Cricket isn’t the biggest sport in Oslo, but outside of Norway there are many countries that put cricket at the top of their list of favorites. Likewise with several participants in the Haugerud IF summer activities.

– The sport is popular across Asia, Great Britain, South Africa and Australia, explains Haris Khan, who this summer coached cricket in Haugerud.

Throughout the summer, the association has run cricket training on Wednesdays, with drills and pitching and batting matches.

– A normal match has eleven players in each team, but there can be as few as five players in each team. Here in Norway you have to have at least nine during a game, says Khan.

Sports increase

Cricket is becoming more and more popular. At Haugerud, they currently have three senior teams, as well as several youth teams.

– We started with cricket for kids and youth in 2016. Senior has been running longer. Currently we have an A team, a B team and a C team for seniors and U19, U15 and U13 teams, said Khan.

And many come from afar. The two boys training today have traveled from Strømmen to take part.

– We joined because it was fun, said Asim (11), before Hashim (13) added:

– There are very good coaches here.

FOOTBALL: Football offers are always popular.
Photo: Caroline Hammer

Summer trip

Cricketen held a total of eight summer training sessions this summer and is part of a larger offer from Haugerud IF. They are one of several sports associations that hold free summer activities for children and youth throughout the summer. When the newspapers drop there is also full activity on the artificial turf with several groups playing football, and in Haugerudhallen there is a roar in the basketball hoop.

– We have been holding activities for most of the summer, but this year we are moving: we collected more activities in June and August. So you could say we were riding at half speed in July, when it was a bit quieter, said Dag Endal, manager of Haugerud IF.

In both 2020 and 2021, Haugerud IF continues to run at full capacity in July. This year many are back on vacation as usual, so the need is reduced.

– But we have activity almost every day throughout the summer, emphasized Endal.

Most of this activity is thanks to working youth. Endal estimates that they have nearly 50 young people in summer jobs this year.

– Some have worked two weeks in a row, and others have a steady job once or twice a week. After all, they get the opportunity to get certificates and references. This is the first job for many people, so they can take responsibility and experience working in a team, said Endal.

THROWING ARM: Omar (9) prepares to throw. This was also a scoring throw, as he pinned down the opponent.
Photo: Caroline Hammer

TRAINING CAGES: These long cages are used to practice cricket throwing and batting. The netting around it ensures that the ball doesn’t disappear too far.
Photo: Caroline Hammer

Summer offer in Haugerud:

• Soccer, including school soccer, soccer tennis and penalty kick tournaments.

• Basketball, with two practice sessions a week throughout the summer.

• Badminton three nights a week. Haugerud IF is one of the top clubs in Norway in sport.

• Cricket.

• Judo cooperates with the Norwegian Judo and Jiu-Jitsu Club.

• Dance in various variations. Blue. hip hop, ballet and kpop.

• Tennis.

• Indoor basketball.