In the middle of the Émile-Zola stadium in Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise), around twenty cricketers gathered on a rectangular surface with stakes at the ends. Each in turn, they take their bat and receive the pitcher’s ball. Amjad Sandhu, 42, in a blue and yellow tracksuit in the colors of the local club of which he is the president, scrutinizes each shot and encourages the group who came to training this Friday evening.
“We have very good players, I hope to send some of them to a professional club in England,” he says. Three times a week, the youngsters of the academy train on this ground made available by the town hall of Sarcelles since 2020. One hundred and sixty-eight people are currently registered with the club, but Amjad Sandhu aspires to greater.
A sport little known to the general public
“I want to open the practice of this sport to all children, but also give young people the opportunity to reach the top level”, explains this resident of Sarcelles. Amjad Sandhu, a textile entrepreneur, has been seeking for several years to develop and professionalize the practice of cricket in France.
“Compared to England and the Netherlands, there is no professional team,” notes Amjad. Second sport in the world in terms of practitioners, popular in Asia, the United Kingdom or Australia, cricket is a minor sport in France.
Amjad Sandhu (right), alongside ex-star Mohammad Ashraful, on the academy’s opening day last month. DR
The discipline has 1,500 licensees for around fifty clubs. The vast majority of them are located in Île-de-France. Due to a lack of visibility and resources, some cricket associations train in gymnasiums, or sometimes play without an official framework. “Cricket needs to open up and develop,” admits the club leader.
This passion comes from his country of origin: Pakistan. “It’s a real institution there, millions of people watch the games. In the street, the children play with each other with a bat and a ball, ”says the businessman, moved.
Integration model
Born in Gujranwala, the 40-year-old started club cricket at the age of 14. Arrived in Sarcelles in 2011, he continued the activity by founding his club in 2014. But Amjad Sandhu wants to help the young people of his community by making learning the discipline a vector of integration.
“I felt the need to accompany the young people of my community, to teach them the rules, to pass on the values of sport. In 2019, he met Patrick Haddad, elected mayor (PS) of Sarcelles in 2020.
“Through his project, he wanted to give cultural landmarks to the young people of his community but also to transmit them to the other inhabitants of the city”, recalls the elected official. Many Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans, who arrived from the 1990s, live in Sarcelles and the surrounding towns.
“Amjad Sandhu is an active interlocutor of this community. It seeks to promote its integration,” observes Patrick Haddad. An approach followed by young people – like Mohamed, 12 and from Pakistan – present at training this Friday evening. “My goal is to one day join the France team,” says the teenager. “I tried football but I was not good,” says Hamza, a high school student who came especially from Osny. With cricket, I practice a sport out of passion,” he says.
In this perspective, Amjad Sandhu wants to attract inhabitants who are not part of the community. Introductions to this sport are organized throughout the summer for children in the different districts of the city. And on September 11, the academy will be present at the association forum. Registration — the amount of which is 70 euros per year — is open to everyone. “We have very good sports facilities, there is great potential to be able to develop. »
#cricket #academy #Sarcelles #club #reach #IndoPakistani #sphere
