Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Cricket: A fun little game that’s played in Willistown
WILLISTOWN » Although the game is popular all over the world, until recently I knew very little about the sport of cricket.
I’d heard about the marathon five-day games and seen a “batsman” strike a ball with an English willow, but otherwise I was clueless.
After spending a couple of Saturday’s watching and listening on the “ground,” I still know there is a great deal to learn. I also wondered how hard it would be to explain football rules (not soccer, but the American version) to somebody who had never seen the game.
I asked about the fiveday games while watching a seven-hour contest and was told that the timing isn’t that strange when considering that golfers play four-day tournaments. I did not stick around to see who won.
“The attention span of the average American is not that great,” said Chen Venkataraman, of India, and one the Titans founders. “But once you get involved, it’s not that long.”
Cricket is a world game. The Titans Cricket Club is the home team at the Line Road soccer fields, and is composed entirely of former residents of India. The opposing team was mostly former residents of Pakistan and India.
Almost everybody involved is a computer software worker.
The game is played in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies and Canada, several spots where the sun never sets on the British Empire.
There is some interest in America, with the Germantown Cricket Club featuring the sport since 1854.
“It’s the only game we play and is the national sport,” said Titans Cricket Club founder Sourav Das of India. “You don’t have to spend a lot of money, you just need a bat and a ball.
“It’s not a physical game — it’s a ‘gentleman’s game.’”
If players get physical, both are tossed out.
The players eat and drink on the sidelines during the matches and Das said players get accustomed to playing for seven hours in a row.
There’s trash talk or “sledding” and the players are very encouraging and vocal when their teammates do well.
Several athletes told me that playing cricket in America is like going home.
“It feels nostalgic and brings back so many memories,” Das said.
The hard leather ball is painted red, which is tough to miss with all those white uniforms. Amazingly, no one uses a mitt or glove. Players wear abdominal guards and a helmet is compulsory when batting.
Teammates talk easily amongst themselves during breaks in play when other teammates are at bat.
“It’s a very easy transition to start making new friends and meeting people,” said Pakistani-born Drexel student Maaez Veqar.
There are no lines on the field like in many sports; there are temporary markers placed around the ground.
The asphalt pitch is set at the center of the action. It’s 22 yards from crease to crease which feature about two-foot-high “stumps.”
A “bowler” or pitcher gets a running start and whips the ball as fast, or faster than, 100 mph on the professional level and about between 60 to 80 mph in Willistown. The ball takes one bounce before being whacked.
Two runners, or “strikers” start out in opposing creases and run at the same time after the ball is batted. A batsman gets six pitches and unlike baseball, striker and nonstriker run at the same time in opposite directions while accumulating runs for each base.
The opposing team is charged with touching the stump with the ball. As long as a striker does not get put out, they can bat until an inning is over.
Extra runs are accumulated for hitting the ball a certain distance on the ground or in the air. There are teams of 11 players.
The Titans players appreciate Neil Davis, president of the Greater Chester Valley Soccer Association for encouraging cricket and building a pitch on the fields that are most often used for soccer.
“There are more sports than just soccer,” Davis said. “We try to appeal to everybody in the community.”
Thanks to Das and his description, otherwise I’d have been lost. There are many more rules listed online than I can easily assimilate. I’ve just given a thumbnail sketch.
I was given a chance to whack a few of the those red leather balls with a wicket. My hands stung when I caught it with bare hands. The ball was tough to miss and if I ever learn the rules I can probably become a cricket superstar … or maybe not.