The ‘equipment’ was plastic cricket sets, with the prisoners not trusted with wooden bats and heavy cricket balls for somewhat obvious reasons. Not long after, the MCA began to enter the actual prisons in order to run sessions with the prisoners and there were soon as many as eight trainers working on behalf of the Commission.
It isn’t in the High Risk Prisons
It is important to point out that the MCA’s work isn’t exactly taking place in high-risk prisons with some of the worst offenders in Mexico. Instead, it is limited to the low-to-medium risk locations in Mexico City.
That being said, there are two maximum security prisons, located in Durango and Coahuila, that have seen the programme introduced. It is both male and female prisoners that are playing the sport, adapted by the MCA to fit the space that each prison in particular has available to it. It isn’t just where it’s played that needs to be adapted, but who it’s played by.
Cricket finds homes in all sorts of places including six Mexican prisons. The initiative has won the ICC’s Development Initiative of the Year Award.
I enjoyed putting this piece together and learning about the history of the game in Central America. https://t.co/IWKCQNbe8E
— Firdose Moonda (@FirdoseM) September 12, 2024
In Mexico, prisoners only get an hour a day of free time, so how many players they will have for each team will depend on who has free time and when. It has been a mostly successful enterprise, with some of the children of prisoners playing cricket themselves after hearing that their parents have been playing.
There has also been less conflict in prisons thanks to the playing of cricket, which can only be seen as a win for those involved. Quite whether it will result in the sport being played all over the country or making major inroads into North America remains to be seen, but it is a good, and fascinating, place to start.
