Hockey, baseball, soccer, curling, and rugby are all fairly popular team sports here in the Southeast and you can now add cricket to that list.

Randeep Singh moved to the Southeast from India two years ago to get his pilot's license and he now works for Harv's Air. He says early on there weren’t many fellow Indians in the area.

"Initially when I moved here, there was clearly a less number of Indians here in Steinbach and then slowly as things moved on, people started coming here to Steinbach and Manitoba."

Singh says last year when they were able to put together a group of 10 or 15, they started playing cricket routinely at L.A. Barkman Park.

"Last year, the COVID was going down and we were pretty free at that time and a lot of our friends who belong to Harv's Air and are from the same state back in India are here in Steinbach. We just got along with each other and we made a plan 'ok, let's start playing cricket.' Just spend some free time. That is basically how it started out and it is still continuing here."

Back in India, Singh says cricket is everyone's favourite sport so playing here in Steinbach is like a taste of home for him and his fellow Indians. He notes they haven’t set up a league or anything that serious, they simply play casual games on Saturdays and Sundays as often as they are able.

Singh says people who are wandering through the park are often curious and stop for a moment on Abe’s Hill to watch them play and sometimes even cheer them on. He notes this doesn't bother them at all because they are happy to share their favourite sport.