UNB Cricket Club wins big at New Brunswick Cricket League finals
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on Feb 3, 2022
Category: UNB Fredericton
The University of New Brunswick Cricket Club (UNBCC) claimed the title of 2021 champions in the New Brunswick Cricket Association (NBCA) after defeating three teams from across New Brunswick.
The UNBCC won the NBCA championship cup for both T20 and 40 overs leagues. This is the first time the team has won in both leagues since 2016.
“Winning a provincial title for UNB is a landmark achievement,” says Raja Khalid Farooq, president of UNBCC and a chemical engineering graduate student. “In addition to the league cups, UNBCC also won individual awards for most valuable player, best bowler and best batsman in different categories of league.”
The club has existed since the early 2000s and was formally re-established in 2013 by international students from UNB’s Fredericton campus to compete at the provincial level. UNBCC is also a pioneer member of the provincial cricket body in the province.
Cricket is the second-most popular sport in the world with a fanbase of almost 2.6 billion and is commonly played in Australia, India, Pakistan, the West Indies and the British Isles.
As a team consisting of all international students, the UNBCC also presents itself as a community platform for newcomers to connect with the team for information and support before coming to Canada.
“We not only provide them with support, but arrange accommodations and transportation facilities for them,” says Farooq. “We receive numerous emails and messages on our Facebook page from future and prospective students and we try our best to help them however we can.”
"Cricket is a famous sport in Jhelum, Pakistan, where I’m from. I grew up playing cricket and it was one of my dreams to represent myself on such a big platform playing for the university team," says Zeeshan Nawaz, a third-year computer science student at UNB Fredericton. "Winning the cricket tournament for UNBCC in 2021 had a great impact on me and taught me that hard work and consistency is the key to achieving your goals."
Both women’s and men’s teams are available for students, faculty and staff interested in joining. The club will be recruiting new students and offering practice sessions starting in March for the upcoming 2022 NBCA season.
To learn more about the UNBCC, contact unbcricket@gmail.com. No previous experience is required. Appropriate coaching and practice will be provided.
Media contact: Kathleen McLaughlin
Photo: Back, L to R: Noor Ali, Sajjad Asghar, Sharjil Rahman, Humza Tariq, Fahad Farooq, Raja Farooq, Zeeshan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan. Front, L to R: Swadesh Patra, Abhishek Gupta, Gururaj Mahajan, Manikandan Mohan. Not pictured: Parth Shah, Tushar Arora, Rajesh Tamilmani, Abdullah Noman, Srikanth Narayanan.