The driving force behind Aberdeen’s newest cricket club hopes they can attract new people to the game.
Zakir Hussain is captain and a founding member of Aberdeen Tigers, who were formed last year and have stepped up to join North-East Grade Three this summer.
The Tigers have made an impressive start and are at the top of the division after winning three of their opening four games.
Hussain is originally from Sreemangal in Bangladesh, but has lived in Aberdeen for more than 25 years.
How the Tigers came to be
He first played for Turriff Cricket Club 20 years ago and in recent years has played for Grampian CC.
That led to Hussain and a group of friends forming the Aberdeen Tigers club.
The 45-year-old said: “Two years ago I started playing for Grampian in indoor cricket, the evening league and also in the Grades.
“When I was at Grampian I had a few friends who wanted to play, but they haven’t played cricket with a hard, proper ball for a long time.
“So we decided to play in the indoor league, and then we played in the evening league, and now we’re playing in Grade Three.
“When we started in the indoor league we called ourselves Pungta Tigers – pungta means naughty, it’s a slang word in Bangladesh.
“We came third in the indoor league, which surprised us because there are a lot of good players in the indoor league.
“That pushed us to put a team into the evening league last year. We had a few more friends get involved at that point.
“I said we should form a club, but they said there’s a lot of rules and regulations required for that and we’d have to train more and it would take up too much time.
“But we played in the evening league and ended up being runners-up in the Oxy Cup as Aberdeen Tigers.
“After being in the final we decided to go for Grade Three and we realised that there’s a community that loves cricket and we need to give them an outlet to play.”
Club looking for assistance
Although the majority of players involved with Aberdeen Tigers are from the Bangladeshi community, Hussain is keen to stress the club is open to everyone – whether they wish to play or help run the club.
He added: “In Aberdeen there is a strong Asian community, including a big Banglasdeshi community.
“It’s not just for the Bangladeshi community. It’s just about trying to introduce more people to the game and trying to help the community.
“We’ve got a few Afghan refugees playing for us and they’re very good and very passionate about their cricket. It’s good we’re able to provide them with the opportunity to play.”
Hussain wants Aberdeen Tigers to be around for many years to come, and as a result, is keen for more people to join their seven-person management committee.
One of the Tigers’ issues is a lack of facilities for training, and recently they have been training on grass and astroturf at Lochside Academy.
Hussain said: “I’ve seen clubs go two or three years and then disappear.
“I don’t want that to be the case with us.
“We’re trying to build things up step by step.
“We’ll see how things go, but we probably need more support. We need more people to get involved to take us forward in the next few years.
“Once Aberdeen Tigers is established, then maybe we’ll be in a position to get improved facilities or find a ground of some sort that we can use.
“We want it to be sustainable in the long-term and to grow the club, which is why we need more people who love cricket to take the club forward and help the community.”
Conversation