Montjuïc will have a cricket field next year
Barcelona will have an 11-a-side cricket field next season thanks to the initiative of the women's cricket team, who presented the project in the call for proposals for Barcelona City Council's first participatory budget. The proposal received 2,441 votes, and of the 800 project ideas submitted, this was the one that got the most support.
The women’s team as the promoters of the initiative, together with the Catalan Cricket Federation, have been involved in the design of the new cricket field. The final project for the transformation of the Julià de Capmany football pitch in Montjuïc was approved this November. The work will involve a complete renovation of the facility, and will include the planting of a special type of grass that’s suitable for the practice of this sport. Pitch lines will also be marked, a batting tunnel will be created, and lighting, changing rooms and a perimeter fence will be installed.
The women’s team, the only one of its kind in Spain, aims to become the first Catalan 11-a-side cricket team. All this is part of the Criquet Jove BCN programme, a project promoted by the Centre for African and Intercultural Studies (CEAi) and the Barcelona Foundation for Sport and Education (FEEB), which since 2012 has formed part of Barcelona City Council’s Convivim Esportivament programme aimed at supporting and promoting cricket, to as a sport that many people living in the city identify with.
It was migrant communities from different countries that brought cricket to Barcelona, and for them the sport has also provided a meeting space. Cricket is extremely popular in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Although 2.3% of people living in Barcelona were born in these countries (this figure rises to 16% in El Raval, and 6.5% in Poble Sec), to date there are no cricket fields in the city.
