Lynden’s Bender Fields feature 21 acres of open space, soccer and lacrosse fields, and 35 acres of youth softball and baseball fields. However, the baseball fields transition into an oval shape with a handful of cones on weekends from April to October for two local cricket teams.
The Bellingham Daredevils and Azad Cricket Club in Lynden are semiprofessional cricket teams competing in the Northwest Cricket League (NWCL) with five divisions: the Daredevils in Division C and Azad in Division A.
Teams have welcomed new players from the area, especially from the Punjabi culture.
“We wanted a competitive team,” captain Kamal Bhachu said. “When we first started, the Punjabi population was not even 500 people. Once more people moved in, we got more competitive players who have played since high school.”
Cricket is played with 11 players on two teams, a ball, bat and wickets, and an oval-shaped field with a diameter of up to 500 feet. One team is fielding while the other is batting. Two players from the batting team, the striker and nonstriker, stand in front of the wicket holding bats while the bowler bowls the ball toward the striker’s wicket.
The batting team tries to hit the ball and run between the wickets to score runs. The ball is considered dead when the ball is returned to the bowler. The fielding team can also dismiss batters — known as getting them out — by having the bowler knock down the wicket’s bails while bowling, catch the ball before it hits the ground or knock down the bails before the runner reaches it.
The NWCL has the 40-overs league from April to August and Twenty20 (T20) league from September to October. The 40-overs league, also known as the “2024 40 overs Abdul Latif & Mahesh Jayaraman Memorial Tournament,” is the longer version of cricket games.
The 40-overs game means each team bowls a set maximum of 40 “overs”, six legal balls. A legal ball is a ball thrown, or bowled, to the batter. Once the ball is delivered, the batter may attempt to score as many runs as possible with the nonstriker.
T20 is a similar game but with a maximum of 20 overs. A 40-overs game lasts around six hours while a T20 game lasts nearly three hours.
Before 44-year-old Bhachu and his high school friend Gurpreet Bassi, 42, created the two teams, the duo struggled to find a place of belonging in the community. When they first moved from India as teenagers, neither spoke English and only had about five Indian friends at Bellingham High.
“Our principal would say, ‘Where are you guys from?’ and all we knew how to say was hi,” Bhachu said. “Our principal thought we were from Mexico and called our best friend, Malcolm Oliver, from Trinidad and Tobago. As soon as he walked in, he knew who we were and asked if we knew how to play cricket.”
The three and a couple of others would play cricket during lunch and on the weekends at the Bellingham High tennis courts. When Bhachu graduated high school in 1998, he began playing for fun at Shuksan Middle School until 2003 when he built the teams.
“Everything we spent was from our pockets,” Bassi said. “When we asked for players, we knew they wouldn’t want to play so we pitched in our money. We would go to church or companies for donations.”
Even though Bhachu and Bassi raised the money, the two of them dealt with obstacles along the way.
“The biggest thing was the local community didn’t support us,” Bhachu said. “We had to find a proper cricket field.”
They played at Civic Stadium and Lake Padden’s public space but were kicked off for using too much public space. The Bellingham cricket teams finally built a cricket pitch at Lake Padden in 2014.
However, Lynden’s Parks Director Vern Meenderinck watched a game and quickly noticed Bender Fields could be a better option for cricket, and has now been hosting games since 2017.
“Right now we are in a much better place,” Beach said. “We had to find a proper cricket field.”
In addition, the duo had to raise $900 to register for the NWCL and pay for balls, bats, equipment and more to be ready for league play. Members now pay about $300 for a season.
Once the Daredevils jumped through the first few obstacles, they traveled to Pullman for their first game in program history.
“We didn’t know the rules or how the umpiring worked,” Bassi said. “… We drove six hours there and six hours back and were very disappointed. That game, we learned how to play cricket.”
The duo said the team was also not treated with a post-game meal or hospitality. It is standard for the host team of the NWCL match to feed the away team since they can travel up to six hours to their match. The Daredevils and Azad decided to revamp their culture with a family-friendly atmosphere, offering barbecue chicken and side dishes after every home game.
“Every team says this is the best field,” Bassi said. “Some sizes are too short or some fields you can lose a ball. There is more light and the ground is nice so you can dive for the ball. It is a very safe place.”
Once the Daredevils were situated, they began drawing players from all backgrounds. Mitch Deans is a 32-year-old Australian who moved to the United States almost a decade ago. After spending five years in Florida, he and his wife moved to the Northwest and did not realize how small the cricket culture was here.
“When I first came here, I saw a Cricket (Wireless) store and thought I could get some gear there,” Deans said.
Deans played when he was a child but took a 12-year break before joining the Daredevils. He decided to return to the game because he missed playing and wanted to make friends in a new community.
“They have been very accommodating,” Deans said. “I love being out and playing the sport with guys who love to play as well.”
The Daredevils and Azad have also drawn players from India, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago and more countries. Gurinder Singh, 35, moved here from India in 2004 and immediately began playing cricket.
“I was tense, depressed and not eating or talking much and then saw them playing cricket here,” Singh said. “Once I am on the field, I forget about life and don’t think about stress or bills. It’s super fun and gives me a peaceful mind.”
Singh loves to see the passion growing in Bellingham, especially since the USA Cricket team recently qualified for the World Cup after a historic upset victory against Pakistan in June. Singh, Bhachu and Bassi hope to see the sport continue to grow in the younger generation and in the country.
“I would love to see the mainstream community start playing,” Bhachu said. “They love it. It wouldn’t surprise me if in my lifetime, we see professional games played here.”
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
