Spring is the season of baseball games, tulip bulbs, and the game of Cricket. Yes, hard to imagine but there is a world right here in New England where this game is played with passion and is the pastime of many dedicated players during the weekends. Vikram Venkatasubramanian is one such example. A player in the Star CC team for more than three years he devotes his entire weekends during the season that runs from June to September hounding grounds like the Franklin Field in Dorchester and in Norwood playing against other teams that are part of the Massachusetts State Cricket League.

Bikram Singh, another cricket enthusiast of the Boston Gymkhana Club has an entire website mymandi.com devoted to cricket and Frederick Clark, of the MIT Cricket Club whose team won the Division B Championship of the MSCL, says his team's aim is to make sure everybody gets to play as much cricket as possible.

To all these Cricket sport lovers , the season has arrived. Donning traditional cricket whites, with bats in their hands and enthusiasm in their gait, they are ready to volley, spin and attack the boundary in their stride. The history of this game in this country is quite amazing. As far back as the 18th century, the game was played here in Massachusetts. According to Fred Clark, Ivy League universities played cricket for a long time before baseball became the summer sport of choice. Harvard, Yale and the others all had Cricket clubs well into the 20th century.

The Massachusetts Cricket league, founded in 1906 has been fairly active since the 1960’s. It has 2 divisions with 10 to 12 teams in each division and is fairly competitive. Its regular season runs from June to September with matches that have 40 overs per side. The teams play in well-maintained and spacious grounds that are mainly in and around Boston. Staffed by experienced professionals many of whom are West Indians and sports enthusiasts, the league offers an opportunity to cricket players to pursue their passion in a game that is very vibrant but still remains largely invisible in this nation.

Not that that the present players haven’t tried to popularize the sport. Bikram Singh who is also in charge of the Public Relations in the League says. “We have had some good coverage of cricket in the Boston Globe, and on Fox TV. Yet it remains a game of mostly immigrants. Singh has also gone to schools to give demonstrations of the game.

The league is open to all and one can join any team based on their interest. About half the players are from the Caribbean - places like Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana and Tobago, and the rest are from South Asia, mainly Pakistan and India. Matches are held every weekend, and the players also participate in league matches held in the city. Most players are in the age group of 25 to 40 sometimes as young as 18 and each team has an average of 35 members on its roster. The grounds mostly used are Franklin Field, the Boston Gymkhana in Wrentham and at Norwood.

Playing cricket is serious business here. Umpires have now to pass an exam which is mandated to be able to supervise a game. All the teams maintain excellent websites with reviews of the game and photos et all with bowling speed and batting averages. Last year, the MIT cricket club emerged champs with strong players like captain and leading wicket-taker Vinay Kanitkar , Nirnay Patel and Asif Syed. In Division A, Boston Newcomers Cricket Club were champions.

The League has had is celebrity moments. Gary Sobers and Kris Srikkanth have visited Boston and met the players. Two members, Adrian Jordan and Denovan Blake have even made it to the National team that was the world cup qualifier. Once a year select teams are invited to the prestigious Newport Invitational Tournament that has a spectacular ground and the games played here over two weekends are thrilling to watch.

So what about the atmosphere at the cricket ground? Well, says Vikram “It is as exciting and feverish as any other match in India”. Last year his team , playing the underdog made it to the final to play against the MIT team and it was a close finish. Cheering, high-fives and handshakes, shouts of encouragement, team spirit and fraternity… it's all there. Fred Clark, the only Aussie in his team says “Games at Franklin Field in Dorchester, next to Blue Hill Ave, are always entertaining with jerk chicken BBQ, reggae music blaring and often a keen crowd of enthusiasts.

Just like Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly…these people eat, breathe and live cricket. It is a way of life for them.

For more cricket links
http://www.mscl.org
http://www.mitcricketclub.com
http://www.mymandi.com

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