Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

The newly formed Shelburne Sports & Cultural Club (SSCC) played its first competitive cricket game against the Orangeville Cricket Club (OCC) on Saturday, June 14 in Orangeville.

The SSCC is hoping to grow over the next few seasons and add more players to the line-up.

Batting first after winning the toss, OCC posted a very challenging score of 180 for the loss of seven wickets off their 15 overs with Somi having top scoring with 64 (4 fours and 5 sixes) followed by Jasbir with 34 (2 fours and 3 sixes), and Tarn chipping in with 18.

Bowling for SSCC, Keyur picked up two wickets for eight runs and RV Manshahiat had two for 27.

In response, SSCC found runs that were hard to get while losing three early wickets, but Mohnish came back with a swashbuckling 93, containing 4 fours and 10 sixes, and Deepak had a hard-hitting 35 (2 fours and 3 consecutive sixes) brought some respectability to the score with SSCC eventually being bowed out for 141 in 13 overs.

Bowling for OCC, Deep picked up 3 for 30, Jasbir 3 for 23 and Somi 2 for 19. Tough luck for Mohnish falling 7 runs short of what would have been a well-deserved century.

“The Shelburne Sports & Cultural Club was started two months ago,” explained Anand Jagdeo, the club's director of cricket operations. “It was started to provide a cost-effective way to play cricket. The core members of our club are from Shelburne and the surrounding area.”

The June 14 match was the SSCC's inaugural game.

“We don't play any politics,” explained club President Deepak Thakur. “We just play for fun. So far we have two teams – the Mavericks and the Pheonix – and we're getting more players. This Orangeville team is hosting us because we don't have access to KTH Park in Shelburne in the afternoons.”

During the Saturday game, a ‘soft' cricket ball was used. The soft ball is used in some circumstances to reduce the risk of injury. It looks like a tennis ball but is much firmer and reacts well to a cricket bat.

The club is hoping to grow their membership and have a lot more games over the coming year.