The cricket is gradually getting its foothold in the new zone like the United States. The game is only popular among the commonwealth countries. But the rich game is getting to get a foothold in the richest country in the world.
In 2015 a T20 tournament hosted in the country where people embraced the game with enormous interest.
“Cricket was first played in the 1300s, whereas baseball started in 1839” according to legend, at least, said Ravi Rao, a 42-year-old native of Hyderabad, India, now living in Hopkinton. “Cricket is the second-biggest sport on the earth [after soccer], with over 1.6 billion followers worldwide.”
The first cricket game played in the US was in 1709 in Manhattan, but it took almost centuries – 1906-before a game was played in Massachusetts, according to Rao. By then , of course, the other ball and stick spot –baseball-had become popular in the country. But a sport long relegated to curiosity status here seems to be making inroads, thanks in part to the region’s melting pot diversity and two organization, the Massachusetts State Cricket League (MSCL) and the New England Cricket Association (NECA).
Both groups have created fields that allow the game’s 360-degree playing format and adopted a shorter version allowing games to be completed during an afternoon.
“I moved to Boston in 1999,” said Rao, who started playing at age 9. “I was looking for opportunities to play cricket in this region and learned about the MSCL, and started our own team in 2002 – Eagle Cricket Club – along with my good friends Ravi Uppalapati, Anil Kumar, and Kumar Potluri.
“We started with one team and soon found a lot of like-minded folks with equal passion and commitment,” said Rao, now president of the league. “That made us expand our club to three more teams. Currently, we have over 80 active players in the club, and 1,200-plus players in the state.”
Locals say they are encouraged by cricket’s growth over the past decade. The NECA lists 25 clubs. The MSCL currently has23 clubs and 36 tea,s, with some clubs supporting multiple teams playing at different levels (the league has four divisions). Teams play 14 to 16 ages from May through August, with playoffs set for September.
“Any sport will find its place when it’s adopted in the early stages of life,” said Rao, adding that soccer took a while to catch on here.
“We need to organize cricket clinics and coaching camps, and educate kids about the game at a very young age,” he said. “But given the wide variety of options – swimming, tennis, gymnastics, hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer, softball – it’s a tough choice.”
The MSCL has developed youth programs and several clubs have started organizing youth clinics during the summer. There are also women’s programs.
“Similar to baseball, all you really need is a ball and a bat, and perhaps a surface where the ball you are using can bounce,” said Munshi. “In Massachusetts, there are dozens of cricket clubs that are highly welcoming of new players who are interested in learning and playing the game.”