About this episode
Tell us what you think of this episode In this episode we meet six cricketers from in and around Swansea who play in the relatively new mid-week cricket league, the Tawe League. The players are: Ataur Rahman Jaber (Swansea Warriors) Abdul Mustak (Swansea Rising Stars) Amit Shivani (Swansea Strikers) Raj Tilak (Deccan Chargers) Krishna Prasanth (Master Blasters) Gigi George (Swansea Spartans) They tell us a little bit about their own personal histories, where they first played cricket, and how they fell in love with the game. The talk then moves on to talking about how they found a place to play cricket when they came to Wales. Some of them talk about their links with local clubs and they talk about the difficulty of finding equipment and the desperate need to have a local sports shop dedicated to cricket. The Tawe League has its origins in a lot of friendly cricket that took place between different groups of, predominantly, south asian cricketers up to and around 2020. Jaber talks about meeting Keri Chahal from cricket wales and Paul from Ynystawe Cricket Club and how the league became more organised and, in his view, more spicy ! Finding proper pitches and places to practice has been hard but it has also meant that players meet, train and mix socially. They now talk about the eight clubs that comprise the league. Raj talks about how competitive the league is and how the competition makes the experience much more interesting. Amit adds that the League can and does act as a 'feeder' system for local league clubs. We talk a little bit about the names of the teams and their origins and how their approach to cricket affects all these things. Mustak explains the 'Finals Day' that comes at the end of the season and how important it is to the development of the league. It is hoped that it will continue to grow as an event and Amit was very thankful to Ynystawe Cricket Club for hosting this event. The Tawe league has used Ynystawe Park, Briton Ferry CC, Baglan CC pitches and this year there will be games at Felinfoel as well. The gentlemen finish by talking about their hopes for the season and for the league. Anyone interested in the Tawe League either as a player, supporter or, indeed, a sponsor should contact Keri Chahal on: keri.chahal@cricketwales.org.uk