Cricket brings a piece of Europe to the Quad
Even though it’s not university official, that doesn’t stop cricket diehards from holding games and tournaments on the Quad throughout the summer and the warm months of each semester.
The last organized cricket tournament was in September, held by the Indian Student Association. Over 30 students participated, from undergraduates to doctoral students, according to the three winning teams’ rosters. Although it was held by thew ISA, Indian students were not the only ones interested, said Swadesh Patra, an electrical engineering doctoral student.
“Cricket is the most popular game in Southeast Asia,” Patra said. The sport is nothing new to him, he said. Having grown up in India, he is a seasoned Cricket veteran.”I’ve been playing for the past 12 years now. Cricket is very popular in our part of the world.”
Satyajit Desai, a master’s student and the sport secretary of ISA, lived in India and came to USU last semester. Cricket was a familiar sight to him.
“Cricket is a really big thing in India,” Desai said. “People are crazy over there in cricket.”
ESPN Cricinfo, an online source for cricket game updates, team and world cup information, traces the origins of cricket to northern Europe during the Dark Ages.
The game is played with hard leather ball roughly the size of a baseball, a flat-faced wooden bat and 11 players on each team. An inning is over after every player on the team has batted. The team to score the most runs after the end of two innings, one for each team, wins.
It may not be as well known as football or baseball in the United States, but there is a USA cricket team. The new 2011-2012 cricket season begins later this month.
“There are a lot of people around here who play cricket, so we just wanted to organize an event around those guys,” Desai said.
The games and tournaments have been well received, with up to 50 students showing up to play. The games attract spectators as well, he said.
“We usually have a good crowd interested in the game,” Desai said. The tournament in September was no exception, he added. “We had a few bystanders watching the game and asking questions like, ‘How do you play?'” he said.
Patra said people stop to watch because cricket looks vaguely recognizable.
“It looks familiar to baseball so they want to try it out,” Patra said.
While Patra has helped to organize cricket teams and tournaments at USU, he was not the first to introduce Logan to cricket.
“When I came to USU in 2006 we already had a group of people playing cricket,” Patra said, “but it wasn’t very organized.”
Despite the lack of organization, groups were still gathering to play games of cricket on the Quad, especially in the summer months, he added.
“We play often,” Desai said. “In the summer we actually played every weekend.”
Now that the sport has become more organized campuswide, cricket players from USU play in summer tournaments in Salt Lake City, hosted by the University of Utah.
“This summer we reached the semi-finals,” Desai said. It was his team’s second summer at the tournament, he said.
A snow-covered Quad makes for a less-than-ideal cricket setting, Patra said. It’s much easier to play in the warmer months, he added.
But even the snow doesn’t prevent cricket players from appreciating their sport, Desai said. Last spring, players used the Fieldhouse to play indoor cricket, he said.
ISA held the September cricket tournament, but the International Student Union is helpful in spreading the word about games and tournaments, Patra said.
“We’re limited to Indian students,” Patra said, about ISA. ISU helps get the word out to students from other cricket-playing countries, he said.
Those who have visited cricket-playing countries get excited about cricket on the Quad, too, Desai said.
“We had a few guys who went on missions to South Africa who had heard about cricket,” Desai said.
Patra said the group also received some interest from people who had visited India, including missionaries.
“They’re really excited that even in Logan people play cricket,” Patra said.
Whether or not cricket is on its way to becoming a mainstream sport in the United States, it has an international following and a new-found home in Logan, he added.
– noelle.johansen@aggiemail.usu.edu