Newsletter - Dec 2025
Bumper year of cricket!
- Hero MotoCorp joins as Official Sponsor of Cricket Colombia
- Revised structure, new roles
- Second highest finish at South American Championships
- Famous victory over Trinidad & Tobago XI in Cali
- Colombia breaks world cricketing record, but Mexico prevails 3-2
- Cali win their own tournament
Abhas Srivastava
Hero MotoCorp joins as Official Sponsor of Cricket Colombia
We’re thrilled to announce that Hero MotoCorp, one of the world’s most iconic motorcycle brands, has become the official sponsor of Cricket Colombia! This partnership marks a new era for the sport in our country, a shared vision rooted in excellence, passion, and progress. Hero MotoCorp’s support comes at a time when cricket in Colombia is growing fast, and their backing will be a key accelerator in that journey.
More Than a Logo — A Long-Term Commitment.
From national team support to grassroots development and community engagement, Hero MotoCorp is partnering with us to build the future of Colombian cricket. Their commitment extends beyond the field, helping strengthen our programs, coaching, facilities, and visibility. It all kicks off with the upcoming Hero MotoCorp Trophy, a four-day international series between Colombia and Trinidad & Tobago, held from August 15–18 in Cali. This tournament will be the first of many events powered by our new alliance.
“This partnership is about more than just sponsorship — it’s about shaping the future of cricket in Colombia together.”
With Hero MotoCorp by our side, we’re gearing up for major milestones ahead, including the South American Cricket Championship, and inviting more people than ever to discover the beauty of this global game.
Welcome to the Cricket Colombia family, Hero MotoCorp. Let’s raise the bat to what lies ahead.
Lee Bailey
Revised structure, new roles
At the time of writing, Cricket Colombia is busy finalising its application to become an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). We provided our draft application to them way back in March and the final version is due by the end of the year.
One of the things that we were missing in our draft application was a legal entity for Cricket Colombia. We hope that, in time, we can create the three departmental leagues of at least three teams each to allow us to become an official Federation in Colombia. In the meantime, the Board took the decision earlier this year to create a Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada (S.A.S) to meet this important ICC requirement.
With the creation of the Cricket Colombia S.A.S with the Calí Chamber of Commerce, we have also had to update the roles of our Board members to reflect and protect their other business interests in Colombia:
- President, Executive Director, and Principle Legal Representative: Abhas Srivastava
- Secretary, Executive Director, and Legal Representative: Lee Bailey
- Treasurer, Executive Director, and Legal Representative: John Wood
- Non-executive Chair: Paul Reid
- Non-executive Directors (in alphabetical order): Andy Farrington, Andy Wright, Dian Perera, Felix Sullivan, Karthik Radhakrishnan, and Paola Wood.
The Board would like to thank Paul Reid for the great work and support he has provided to the promotion and playing of cricket in Colombia as its President over the last few years. We are delighted that he has been able to stay on as our Non-executive Chair and we look forward to his continued contributions to the growth of the game here for many more years to come.
In line with the constitution of Cricket Colombia (copied into the new S.A.S.), the Board director roles are up for re-election every two years, with the next election due in April 2026. Please keep an eye out for more information on this process in the new year, and start thinking if you would be interested in helping progress the development of our great game in Colombia.
Paola Solano
New Women’s programmes
Cricket Colombia Women is entering a new era under the leadership of Paola Solano, with programmes growing in Barranquilla and Colombian athletes training in the United Kingdom. As we move forward with the creation of our Colombia Women’s Cricket Team, the support of expert coaches and ECB-certified coaches continues to drive the development of the project. The momentum is growing every day, with new achievements and inspiring talent on the way. Follow us on Instagram @cricketcolombiafemenino for more details.
Lee Bailey
A Chronicle of Growth, Grit, and Gathering Momentum at the South American Championships
When the Colombian men’s national side arrived in Itaguaí, Brazil, for the 2025 South American Cricket Championship (SACC), they carried with them a sense of quiet ambition. This was not a team expected to dominate, nor a squad built on decades of regional power. Instead, they resembled the type of side that often forms the heart of cricket’s best stories — earnest, developing, hungry, and walking into a tournament ready to measure themselves honestly against the continent’s best. The four-day event, stretching from 30 October to 2 November, would become a test not only of their skill but of their growing character as a cricketing nation.
A Rain-Soaked Opening: Colombia vs Uruguay
The campaign began in frustrating anticlimax. Colombia’s opening match against Uruguay was designed to be a tone-setter: a chance to find early rhythm, settle nerves, and build momentum. Instead, the clouds gathered over Itaguaí, delivering persistent rain that turned the outfield slick and the day’s schedule uncertain. Yet, in the brief window of cricket available, Colombia played with a confidence that belied the conditions. In a truncated 11-over innings, they made a spirited 90 for 5, fuelled by flashes of impressive hitting and clever strike rotation.
Dian Perera announced himself with commanding early blows — flat sixes launched into the stands, drives skimming across the wet grass, and that familiar presence at the crease that would eventually see him finish the tournament among the region’s top run-scorers. Christopher Laas supported with purposeful running and well-timed strokes, and Colombia looked set for a competitive outing. But the skies darkened once more, and with only minutes left in the innings break, the rain returned with too much determination to allow a restart. With the ground deteriorating, officials called the game off. Each side took one point.
It was an opening chapter marked by promise and interruption — the kind of beginning that leaves a team restless rather than satisfied, forced to carry their intent into the next day without the grounding of a completed match.
A Harsh Reality Check: Colombia vs Brazil
The following day delivered a sterner examination. Hosts Brazil, one of the tournament’s more settled and physically imposing outfits, won the toss and chose to bowl first on a tacky surface that rewarded disciplined seamers. Colombia’s innings faltered almost immediately. What started with tidy rotation of strike from Perera and Salim Patel quickly devolved into a collapse, as the top order fell in a sequence of edges, mistimed drives, and defensive misjudgements.
Wickets tumbled at regular intervals; by the seventh over, Colombia were 20 for 4 and fighting simply to survive long enough to post something defendable. Brazil bowled with disciplined hostility, their pacers skidding deliveries through on a low bounce, challenging the batters’ footing on the damp matting. Colombia pushed, prodded, and snatched what singles they could, but never found the partnership required to stabilise the innings. They were bowled out for 57, a total far removed from their near-explosive start the day before.
Brazil’s chase reflected the gap in execution more than any gulf in potential. They approached the target with calm assurance, picking off singles, dispatching anything short, and refusing to allow Colombia’s bowlers even a sniff of momentum. A couple of early wickets — including a sharp catch in the ring — were small consolations in a game that slipped away quickly. By the ninth over, Brazil had completed an eight-wicket victory, and Colombia were left to confront the realities of tournament play: no time to dwell, and no room to indulge disappointment.
Mexico’s Power Exposed: Colombia vs Mexico
If Brazil had been a lesson in discipline, Mexico delivered an education in hitting power. Under bright morning sun and firming conditions, Colombia again found themselves batting first. This time, the start was more measured. Perera and Abhas Srivastava played sensibly through the opening overs, ensuring Colombia reached the end of the powerplay without damage. But the pattern that had begun to haunt the side resurfaced: promising starts cut short, small partnerships dissolving before they could flower into match-defining stands.
Perera carved an early four and launched a massive six with his trademark walking charge, but he too fell before anchoring the innings. Laas played his part with sharp singles and lively communication, but Mexico’s bowlers — using changes of pace with impressive subtlety — kept the scoring under five an over. It was a staccato innings: a boundary here, a dabbed two there, and a string of dots that repeatedly stunted momentum.
Colombia reached 98 all out, a total that sat awkwardly between “defendable with discipline” and “inadequate against firepower.” Mexico quickly made it feel like the latter. Their openers tore into the chase with clean hitting, leaning back to pull anything short and driving with brutal simplicity down the ground. Two early sixes cleared the short boundary with minimal fuss, and Colombia’s bowlers, who had hoped to ease into the innings with probing discipline, instead spent much of their spells retrieving balls from the rope.
Despite spells from Reid that briefly slowed the charge and challenged the outside edge, Mexico’s confidence never wavered. They powered to the target in just 10.4 overs, sealing another eight-wicket defeat for the Colombians. For Colombia, this match underlined the reality that on flat, sun-lit surfaces, containment alone was never going to be enough.
Battling the Wind, Weather, and Panama: A Hard-Fought Morning
Sunday morning brought one of the tournament’s more atmospheric matches. Against Panama, Colombia finally won a toss — an event celebrated by Reid with a theatrical kiss of the ground, a gesture that seemed both humorous and cathartic after days of misfortune. With the wind gusting across the outfield and grey cloud threatening drizzle, Colombia put Panama into bat, hoping to exploit the early swing.
Srivastava and Bailey opened the attack into the crosswind, their lines initially drifting away in the swirling conditions. A few edges flew safely, a few French cuts skidded past the stumps, and gradually Panama’s batters began to settle. What followed was an expensive powerplay, with Colombia struggling to nail their lengths. JP Wood tried to recalibrate from the other end but also found his lines difficult to control.
The middle overs brought a sense of revival. Perera, as he so often does, restored order with intelligent variation, striking twice in quick succession — first an LBW with a ball that straightened late, then a bowled dismissal that clipped the top of off. Colombia was back in the contest. But the catches that might have shifted momentum once more eluded them: a parried chance at deep mid-on that was taken over the rope after been finally taken, a lost ball in the drizzle-dark sky that dropped short of a sprinting deep mid-off when it was finally picked up, and a disagreement whether great footballing skills on the boundary stopped a four or not, turned containment into concession.
What Panama assembled by the end — 168 for 3 — was a total built on experience, calculation, and calm accumulation. Colombia’s chase never quite found the tempo required. Perera offered resistance with a valiant 29, and the lower order ran bravely between the wickets, but boundaries never came in clusters, and the innings finished at 127 for 8, a 41-run defeat that felt less like a capitulation and more like a lesson in the value of sustained pressure.
A Final Flourish: Colombia vs Peru
If the earlier matches laid bare the challenges of playing stronger opponents, the final outing against Peru showed Colombia’s full potential when execution matches ambition. Put into the field, Colombia started loosely: wides, full tosses, and early boundaries allowed Peru to move quickly to 30 without loss. But once again, resilience — one of Colombia’s defining features in this tournament — pulled them back into the contest.
Wood found rhythm first, removing a well-set batter with a sharp edge through to Laas. Srivastava beat the bat repeatedly, drawing LBW shouts and mistimed drives. The turning point came with the introduction of Karthik Radhakrishnan, whose spell became one of the most influential of Colombia’s championship. His control brought a rapid sequence of wickets: an LBW, a caught-and-bowled, another LBW. Peru, who had started brightly, were suddenly 70 for 4 with their innings derailing.
Reid then produced a stunning double strike — two bowled dismissals in two balls — setting Colombia up for a rare tournament “team double hat-trick” opportunity across multiple overs. Even as chances slipped through hands in the deep, the bowlers held their nerve. Peru was eventually dismissed for 98, a total well within reach but requiring a composed chase.
For the first time all tournament, Colombia’s top order provided exactly that. Srivastava delivered an innings of maturity and assurance, pacing his shots, rotating strike, and preserving wicket and momentum with equal care. Laas complemented him with a controlled 29, their partnership becoming the spine around which the chase was built. A flicked boundary from Radhakrishnan ended the match with elegance, guiding Colombia to 100 for 3 in 14.5 overs — their lone victory, but a meaningful and well-constructed one.
What the Tournament Revealed
Across these five matches — one washed out, three challenging losses, and one uplifting win — Colombia demonstrated that they are not a team defined by results alone. They are defined by the qualities that matter most in emerging cricket nations: improvement, belief, and the refusal to fold after setbacks. The final standings placed Colombia in fourth, a position that only partly captures the evolution experienced across the week.
Individually, players shone. Perera ended the tournament among the top three batters across all teams, a reflection of both his power and his ability to impose himself early in innings. Srivastava and Laas featured high in the batting charts as well. On the bowling front, Radhakrishnan’s tournament stood out as a breakthrough, while Wood and Reid brought discipline and accuracy when it mattered most.
What Colombia lacked at times was consistency at the top of the order, the quick-wicket breakthroughs needed to defend middling totals, and the composure required to chase large scores. But what they gained — in temperament, tactical awareness, and collective identity — may prove far more valuable than any single victory.
A Foundation for the Future
Cricket in Colombia is still growing, still defining itself, still building the structures and continuity that established cricketing nations take for granted. But this tournament, in all its drama and difficulty, offered a glimpse of what is possible. Amid rain-break frustrations, batting collapses, missed chances in the deep, and gutsy partnerships built ball by ball, the team found a sense of direction.
The victory over Peru, in particular, felt like a promise — a suggestion that Colombian cricket is learning how to win even when the week has been unkind. It is the kind of win that players carry home, replay in their memories, and draw confidence from in future tournaments.
As they return from Brazil, the Colombians leave with more than numbers on a scorecard. They bring home the experience of playing in pressure moments, the hunger sharpened by defeat, the joy of a well-timed chase, and the sense that their story in South American cricket is only beginning. Their growth, like so many cricketing rises, will not be linear. But the foundation laid in Itaguaí — of resilience, self-belief, and collective ambition — is strong, and the chapters ahead promise even more.
Cricket Colombia
Famous victory over Trinidad & Tobago XI in Cali
Famous win over Caribbean neighbours
Colombia hosted a bilateral series with an official Trinidad and Tobago cricket team for the first time in history on the weekend of 15-18 of August, in the glorious setting of Colegio Colombo Británico in the south of Cali.
The school’s football field provided an impressive outfield for the ball to race across, though the coconut matting needed to protect the grass surface caused many issues for the Trinidad and Tobago Legends. The low, slow bounce a strong contrast to the hard grass strips they normally play on. And Colombia, more used to playing on temporary matted wickets, took full advantage.
As the pitch hardened up over the weekend, the Trinidadian batters were able to increasingly show their prowess, but it was not enough to hold off a tenacious and spirited Colombian series victory.
Legends on the ropes early
The opening two overs of the series on the Friday afternoon setting the tone for a tight battle between bat and ball. Abhas Srivastava opened up with a precious maiden over, before Lee Bailey struck with two LBWs to wrap up his own first over. With the Trinidadian top-order cracked open on 2-2 after two, the Colombian bowlers kept up the pressure. Although he occasionally struggled for his line, Karthik Radhakrishnan kept chipping away 4 wickets for seven runs in his two overs, with captain Paul Reid wrapping up the innings with his third wicket.
Having being set only 39 to win, Colombia reached 16 for 3 off only three overs before the light drizzle that had started after the Colombian openers walked to the crease turned into a torrential downpour that was also triggering the school’s lightning alarm system. Despite cajoling attempts restart the game when light drizzle resumed, the break in the rain, when it came, was so short that the ground had no time to dry before another heavy downpour and dusk forced the first game to be abandoned. Official score 0:0, but moral victory to the hosts as Colombia had already reached the required Duckworth-Lewis score, unfortunately two overs shy of the game counting.
First “W” of the weekend
The second game on Saturday morning started in the same vein as the first the night before, with Srivastava and Bailey opening up with tight spells and keeping the Legends on their toes. With two dropped catches from Bailey’s first over, including one that ended up going for six and took Colombia’s vice-captain (Dian Perera) off the field for treatment for his fingers, he decided to take things into his own hands, parrying a drive that captain Devindra Maharaj smashed straight back down the ground in his follow-through, before snaffling the popped rebound.
The Legends increasingly complained about the slow pace of the wicket as they struggled to adapt to the conditions with the bat. Colombia’s bowling attack was again tight, with Reid rotating his bowlers regularly to ensure they stayed on top. Ashish Sharma stole the show, though, ripping through the Legends middle-order with a glorious demonstration of leg spin bowling. His flight and guile on the slow pitch rewarded with a five-for on the way to Colombia bowling Trinidad and Tobago out for 48.
The Colombian openers were able to show their experience and adaptability with slower pitches by being patient with the good balls and jumping on the bad ones. Perara dispatched four 6s in his rapid fire 29 runs from 11 balls. They romped home to a 9 wickets victory, with a massive 14 overs to spare, and a 1-0 lead in the series.
New pitch suits the Legends
During the lunchbreak, and to appease the visitors, Colombia agreed to switch wickets in the hopes of finding a faster truer surface. A ‘lost-in-translation’ moment between Trini, English and Spanish resulted the preferred 22-yard plywood sheet being replaced by nine rockwall sheets, which were laid across the wicket underneath the coconut matting. A big thanks to the Legends for helping install the new subsurface, and particularly to Amin Hosein for providing it.
For the third game in a row Colombia’s Captain Reid won the toss and elected to bowl. However, it was the Colombian bowlers turn to struggle to adapt to the new conditions early on. The Legends’ batters were much more comfortable with the ball coming through, though still lower than their normal decks back home.
That said, Colombia kept chipping away with regular wickets until Trinidad and Tobago’s middle order punished the bad balls with increasing regularity. A burst of runs either side of the 15th over and a 55-run fifth wicket partnership between Darius Besai (33) and Varindra Maharaj (32 not out) took the Legends to 157/6 from the first completed 20-over innings of the series.
Colombia started their response well and were consistently on track with the Legends’ worm-tracker, with Srivastava and Radhakrishnan scoring 37 and 30 respectively, until a middle-order collapse cost them. The pitch increasingly became two-paced, with the Carpark End coming through truer and the Gym End showing increasingly low bounce, with several wickets falling to shooters from a good length. The Trinidadian bowlers were finding their line and length better from the Gym End, mixed with the trick of more cross-seamed deliveries taking advantage of that low bounce. The Legends bowled Colombia out for 124 for a 33-run victory to take the third game and tie the series 1-1.
Trinidad edge ahead
Game four again found Colombia opening bowlers take to the field first. From the pre-game talk overnight, it appeared that they had found a plan to adapt to the new conditions themselves, learning from (and leaning into) the Trinidadians success with cross-seam deliveries. Only for the first nine balls to all be delivered seam up! The opening pair of Srivastava and Bailey continued their miserly form, holding Trinidad and Tobago to less than three runs per over from the first three overs. This pressure proved telling as he forced the Legends to start taking risky singles, a tactic which played into Colombia’s brilliant ground fielding. With D. Maharaj sending his opening partner back to the non-strikers end, and ultimately the hut, as Colombia’s best fielder (and Fielder of the Series) Srivastava brilliantly destroyed the stumps at the bowlers end with his direct throw from cover to runout Hosein for 4, and the score 8 for 1.
Dary Balgobin and D. Maharaj finally started to get some traction in the Trinidadian top-order (30 and 17 respectively), helped by Besai again in the middle order (22). Though but once D. Maharaj fell at 46-2, Colombia’s bowlers were again able to grab regular wickets throughout the innings, Sharma taking 3 for 20 and Reid the pick of the game with 3 for 10.
Chasing 106 for the win, Colombia’s top-order struggled to find their timing, with the visiting bowlers starting to cause more problems of their own. When he took his second wicket of game 1, Reid passed Chris Laas as Colombia’s second highest wicket taker. And he showed his importance to the team again here when walking to the crease with Colombia wobbling on 32-4 in the eighth over. He helped pull Colombia back to within a sniff of winning with only 11 needed from the last over.
Unfortunately, his first miscalculation of the afternoon to its first ball saw his bails tumble to another delivery that stayed low. With Jaison Gutierrez struggling to get the ball away, Bailey charged down the pitch when the ball bounced off Fazil Jahoor’s wicketkeeping pads, only for Jahoor to recover the ball quickly and run Bailey out, giving the Legends a nine-run victory and a 2-1 lead in the series.
Injured Satnam wreaks havoc
Game 5 brought one change to the general proceedings as Trinidad and Tobago finally won a toss, only to choose to bat first, leaving Colombia to chase for the fifth game in a row. Only for their bowlers to start like they had been all weekend with Salim Patel snaffling a catch from the bat of D. Maharaj to the first ball of the game. Bailey again had the chance for a hat-trick ball, after two chipped catches from the Legends experienced batters, and Colombia had the Trinidad and Tobago top order rocking on 25-3.
The valiant efforts of Besai and Varindra Maharaj (39 from 24 balls and 53 from 51 respectively, were in vain as Colombia managed to maintain their habit of sharing regular wickets through Trinidad and Tobago’s middle- and lower-orders, and squeezing the Legends at the death by conceding just 20 runs in the last six overs, to hold them to 130 for 8.
The Colombian skipper chosen this moment to revamp his top order a little with Patel and Sat “Satnam” Sandhu, both powerful hitters of the ball, pushed up the order to see what impact they would have on the strike rate with the evening closing quickly.
Patel struggled to get going, gifting Besai a wicket maiden to open up the Legends bowling innings.
Sandhu, on the other hand, took full control. Having originally intending to withdraw from the series with a knee injury, his incredible eye and powerful shots, including a hattrick of sweetly struck 6s, drove the run rate along at over 10 an over. Along the way he valiantly hobbled through for singles with Laas, who was finally starting to enjoy the surface and the Trinidadian bowling as his sleek, proper cricket shots took him to 35, his highest score of the weekend. (An issue with the scorers and the app meant that several of Laas runs were incorrectly given to Sandhu.) When Sandhu finally fell for 54, Colombia was in a dominant position to win the game and tie the series. The only question left: would Colombia also be able to beat the light as well?
Another flurry of wickets from Colombia’s middle order gave the visitors hope that they could escape in the dark. Complaints from the boundary ropes alongside the tumbling wickets raised the concern of a repeat of Friday’s passionate negotiations about the game’s ending.
Thankfully Duckworth-Lewis was not required as the lower order started to find the white ball through the gloom again. Any Colombian worries were dispatched with the scores level, Bailey produced a magnificent trademark drive forward of point for the winning 4 as Colombia finished on 134 for 8 from 15.5 overs.
By the time the two teams had shaken hands, the scorers were having to tally up the scorebook with the help of mobile phone torches. Cricket just beating the arrival of night as the series went into the final game all-square at 2-2.
Spirit of the Game and Colombia win!
With other parts of Cali waking up to the last day of its famous salsa festival, the weather decided it wanted one more say in proceedings with everyone waking up to a persistent drizzle. By the time the ground had dried and the wicket prepared, the final day of Cali’s cricket festival was off to a very late start. Thankfully, both captains agreed to ignore the rain delay and play a full 20 over game.
The Trinidad and Tobago Legends again found themselves batting first, and again the Colombian bowlers took advantage with Srivastava trapping Hosein LBW with his third ball. The last ball of his first over also saw the dangerman Dary Balgobin walking back across the boundary ropes after wicketkeeper Laas had snatched a miraculous catch diving full length to his right-hand side off a thick outside from the left-hander’s bat, as Srivastava’s normal inswingers did the damage. The Legends finished the first over of the last game 3 for 2.
Colombia’s hopes for a quick win were dashed though as the Trinidadians showed their class with a 90-run third wicket partnership between D. Maharaj and Richerd Ramrekha (54 and 41 respectively) threatening to take the game away from them. However, Colombia kept plugging away with Siddharth Bharamgunde and then Perera taking vital wickets to open up the lower order with the last five overs of the innings remaining.
Besai tried to slam that door shut after replacing D. Maharaj though, by plundering a quick fire 32 runs from only 20 balls before falling LBW to Reid. Reid thought he’d got his man a lot earlier, and cheaply, when he, and importantly the umpire, thought he’d nicked the ball as it went through to an impressive Laas behind the stumps. Another moment of controversy beckoned until Reid, following consultation with the keeper and gully fielder, took advantage of his prerogative as captain to withdraw the appeal. The Legends finished their final innings of the series on 156 for 6.
With the success of their approach the evening before, Colombia went on the attack with their big hitters at the top of the order, with Reid this time joining Sandhu at the start of their response. The plan worked with Colombia 41 in the middle of the fourth over when Reid fell for 15.
Sandhu maintained the powerful stroke play from the night before in a masterclass of how to play on the wicket. His name ringing out regularly from the Colombian dressing area as he smashed six 4s and six 6s as he went on to score the series’ highest score of 73 (from only 43 balls). Unsurprisingly, he took the Batter of the Series award.
Laas’ stroke play was impressive again but the keeper had an unfortunate knack of picking out the fielder every time, including holing out to Besai on the midwicket boundary for 4 runs off his 20 balls. Radhakrishnan give the Colombian’s the push they needed with a resolute 26 not out, at a 153-strike rate. Though it was Paul Inch, who had replaced Laas behind the stumps on Sunday afternoon, with the honour of securing the winning runs for both the match and the series, with three overs to spare.
Cricket Colombia
Colombia breaks world cricketing record, but Mexico prevails 3-2
Colombia had not hosted an international cricket match since 2018, when the South American Cricket Championships came to Bogotá. Now, on the weekend of 9th to 11th May 2025 they faced Mexico, which has historically been one of the strongest international cricket teams in the region, even winning that 2018 tournament. With cricket now finally recognised by the Colombian Ministry of Sports and a concerted push for ICC recognition, it was a good time to show once again that Colombia could host an international cricket series.
Colombia’s squad had fresh faces but also included a return of several big names – an exciting mix of established players, returning stars and debutants, whose strong performances in national tournaments merited a look, were brought into the team: Lee Bailey and Mark Lamont of Bogota Bushrangers CC, Oscar Snow from Santa Marta CC, Siddharth Bharamgunde from Medellin CC, Samir Polo from Barranquilla CC and José Cantillo from Cartagena CC. Several other players from the coast – Jhon Hernandez, David Guevara and Jefferson Lambiz and Jorge Bolivar, were invited to participate as fielding substitutes, to get a taste of international cricket and help in their development. This Colombian squad therefore included more local talent than any previous one.
The Mexico side was captained by Bose Ruban and Praveen Krishnan, and managed by senior former international player Govardhan. The squad included a number of young players, several of whom had previously represented the country in South American Championships. A review of Mexico cricket league results showed a number of the players to have mouth-watering statistics in national games.
The matches took place in Centro Recreacional Solinilla in Salgar, Atlantico, in sight of the Caribbean sea and beachfront. This converted football pitch, and others in the region, have previously been used for national tournaments – but this was the first time that the coastal region of Colombia had hosted international cricket matches. With the scene set, a grueling schedule of five matches were scheduled over three days. Which team would play best to prevail, and who would have the stamina to keep up performances over this intense period?
Great start on the coast
Batting first in the series on the Friday morning, Colombia’s openers imposed themselves immediately, with an opening partnership of over 100. The innings was anchored by a composed knock from Chris Laas (53 off 62 balls, 5 fours and 2 sixes). Dian Perera hit out strongly and to great effect, with 54 off just 37 balls, including 3 fours and 5 sixes. Salim Patel added a brisk 12, but Mexico then contained the scoring in the final overs. Yashvanth Jasti, Shankar Ganesan and Harish Kumar each picked up a wicket, though Colombia finished on 154 for 3.
In response, Mexico got off to a promising start, with Mexican opener Bose Ruban in commanding form, hitting out at Colombia’s opening bowlers for 64 off 42 balls, including 3 fours and 7 sixes. After Abhas Shrivastava removed his stumps to take this key wicket, off-spinner Thomas Donegan was brought into the attack and claimed the next 3 top-order wickets (3/36), these two bowlers reducing Mexico from 41-0 to 67-4. Only Devon Ebersohn (19) offered any serious resistance after that, as Chris Laas took two more wickets and Paul Reid and Abhas one more apiece, and a sharp run-out from wicket-keeper Paul Inch completing the rout. Disciplined bowling in the middle overs, especially from Srivastava (2/6) and Perera, stifled Mexico’s momentum, and the Mexican innings fell short by 13 runs (133 all out). This was one of Colombia’s strongest batting and bowling performances in recent years. With the opposition playing in unfamiliar home conditions and some players on each side showing good form, the series was placed nicely.
All square
At the start of the second game on the Friday, Mexico paced their innings perfectly, posting a solid total of 148/9 in their 20 overs. This was built on a series of gritty contributions throughout the order, with 6 batters reaching double figures. The innings was anchored by Shubhang Sharma (27) and Yashvanth Jasti (21*). Mexico looked set for a middling total until a late-order acceleration via Jasti. Extras played a significant role, with Colombia conceding 30 runs through wides and no-balls. This followed on a pattern from the previous match where both teams lost 25 runs to extras. Some bowlers clearly found the plastic strip off-putting, and the various left hand-right hand combinations in the Mexican squad often made it difficult for bowlers to find their line.
Colombia’s best bowling was achieved by Chris Laas, who achieved the best bowling for Colombia in the whole series, taking 4 middle-to-lower order wickets for 20 runs. This contribution kept Mexico from posting an even bigger total. Siddharth Bharamgunde chipped in with 2 wickets, while Abhas Srivastava and Dian Perera claimed one each.
After the superb batting of the previous game, Colombia’s innings was either tired or complacent or both. Early wickets fell in quick succession, with Yashvanth Jasti wreaking havoc in the top order, inducing a mini-collapse from 20-0 to 22-3, taking 3 wickets for just 7 runs. The chase faltered due to tight bowling and lack of partnerships. Despite resistance from Dian Perera (22), Balaji Krishnan (12) and Paul Inch (11*) Colombia continued to lose wickets and were unable to increase the tempo, eventually whimpering towards 90/8 off the full 20 overs, even leaving a few wickets in hand. Mexico’s bowling attack was disciplined and effective. Bose Ruban, Harish Kumar, Shubhang Sharma, and Devon Ebersohn each picked up a wicket, while Arun Veerabathira and Vinodh Kumar kept things tight with economical spells, to result in a comprehensive 58-run win for Mexico. At 1-1, the series was hotting up.
Recovery not enough
On Day 1, the team which batted first had won both games, so it was no surprise to see Colombia choosing to bat on Day 2 after winning the toss – despite morning dew and overnight rain making for good bowling conditions. Colombia struggled early on, losing three wickets within the first five overs, collapsing to 12-3 then 20-4. Enter Sidd Bharamgunde, who scored Colombia’s third half-century of the series and anchored the innings with a resilient 56 off 63 balls, including 6 fours and 2 sixes. With captain Paul Reid stepping up to contribute 28* and Salim Patel with another useful 15 runs, both hitting big sixes, Colombia recovered to post a respectable 111/6. Mexico’s bowling was led by Arun Veerabathira, who claimed 3 wickets for 19 runs. Shubhang Sharma, Yashvanth Jasti, and Shankar Ganesan each took a wicket, maintaining pressure throughout the innings.
Mexico paced their innings well and the result never looked in doubt as they reached the target in 15.4 overs, finishing at 112/4. Tight bowling from Dian Perera and Abhas Shrivastava initially reduced Mexico to 12/2. But after those early setbacks, Shubhang Sharma (32*) and Bose Ruban (33) led a successful chase. Debutant Mark Lamont picked up his first international wicket towards the end of the innings. Abhas broke his finger in the field, but extraordinarily came back on to complete his spell after pitchside treatment, before leaving to hospital and sadly being sidelined for the rest of the series.
Low scores hides the drama
What a match the fourth game of the series was. This one should have been televised. Instead, all we have to remember this by is the online cric-heroes scorecard, which suggests a low-scoring, tense affair without telling the whole story. Batting conditions had by this point become difficult, with the pitch offering uneven bounce, especially to slower bowlers. Many deliveries kept low and rattled on to the stumps or for LBW shouts.
Colombia posted only a modest total, struggling to build partnerships despite a few promising individual performances. The innings was anchored by Waqar Khan who struck a lively 39 off just 26 balls, including 7 fours and a six, while Sidd Bharamgunde seemed on fire on 10 May 2025, contributing again with a valuable and quick-fire 33 of 14 deliveries. Only Chris Laas, with a patient 14, made it to double figures among the remainder. After these three had been dismissed, the lower order collapsed, with Shankar Ganesan delivering a devastating spell. Several unplayable deliveries kept very low, to dismiss Paul Reid, Balaji Krishnan and Thomas Donegan in particular. Shankar claimed 5 wickets for just 15 runs in 4 overs, including 2 maidens. He was well supported by Shubhang Sharma (2/30) and Yashvanth Jasti (1/6).
With a low total chase, Mexico started confidently, reaching 70-2. Opener Devon Ebersohn anchored the innings with 31 off 40 balls. With the seamers getting little headway, captain Paul Reid turned to off-spinners Sebastian Lonsdale and Thomas Donegan, who bowled in tandem to remove the two set batters, Ebersohn and Rohit Gupta (19) and wrap up 5 quick wickets. At 95-7, and with a Mexican tail that had so far only flittingly achieved, the game seemed winnable for Colombia. Mark Lamont, debutant Lee Bailey, and Dian Perera had also each picked up a wicket. But as the death overs approached, and when all seemed lost for Mexico, Praveen Krishnan went on a blistering counter-attack against Colombia’s spinners, with a brisk 17 off 10 balls to seal the 2 wicket win, and win the series with an unassailable 3-1 scoreline.
Record breaking
A dead rubber is rarely a classic, but this one broke a T20 international cricket world record! In the first innings, Colombia bowled well and Mexico batted well, the former achieving a good total of 139/9 in 20 overs. Mexican contributions were again spread through the batting order. Suraj Kannadiga (25) and Praveen Krishnan (24) provided stability in the middle overs, with five players reaching double figures. Colombia’s bowlers kept the pressure on throughout, with Lee Bailey claiming 2 wickets. Sebastian Lonsdale, Mark Lamont, Balaji Krishnan, Dian Perera, and Paul Reid also picked up wickets.
Colombia’s innings started poorly, with wickets tumbling throughout. At 5-2, 11-3 and then 28-6, there seemed no prospect of victory, or even a respectable total, until Waqar Khan (21) made another valuable contribution. Once he had been dismissed at 54-8, and the ninth wicket falling on 65, Colombia needed what would have been a world record last wicket stand to win the match. Enter Felix Sullivan (43* off 28) and Oscar Snow (10* off 18) who turned the tide, to pull off an impossible and dramatic 1-wicket victory, with 21 runs off the last 4 balls to win with a six, with 2 balls to spare. Mexico’s bowlers had been excellent early on, with Arun Veerabathira and Bose Ruban each claiming 3 wickets, and Shankar Ganesan two more. Despite efforts with diverse bowlers, they couldn’t break the final stand, Colombia claiming a famous victory and some respectability in only narrowly been beaten 3-2 in the series.
Sullivan and Snow smashed the previous T20 record of 46 for a last wicket chase, set in a first-class game in Sri Lanka between Basnahira and Wayamba, by ten runs. There have been four higher T20 last wicket partnerships, but those were all by players in teams that lost the match. This therefore seems to be the highest successful chase by the last wicket pair in a reported T20 match. The achievement is even more remarkable considering it took place in an international and involved the number 10 and 11 batters. Most high 10th wicket partnerships involve a top order batter and tail-ender.
Sullivan and Snow are good friends who both play for Santa Marta Cricket Club and have shared the crease in many regional and national cricket tournaments. Snow making his debut for Colombia during the series. They both work for El Rio Foundation, an NGO that runs community projects in a post-conflict zone on Colombia’s North Caribbean coast, including two junior cricket clubs.
A final word for the umpires: Andrew Wright a (former?) Colombia international and Govardhan of Mexico were impeccable, even handed and fair throughout.
Edward Henderson-Howat
Cali win their own tournament
Cali were crowned cricketing champions of their own tournament in a hard fought tri-series played in the beautiful setting of the Club de Polo Marañon Alto in Valle de Cauca over the long weekend of 11th-13th October 2025.
Just weeks ahead of the all important South American Cricket Championship, some of the brightest and best of Colombia’s cricketers gathered in the south-west of the country for a weekend of sport to help prepare for the tournament and crucially, grow the game in a region of the world more famed for football than five-fers.
Players from three teams: Cali, Bogotá Bushrangers and Bogotá Gladiators were also honoured to be joined by a collection of Trinidadian superstars including Imran Khan, (a legspinner of prodigious talent who snared 450 First Class wickets for his country in a professional career spanning almost two decades) and Rayad Emrit, (an allrounder with ODI and IT20 caps for the West Indies and someone who – were it not for a dropped catch by the great Brian Lara – would have bagged the wicket of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in just his second international outing).
What made the presence of such acclaimed names even more special, however, was the fact they were playing alongside some of individuals who were very new to the game as well as a diaspora of players representing cricket’s global panorama with representatives from Colombia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Scotland, Ireland and England.
The stage was therefore set for a carnival of cricketing entertainment.
One-way traffic
The first match saw Cali rack up a highly impressive 175-4 against Bogotá Gladiators, fronted by 32 from Chris Laas and 30 from Devindra Maharaj before the innings was topped off with a smash and grab knock of 51 not out from just 25 balls from Khan with one 4 and six towering 6s. The hosts also benefited from some wayward bowling as 42 extras were racked up including 38 wides. That said, the damage could have been worse were it not for two sharp run-outs from fellow Trinidadian, Darius Besai, and a tidy spell of 2-24 in four overs from Sid Bharamgunde.
It was a similar tale of largely one-way traffic in the Gladiators’ reply. Darius and Sid showed some fight with 27 and 41 apiece but the rest of the innings saw a string of single figure scores as Cali skipper, Dian Perera took 3-25 in his allotted spell, Pankaj Joshi finished with 2-17 in three overs and Gladiators stumbled to 131-7 giving Cali a deserved 44 run victory.
Slow burning thriller
Saturday’s second fixture, however, emerged into a slow burning thriller which will live long in the memory.
Cali again batted first, but this time, despite a number of dropped catches, tight bowling restricted them to 138-7 in 20 overs. Opening the bowling for the Bogotá Bushrangers, Lee Bailey secured impressive returns of 1-27 in four overs including a sharp caught and bowled off the big-hitting Dian Perera. Captain Andy Farrington delivered a remarkable spell of 2 overs for no runs, and Emrit rolled back the years with a fearsome spell of bowling which saw returns of 2-21 in four including the dangerous Khan caught behind by wicketkeeper Edward Howat for just 7.
With the bat in hand, however, the Bushrangers struggled to build any significant partnership but useful innings of 28 (12) from Emrit and 19 (17) from Vijay Pratap Singh kept them in the hunt. However, as 92-6 turned into 93-7 in the 13th over things seemed bleak as Farrington strolled to the middle with a major task on his hands. Yet with a steady innings, including 3 fours and 1 six, it seemed he was taking the visitors to a vital win as just 8 runs were needed from the final over bowled by D. Maharaj. Things seemed even brighter for the Bushrangers as the first ball was dispatched for 4 and the second was a wide leaving just 3 runs to win from 5 balls.
Disaster then struck, however, when Farrington was well caught on the boundary going for the match winning shot. Fellow Antipodean, Mark Lamont, was then the last man to walk out to bat with the match reaching a thrilling conclusion. The boundary rope was lined with spectators as D. Maharaj came up to the wicket and bowled. Mouths were left agog as the ball reared off the surface with violent force and crashed into Lamont’s helmet. And then to the horror of the onlooking crowd, the ball dropped onto the stumps, dislodged a solitary bail and Cali were jubilant. Was it a dead ball? Was it the winning moment? The conclusion was left unclear but as Cali walked off the field, a 2 run win to their name, all could agree on what thrilling conclusion it had been. Day 1 at the cricket was over.
Keeping masterpiece
Overnight rain delayed the start of play on Sunday 12th October but before long the Gladiators were beginning their innings in the first Bogotá derby of the tournament. After early wickets from Bailey and Singh put the Bushrangers on top, it looked like the batting side were charging to an imposing total as Bogola Krish’s innings of 30 provided much needed support to Siddharth Bharamgunde in a partnership which had reached 71 runs in less than 8 overs. However, all this was to change as the batters sought a quick drop-and-run single off the bowling of the miserly Emrit. Howat rushed in from behind and managed to flick the ball back onto the stumps before Bharamgunde had grounded his bat as the run-out was complete. From there, the wheels fell off as the Gladiators collapsed to 117-7 in their allotted 20 with Ashish Sharma and Farrington chipping in with wickets and Howat bagging a further two catches and two stumpings behind the sticks.
It was then fellow Trinidadian, Cecil Ramlal, who backed up the big hitting Emrit (dismissed on 38 by Sanjay Bhojaraju) with a calm and composed knock of 27 not out at just over a run a ball to see the Bushrangers home by 4 wickets with two overs to spare despite tidy four over spells from Darius Besai (1-26), Karthik Radhakrishnan (1-17) and Bharamgunde (3-23).
Mansfield The Magnificent
As the tournament reached its halfway point, it was now clear that the next match between Cali and the Bushrangers would be pivotal in determining the fate of the prized Oiga Mire Vea Trophy. The stakes were therefore high as Paul Inch and fellow Englishman, Bailey, walked to the middle. However, it was another one of His Majesty’s subjects who soon sent the former packing for a two ball duck as the evergreen Joe Mansfield had Inch clean bowled in a metronomic opening spell of 3-22. As with the Saturday, Cali’s bowlers were backed up by their thankless fielders including Sid Clancy, Steven Bradbury and Wojciech Waliszewski all of whom stuck to their task manfully in the field, leaving the crowd rightly disappointed that their exploits with the bat were not to be showcased during the weekend.
Meanwhile, with Bogotá’s top five batters contributing just 8 runs between them, the Bushrangers were sleepwalking to a nightmarish 23-5 after 5.5 overs and all seemed lost. Things improved little as Khan bowled what could well have been the ten thousandth maiden over of his career and the visitors seemed stranded at 44-5 almost half way through their innings. Under a baking sun, something had to crack.
It was South African batting all-rounder Laas, a player of prodigious talent, who was set to bowl the 10th over. The player in his sights, former international Emrit, a man in imperious form. First ball, a wide. Second ball, a lofted 6 to long on. Third ball, a 4 to deep extra cover. Fourth ball, a monster 6 over cow corner. And then, off the fifth ball, another magnificent shot which went high and far – but then descended towards the distant figure of Colombia and Cali’s very own Kevin Gomajoa Martinez. The game seemed to stand still and silence reigned as that orb of leather thundered towards him. And then, with an almighty thud it planted itself into Martinez’s gleeful hands. Emrit despondent, Cali jubilant. Bogotá soon looked dead and buried at 90-8 in the 13th over. Surely that was the game?
Yet, cricket being the greatest sport ever created, had another surprise to serve up.
The day before, the batting of ANZAC duo Farrington and Lamont had promised so much before the crushing disappointment of the 2 run loss. This day, however, would be different. With cuts and sweeps and singles and shouts they put on a truly remarkable 59 run partnership for the ninth wicket. With frustrations flying between the fielders, it was now Cali who looked the broken team. Bushrangers 149-8 in 20.
When the ever present Laas was superbly caught on the boundary by Emrit in the first over it seemed we were in for the most climactic of finishes. But then the cricketing gods had other ideas as the heavens opened, the rain poured and the match was abandoned.
Colombian Pena wraps up the tail
Thick puddles of mud had besmirched themselves into the wicket the night before but as the morning of Monday 13th October dawned the skies were mercifully clear and the third and final day at the cricket could begin. The equation was simple, the Bushrangers had to beat the Gladiators by a healthy margin and then hope that the very same opposition would do them a favour against Cali. The hosts, on the other hand, simply had to win their game and the trophy would be theirs.
Making amends for the day before, Inch, proved spectacular behind the stumps, snaffling a brace of stumpings and catches apiece, Grade 8 student, Aniketa Prem, delivered one of his first overs in senior cricket whilst locally grown talent Edwin Pena had a glorious moment in the sun as his captain kept the faith in asking that he bowl the 20th over. What followed was the most extraordinary sequence of four fiery dismissals as the young Colombian finished with the broadest smile upon his face. (Such spirit of inclusivity is something we must hope continues to flourish across all teams in Colombia).
However, the fighting spirit of the Gladiators would not be broken. With sharp fielding from Komal Ram and Kamal Mirchandani, they orchestrated four fantastic run-outs of their own. When yesterday’s hero, Lamont was bowled and the Bushrangers had only 41-6 to their name it appeared we were on for a Hollywood esque fightback. However, calm and powerful batting from Ashish Sharma and Singh soon put paid to such dreams of Gladiator III, as an unbroken 61 run partnership saw their side home to a 6-wicket victory in just 11.4 overs. What this crucially meant was as well as two precious points, the Bushrangers’ run rate was now above that of Cali… it would all come down to the very last fixture.
Could the Galdiators help out their city rivals?
Despite a good catch from Anirudha Prem, Cali began in blistering style reaching 56-1 from just 5 overs largely off the blades of Dian and Laas. However, as Prem Nainish Vembu came onto bowl, the homeside seemed to unravel as the spinner took 3-27 in a wily spell. Jamie Davis did his best to stem the tide with a couple of well-struck 4s but it was ultimately left to Khan to give the crowd one last glimpse of what cricket looks like played on a different level as he stroked a magnificent 61 from just 27 balls, including 34 runs off a single over bowled by Sankar Sekaran, Cali finishing on 189-8, the highest score of the tournament. Could the Gladiators break the record books and pull off the unthinkable?
Krish seemed to think so as the required 9 runs were plucked from the first over. However, that was to be as good as it got for the luckless visitors. With another top order performance which read more like a phone number than a scorecard, Dave Benedict delivered a bruising spell of 2-7 in three overs whilst Munish Kumar kept up the pressure with one wicket and a tidy economy rate of just 5.5 runs per over. When Amin Hosein performed a sharp stumping (remarkably the 9th such dismal from all keepers across the tournament), the Gladiators had slipped to 68-8. Some late and brave hitting from the belligerent Abhirupo Mukherjee (19) and a dazed Karthik Radhakrishnan (34) ensured the innings would last the full 20 overs but sadly there was to be no fanfare finish as Cali romped to a 71 run victory and were soon to get their hands on the trophy.
Dedication and commitment galore
With the Hero Motor Medals kindly handed out by tournament sponsor and Cali player, Ajit Jachak alongside MC and Bushrangers’ all rounder, Amit Raj, attention then turned to the player of the series awards. It was no surprise to see Khan take home the best-batter award whilst Siddarth Bharamgunde was duly recognised for his outstanding all round contributions despite four consecutive defeats as he held aloft the best bowler and tournament MVP prizes. However, the biggest cheers were rightfully reserved for the best fielding moment as Caleño Kevin was applauded for his stunning boundary catch. If cricket is to grow in Colombia, let this young man be the beacon to which others rally.
This just left the final words to be given to the Trinidadian legends who had lit up the past few days. Devindra Maharaj spoke meaningfully and warmly about what it meant for all us to be playing together and thanked all those who had worked tirelessly to make the tournament happen, including those who had put in so many hours behind the scenes, before Khan delivered the final words of the weekend.
“It means a lot to come and play here,” he said. “To see so many of you rushing out to a wicket covered in water last night, trying to do all you can to play despite the conditions… Well, all I can say is that, with no disrespect to my own country, if we had just half of that dedication and commitment, cricket in the West Indies would be in a very different place”.
Words spoken by a legend of the domestic Caribbean game. Words which we must all hope can fuel the dream to deliver cricket in Colombia and power this beautiful game into this most beautiful of countries.
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