Cricket in Cuba is clinging on thanks to SOS Kit Aid donations - and I even had the fortune of bowling Stalin

Cricket in Cuba is clinging on thanks to SOS Kit Aid donations - and I
even had the fortune of bowling Stalin
Scyld Berry visits Cuba to witness first hand how cricket kit donations
are helping teams like Caimanera and Guantanamo to keep the flame
burning against the odds
By Scyld Berry3:29PM BST 09 Apr 2014

Stalin was defeated! I beat him in the air and went through his defence.
Not even Hitler could claim that.
Alright, it wasn't the same Stalin. The chap called Stalin that I
defeated last week was not the Russian dictator but a Cuban cricketer.
Still, not a bad way to start this season…
I was playing in Guantanamo. Not the infamous American naval base, but
the town nearby in south-east Cuba which presents a more human face to
the world.
Stalin plays for Caimanera. Cricket in Cuba saw its best days in the
1950s, when teams from Jamaica and elsewhere would tour the island which
Columbus called the most beautiful place he had seen. But it has become
so neglected and run-down in the last decade that only two teams linger
on: one representing Caimanera, the town next to the US base, and
Guantanamo.
You can quickly see why. The nearest thing to a cricket ground that
remains is the football ground in Guantanamo. Last week, on a hot
morning, somebody walked 22 paces in the centre circle, and stuck the
stumps into the sandy dirt.
Twelve players from the two teams turned up, so we had middle-practice,
everyone batting in pairs. Stalin - oh well, if you must know, I suppose
you can drag the details out of me - ran down the somewhat dusty pitch
and was beaten by a googly which hit his leg stump.
The fact that there were any stumps to hit, and that Stalin had a bat,
was thanks to a remarkably fine charity called SOS Kit Aid. Not the sort
of charity that spends almost everything you donate on administration -
ie their own salaries - but actually does something, without money being
involved.
A visionary called John Broadfoot retired as a Shell executive at the
start of this millennium, visited Romania, and saw how rugby had
suddenly declined there - almost as much as cricket in Cuba, and for the
same basic reason. The cost of kit was prohibitively high.
So for the last 11 years Broadfoot has collected any spare rugby kit
that schools, clubs, governing bodies, kit manufacturers and individuals
have not wanted. And for the last three years any spare cricket kit as
well, in conjunction now with the Lord's Taverners.
Like all the best ideas, it is wonderfully simple. Collect spare cricket
and rugby kit, and send it to where it is appreciated and used, maybe in
UK inner cities or other parts of the world.
The Caimanera team were down to their last cricket bat, between them,
when I escorted a bag of SOS Kit to Guantanamo. Broadfoot's charity has
just signed a contract with the International Cricket Council to supply
21 countries around the world this year: seven each in Europe, Asia and
South America.
To see the impact of the arrival of four quality bats in Guantanamo was
heart-warming, even for a bowler, and of the first cricket helmet the
players had ever seen. A useful addition, because the first ball of our
middle-practice - just short of a length - went three feet over the
batsman's head.
Got anything useful in the cupboard? If so, see www.soskitaid.com for
details. Or if you want to sponsor the charity.
In the meantime the few remaining Cuban cricketers have something to
play with, and for, knowing they are not alone.
Caimanera's opening bowlers are Stalin and Castro, which sounds
imposing. They should be able to dictate terms... and they are pretty nippy.
But the best player I saw was the wicketkeeper of the national Cuban
side ie of the combined Guantanamo-Caimanera teams, surnamed Armstrom
(sorry, I didn't catch all the first names as my Spanish is hopeless).
AB de Villiers and Matt Prior could not have been better or braver at
diving to take balls that shot along the ground down the legside.
I ought to confess that in my first over I was hit for six by a huge
bloke who had just retired as one of the pitchers of the Guantanamo
baseball team. In fact my first over cost nine, which is probably the
most expensive ever recorded in Cuban history. Scoring 10 runs in those
conditions is the equivalent of a double-century at Lord's.
But the main point is: the very existence of cricket in this corner of
the Caribbean is worthy of note, and our encouragement.

Source: Cricket in Cuba is clinging on thanks to SOS Kit Aid donations -
and I even had the fortune of bowling Stalin - Telegraph -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/10755128/Cricket-in-Cuba-is-clinging-on-thanks-to-SOS-Kit-Aid-donations-and-I-even-had-the-fortune-of-bowling-Stalin.html