NPR: Cricket Cracks New York Public Schools

Cricket Cracks New York Public Schools

Filed under: Video

For those of us who grew up with the American pastime of baseball, cricket can be a confusing game. For immigrants from places like Guyana, the Caribbean islands, India and Pakistan, cricket is a way of life. "I was born in India, I've been playing for a long time," says Sohom Datta, a senior at Stuyvesant High School who helped start his school's cricket team.

But when families move to the United States, kids end up playing American sports like basketball and football in school.

"My favorite quote about that is that when Indian kids come to Britain, they're still cricket crazy. When they go to America, they forget about cricket," says Datta. "That stuck with me."

That is quickly changing. The New York Department of Education introduced cricket into the public school system and the response was tremendous. It's only the first season, but the varsity league is already in full swing. Teams signed up from Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens.

As in baseball, there are bats and balls, but no bases to be found. Instead, the batters run back and forth between "stumps." The pitchers are called "bowlers." They try to knock little wooden "bails" off the "wickets" -- three wooden sticks stuck in the ground.

Several kids in the league have never played before, but they say they're having blast learning an unconventional sport.

Elsa Butler

12:58 PM ET | 05- 7-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

This is great, as an indian immigrant i have always wihsed for a cricket team in my highschool. Could you send me some info about starting a cricket team in my higschool in staten island (who to contact, requirements etc). Also to the author of the article,I am about to write about cricket in my higschool newspaper. Do you mind if I use your article as a reference. I would also like to interview some of the team members in the video for the article.
Please contact me to let me know.

Sincerely,
Simit Christian

Sent by Simit Christian | 12:50 PM ET | 05-10-2008

It is great to see NEW YORK has taken the first step to bring cricket into the school system. Having done that, the future for cricket looks bright for this country.
A bunch of old men running around on Saturdays and Sundays will not futher cricket in this country.
Great move! Congratulation!!!!

Sent by IVOR W A HENRY | 12:23 PM ET | 05-11-2008

I am in this video, its surprising how many times I appear without showing my face, hahahaha. I am #21, I was the wicketkeeper, the starting batsman and the captain for the game.
It was a great game, at first we weren't sure if we could even have 11 since its the first year, and some people who were in the lineup did not even show up to school.
They scored 60 runs in 12 overs, we scored 61 in 5.3 without loss. I had a boundary.

I am so glad that Stuyvesant Cricket Team and PSAL Cricket as a whole got the attention it deserves, right now as a senior, this is definitely one of the achievements I am proud of in my 3 years there.

this video is awesome!

Sent by Jisan Zaman | 8:30 PM ET | 05-12-2008

Its really great to see the video as a member of DWCHS cricke team.

Sent by Faisal Nahian | 10:16 PM ET | 05-12-2008

this is simply great. I'm lucky that my team is in the psal cricket league. This is like a dream. Stuyvesant cricket team,This year you beat us, but next year it's gonna be our year.

student from grady high school.

Sent by Md. Naved Parvez | 12:53 PM ET | 06-02-2008

It's good to see Cricket in New York.

How would Jeter do as a fast bowler ?????

Sent by Guadsy | 9:47 AM ET | 06-19-2008

I have developed a cricket trivia board game (see www.eezeekricket.com) and would be delighted to get same into the school system as a means of helping new cricketers learn the game.

The board game is based on the limited overs version of the cricket game. Bowling a ball is simulated by throwing a dice. Six legal throws of the dice is an over. The batsman moves a number of squares on the board equal to the face value of the dice. As the batsman moves around the board, runs are scored, extras are accumulated and the batsman may lose his wicket by landing on an out square (bowl, caught, LBW, etc) when this event occurs the batsman is required to answer a cricket trivia question. If the batsman answers the question correctly the score goes up by one and the batsman continue batting. If the batsman answers the question incorrectly he loses his wicket. Teams bowl overs on an alternate basis to increase the fun of the game. At the conclusion of the agreed number of overs the team with the highest score wins.

The game is easy to play, educational, fun for the complete family and for ages 10 to adult.

I will be happy to send you a copy of the game

Sent by James Corbin | 6:58 PM ET | 07-11-2008

This is awesome. Im a 8th grader and im planning to join Stuyvesant High School and im really excited that Stuyvesant offers cricket. Also since im a Pakistani immigrant, cricket is in my blood. I may have left my country but i still love cricket.

Sent by Shiraz | 3:02 PM ET | 07-20-2008

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