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Bo Christoffer Brekke (Chris) was born in Norway in 1984. His father was Norwegian born and his mother was Danish born. Chris grew up in Sri Lanka and in Bangladesh. “My native tongue is Norwegian, but I had to pass a Norwegian language proficiency test in order to be admitted to the University of Oslo!” says Chris. After having lived abroad for many years, he often feels more like a foreigner than a Norwegian.
It was a pleasant surprise for him to discover that cricket is an active sport in Norway. “Cricket is national sport number one in South Asia, and when I was able to join a cricket team (in Norway) it felt like coming home.
Chris has trained on the Norwegian Cricket Team which predominately consists of members with Pakistani background. One of them, Atta, grew up in Pakistan and is now one of the members representing Norway in international tournaments. “I feel Norwegian when I play on the national team. I always feel Norwegian, - it is only in Oslo that I am Pakistani.”
One of the subjects interviewed in the research project “Norwegian yesterday, today, tomorrow?” is Arslan Mohammed. He was born in Oslo in 1975 and his parents are Pakistani. He tells that cricket is important for his national feelings towards Pakistan. As for many others in the Pakistani global community, popular culture plays a central role in developing a diverse cultural identity.
Cricket was introduced to South-Asia by the British colonial rule in the 1800s. The sport was imported to Norway by Pakistani work migrants in the 1970s. In 2007, the sport federation Norwegian Cricket was admitted to the national Confederation of Sports, NIF (Norges idrettsforbund).
Suitcase belonging to a Pakistani immigrant to Norway in 1975.
