“Our Work Doesn’t Stop”: Michel Assunção on Brazil’s Historic Triumph and What Comes Next

Brazilian cricket has enjoyed a successful few weeks that could shape the country’s growth in the sport.

Just weeks after Carolina Nascimento guided the women’s side to silverware in Switzerland, the men made history of their own in Colombia.

Brazil arrived at the South American Cricket Championship looking to make their mark, but left as undefeated champions, lifting the title for the first time in the country’s history.

 

At the heart of that success was captain Michel Assunção. Having grown up playing a similar game to cricket before discovering the sport through a social project, Assunção has gone from batting in the lower order to leading his country and playing a crucial role with both bat and ball in Brazil’s biggest triumph to date.

For Assunção, though, cricket was something that felt familiar almost from the moment he discovered it.

“In Brazil, there is a sport that is very similar to cricket, so I played it from a young age and really enjoyed it,” he tells Emerging Cricket.

“My family taught me how to play, and when cricket was introduced to my social project, I saw that it was practically the same. Because I already enjoyed it so much, I never stopped playing.”

Poços de Caldas, in southern Minas Gerais, close to the border with São Paulo state, is one of the driving factors for cricket in Brazil. It’s historically famous for its thermal and sulphurous mineral waters, with the city becoming a well-known spa destination. 

However, in 2011, cricket development in Poços de Caldas began to accelerate rapidly when Englishman Matt Featherstone started the Cricket Poços de Caldas project with the aim of popularising the game.

It’s safe to say that this has definitely worked, and the country is now reaping the rewards from the work which Featherstone and those involved have done.

Cricket is becoming increasingly popular in Brazil, in both the men’s and women’s game, and is making its way to other major cities across the country.

“In Brazil, everyone knows much more about football, but over the years cricket has grown a lot in the country. There are now more than 10,000 children participating in cricket across several cities around Poços de Caldas, as well as major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, among others,” Assunção explained.

“Poços de Caldas is the main base of Cricket Brasil. There are several projects and schools where cricket is a normal activity, just like football. 

“Matt started a fantastic project, and even though we are players ourselves, we are also involved in the classes with all the children. It means the students have the chance to be with us both in training and even, potentially, playing on the same team.

“We have several national championships in Poços de Caldas, from Under-15 tournaments all the way through to adult competitions. We have a strong group of young players coming through, and it is growing very quickly in both the men’s and women’s game.”

Assunção is a product of the academy at Poços de Caldas, where he joined aged 12. Cricket didn’t just offer him the opportunity to play the sport, but it also offered him education and the chance to travel across South America. He became the first member of his family to attend university and has become a role model to children in the community where he grew up, with many of the younger children looking up to him.

His development with Brazil goes back to 2017, when he was part of the development side that competed in the Iguaçu Cup in Buenos Aires. Two years later, in domestic cricket, he was named best fielder at the 2019 Brazilian Men’s Championship in Brasília, while representing Minas Gerais Cricket Club.

He’s also picked up several other accolades, including MVP at the Poços Bash and best batter at the Mini Bash. He made his full international debut for Brazil against Mexico in Rio de Janeiro in 2024, and since then has gone on to become an important part of the national side.

More recently, Assunção has just made history, captaining Brazil to the South American Championship for the first time. Their tournament was a huge success as they went through the entire competition unbeaten.

Firstly, they beat Peru by six wickets before beating the Turks and Caicos Islands by 49 runs, Panama by seven wickets and Mexico by 44 runs. In the semi-final, they faced the Turks and Caicos Islands once again, where they enjoyed a nine-wicket victory, setting up another match with Panama.

This time, though, the match against Panama was much tighter, with Brazil narrowly enjoying victory by just three runs. Skipper Assunção played a key part in the final, scoring 30 runs off 29 balls with the bat, before picking up two wickets for just 19 runs with the ball.

He was tasked with bowling the final over, putting all the pressure on himself, where he managed to pick up a wicket, restrict Panama and claim glory in Bogota for the Brazilian national team.

“It was incredible to lead Brazil. We are a team that has been playing together since our youth development days, and everyone had the same purpose in this tournament, which was to win. To do it while remaining undefeated made it even more incredible,” he expressed.

“During the final against Panama. In the first 10 overs, they were controlling the game, but then we came together and realised that we could handle the pressure from the crowd being against us, as well as the pressure their batters were putting on us.

“When I was batting, I was just thinking about enjoying myself and doing what we had trained for over the previous few months. When I was bowling, the pressure came because we didn’t have any other bowlers left to bowl the final over, so I had to step in.

“When I was hit for six, I was really nervous, but I managed to put it to one side and stay focused. We all get nervous during games — anyone who says they don’t is lying.”

“It was my proudest moment in a Brazil shirt, where I was able to help the team both with the bat and ball. Before this, I was mainly a fielder who batted in the lower order, but I never gave up.”

There’s still plenty of action coming up for Brazil in terms of cricket, and Assunção has already set his targets for what he wants to achieve going forward. He already has his eyes on the Central American Cricket Championships next year, which Brazil will be aiming to defend, having won it this year.

There’s also the chance to compete in ICC qualification for the World Cup, while there are opportunities to travel to Europe and compete in other tournaments, similar to what the women’s side have just experienced in Zurich.

Whatever happens in Brazil over the next five to ten years, it’s going to be an exciting and promising period for Brazilian cricket.

“Now that we are champions, our work doesn’t stop. Our next objective is to dominate South America and then go to Europe or other continents to compete in tournaments,” He concluded.

“Of course, we also have the major goal of performing well in the World Cup qualifiers. My biggest dream is to see Brazil dominating South America, climbing the ICC rankings and reaching the second stage of the World Cup qualifiers.

“My goals are to win the CAC next year and to help the team in the same way I did in Colombia. As captain, I want to earn more and more of the team’s trust and take us even further.”

From discovering cricket through a social project in Poços de Caldas to captaining his country to a historic first South American title, Assunção’s journey is perhaps the perfect example of just how far cricket in Brazil has come. If his ambitions are anything to go by, both he and Brazilian cricket are only just getting started.

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