Spreading the fever, pursuing passion for cricket in the US

One can’t find a young Indian father in these cricket fan dominated countries spending a weekend at home doing morning chores. The common complaint from wives — ‘Oh my husband, you can find him in the cricket ground’ — is just so much a reality here. For a passerby in the park who gather for morning exercise, this sport is definitely eye-catching entertainment.

Playing cricket has helped build a strong binding community in a foreign land. It is such a stress buster for the IT professionals who are in their late twenties and already engaged in a highly demanding jobs. “If there is one thing that connects me with the Indian roots and making me feel at home, it is playing cricket during the week end,” says Suseendran Thangaraju, a successful restaurant owner who also manages two popular cricket teams in New Jersey.

The parks and open spaces designated for cricket are so limited that there is a long wait list for teams that venture to play; still it is a worthy wait, feels the cricket enthusiasts. “We used to wait from four in the morning to get a noon slot during the initial days,” recalls Suseendran.

Playing organised cricket has been a fast growing trend over the past four or five years, primarily because of the growing numbers of the South Asian immigrant population, especially from India. Dedicated and deliberate effort of the ICC to make this sport popular in the country of football fans also helps. States like New Jersey, Virginia, Atlanta, Florida, Texas and California have established leagues that engages in organising professional cricket. There are more than 10,000 people who play organised league cricket in the state of New Jersey alone. These are so well-organised and conducted in a professional space. Three major leagues Millennium cricket league, Central league of New Jersey, Garden state cricket team work with 7000 players in hard leather ball. Many cricket coaching institutes and training camp centers are mushrooming in the state engaging young generation.

In states like New Jersey, where half of the year is rendered unsuitable for outdoor games due to the weather, elaborate investments are being made for indoor facilities. In Virginia, the Washington Cricket League is one of the well-organised old leagues operating for more than four decades. The three divisions have healthy matches every week and a notable feature is good sponsorship support from business houses in the region, covering top class gears and playground facilities, shares Guru Kannan, who has played Under-19 matches for Tamil Nadu and still follows his passion in the US.

Many times, legends of the game like Sunil Gavaskar and Shane Warne are invited for camps that keep the cricket fraternity tight and spirited. In some school districts in New Jersey, cricket fever has picked up so intensely that coaching centers and after school clubs are being permitted in the campus. The St Louis American Cricket Academy trains hundreds of kids every year preparing them for national teams. Particularly interesting is fact that there are school districts losing numbers for the American football teams due to the head injury threats and research findings that go against this sport. In view of this, cricket seems to be a safe bet for the parents of South Asian origin.

The support of the local administration in promoting cricket is also aiding the spread of cricket fever. The local cricket teams and league representatives are able to organise themselves well and push for township funding for building infrastructure. Counties are now able to get the local government to assign parks and build proper cricket pitches and maintain them for the game. Township budget is always proportional to the number of users of the facility and that doesn’t seem to be an issue now.

“Plainsboro spent $20,000 in creating a professional cricket pitch for the game lovers in the township,” says Saikumar Agaram, an IT professional who runs popular sparks cricket club in New Jersey. He adds, “Though cricket is not a popular national game, it still remains that USA has maximum viewership for it, outside the cricket playing nation band.” This is because of the huge immigrant population from cricket-friendly nations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who reside in the US. The ICC is looking at this as a potential factor to promote the game well in the US.

“Strengthening of the nodal agency by floating the newly centralised organisation USA Cricket is the first step in the revamping exercise. Since this happened, we are seeing the growth of the number of leagues in this nation; there is increased investments happening in the infrastructure facilities,” observes Saikumar. “ICC engaged PWC for the study that has confirmed the huge potential of the ad market in the country for cricket matches. As of today, the only proper cricket ground for international games is in Florida. More such facilities are on the cards. Plans are also on for introducing IPL-type T20 tournaments in the USA. If everything goes well we should have these tournaments inaugurated in 2020,” he notes.

All said and done, today, much of the cricket push is happening because of the young immigrants who move into this country for jobs. They continue to push for a space for their childhood sport. Children born here are still not fascinated by cricket yet. They find American football, basketball, baseball and soccer as exciting sport. Will there be a time when cricket supersedes Superbowl in the US, we will have to wait and watch.