• About
  • Events
  • Community Calendar
  • Advertise
  • Subscriptions
  • Foundation
  • Contact
  • Seattle Chinese Post

Northwest Asian Weekly

  • Community
    • Names in the News
    • Local
    • Business
    • Pictorials
    • Obituaries
  • Nation
  • World
  • Arts & Entertainment
  • Columns
    • On the Shelf
    • At the Movies
    • A-POP!
    • Publisher Ng’s blog
    • The Layup Drill
    • Travel
    • Wayne’s Worlds
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentary
    • Publisher Ng’s blog
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Astrology
  • Classifieds
  • Community Calendar
You are here: Home / News / National News / Immigrants fueling a U.S. boom in cricket

Immigrants fueling a U.S. boom in cricket

June 7, 2014 By Northwest Asian Weekly

By Frank Eltman
Associated Press

EAST ISLIP, New York (AP) – Cricket, the international game of bats and balls that isn’t baseball, is enjoying a surge of popularity in America, with the debut of a national league this spring and higher demand to build “pitches” across the country.

Areas such as New York City, California’s Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Chicago have become cricket hotbeds, fueled by an influx of mostly South Asian immigrants, some of whom arrived as part of the high-tech boom.

In the immigrant-rich New York area, cricket has become so popular that lotteries are being held for the chance to play in pitches at some parks. New York City schools still have the only varsity cricket league in the country, but it has doubled in size in just seven years, with 30 teams now competing for the title.

A national traveling league, the American Cricket Champions League, began this spring and has 17 teams from Boston to Los Angeles vying a for a six-team playoff tournament.

For 17-year-old Akash Chowdhury, who arrived in New York City four years ago from Bangladesh and plays in the city schools league, cricket has helped smooth the transition to his new home.

His Brooklyn International High School team, outfitted with crisp, white uniforms and batting helmets like the stars they follow on cable television, often play their games in the outfields of idle baseball diamonds.

“Playing cricket in America helps me remember my back country,” Chowdhury said. “But I really don’t miss it like that, because I can play here.”

In the past several years, communities in states from Maryland to Indiana have taken initiatives to organize youth leagues and build cricket facilities. The United States Youth Cricket Association has donated 1,500 sets of cricket equipment — bats, balls and wickets — to community youth programs around the country.

John Aaron, executive secretary of the American Cricket Federation, compares cricket in the United States to where soccer was just a few decades ago.

“When soccer first started here, people said it’s not going to go anywhere — American football is the thing,” Aaron said. “Soccer has not replaced American football, but it has certainly taken off now, hasn’t it? Cricket can do the same thing.” (end)

Associated Press video journalist David Martin contributed to this report.

Share:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: National News Tagged With: 2014, American Cricket Champions League, American Cricket Federation, Associated Press, Bangladesh, David Martin, His Brooklyn International High School, John Aaron, Los Angeles, New York City, Silicon Valley, South Asian, United States, Vol 33 No 24 | June 7 - June 13

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Find us on Issuu!

Subscribe to our e-news

© 2020 NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
412 MAYNARD AVE. S., SEATTLE, WA 98104
206-223-5559 | INFO@NWASIANWEEKLY.COM
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.