Local Faces: Abul Shapon

Cricket is the second biggest sport in the world with an estimated 2.5 billion avid fans, writes Ken Doyle.

Love for the game is particularly passionate on the Indian subcontinent and our featured Face of the Community this week is Bangladesh-born Abul Shapon, secretary of Clondalkin Cricket Club, and a man who hopes to spread the cricketing gospel throughout our area.

Abul is a passionate and engaging character, and his love for sport and people shines through during our conversation.

“I’ve been a big fan of all sports since I was a young kid in Dhaka,” he tells me.

“I played all sports when I was young and I even had a hand in organising sport at my school. I’d be organising cricket and football matches against other schools in my spare time and everyone always looked forward to them.”

Abul is a huge believer in sport as a benefit to physical and mental health and wants to see as many people as possible participating in sports at all levels of age and ability.

“Well, the science has proven that sport improves the lives of the people who play hugely.

‘The physical advantages are obvious but it’s a great way to meet people and can bring people out of their shells. In my career I’ve seen so many people’s lives get better through coming out and having a game with us.”

A lot of our readers may not have even known that Clondalkin Cricket Club exists, but Abul and the rest of the club intend to put that right and hopefully attract a new generation of local players to them.

The club itself came into being in 2015, when a group of cricket-mad local people including Abul, got together and and decided to try to get a club going that would benefit the ever-growing community in the Clondalkin area.

“We started off with nothing basically, but through the hard work of a few people, we managed to get some funding to get going and were allocated a space in Corkagh Park to play in. Kenny Egan, who was a local councillor and of course, a boxing Olympic medallist, got involved and became a big part of the club’s establishment.

‘Kenny was actually our chairman until last year when other commitments meant he had to step down. He was a great help to us and we’re truly grateful to him.”

Through no fault of their own, the club lost the use of the Corkagh Park facility some years ago and undeterred, they searched for and found a suitable replacement in Tymon Park, from where the club now operates.

“We’ve kept the name Clondalkin Cricket Club because that’s where our roots are and where a lot of us live, but we now are trying to grow and attract interest from the huge catchment area around Tymon.

‘We’re hoping to bring in people from Tallaght and other areas nearby.

‘We’re also particularly hoping to attract younger players and become a real community asset. Sport really helps with integration too and we want to be a fixture in the sporting landscape of the areas we represent.”

Abul himself came to Ireland in 2006 and in his day job, he’s an occupational therapist with the HSE. As our conversation progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious that Abul’s main focus in life, is to help and improve the lives of other people.

He’s one of those people that we’re fortunate to feature in these pages who give their time and energy completely free of charge.

On the pitch, Abul is a swashbuckling all-rounder with over 3,000 runs and 340 wickets to his name in his Irish cricket career – he cites the likes of Sachil Tendulkar and Brian Lara as his cricketing heroes.

“I plan to keep playing for as long as I can,” he tells me, “but I see my future in the sport as a coach. I’m a certified ECB level 2 coach and when time permits, I plan on getting my level 3 qualification.

‘I intend to pass on what I’ve learned to the next generation of cricketers in our area and hopefully teach them the right way to approach their sport.”

With 20 years of being an occupational therapist under his belt, Abul is well placed to deal with the slings and arrows of sporting administration. Adding to that, he’s a true family man living in Clondalkin with his wife Sonia, a Montessori teacher, and their 10-year-old daughter.

Clondalkin Cricket Club is a great little sporting organisation and has experienced no little success in its decade of existence. Below are some of the club’s achievements.

• 2023: Middle Cup/T20 Cup Champion (1st Team);
• 2019: Division 8 Champion (1st Team)
• 2018: Minor Cup 2 Champion (2nd team);
• 2017: Whelan Cup /T20 Cup Champion (1st Team); 2017: shortlisted for the LAMA Community and Councils Award the local sport club of the year;
• 2016: Dublin BUS Community Spirit Award; 2016: Shortlisted for South Dublin County Council’s Community Endeavours Awards as a local sport club.
• 2015: The Clondalkin Cricket Club is a member of the South Dublin County Public Participation Network (SDCPPN-0332);
• 2015: Clondalkin Cricket Club was officially opened by Frances Fitzgerald (Minister for Justice and Equality).

The club hosted around 800 people at the anniversary celebrations earlier this year and currently have three teams playing every weekend.

They’re growing fast and as far as Abul is concerned, the more the merrier.

“The area is full of sports-mad kids and I would urge anyone to come down and give the game a try. I can promise them a warm welcome and I’m sure they’ll have fun.”

For more information on Clondalkin Cricket Club, visit their website.