Long Island family hopes to inspire the next cricket fan (or star)

Cricket is a minor sport on Long Island, so it's not easy to get kids to play it.

Children born in America are not exposed to the kind of competition you embrace with religious fervor. For them, it's not baseball, football or basketball.

Cricket isn't introduced in American elementary schools. Kids here didn't grow up playing it on Indian flat roofs, in backyards or in the streets. “Every kid in India plays cricket,” said Dilip Rawat, 49, of Manhasset Hills, who runs an accounting firm and played for middle-school, high-school and college teams in India.

“Everyone in India wants to be a professional cricketer one day,” agrees Raghunath Ranganath, 50, a Deer Park resident and accountant who grew up in India.

Not every kid in America plays cricket.

still.

The Men's T20 Cricket World Cup begins June 3 and runs for 11 days at Eisenhower Park on Long Island. Parents who have emigrated from cricket-heavy countries like India, the West Indies and Pakistan are hoping the tournament will encourage their and other kids to try a sport similar to baseball but more exciting because hundreds of runs can be scored in a game. “It's becoming a big deal,” Ranganath says. Television networks including ESPN and CNN are covering the excitement surrounding the upcoming tournament. “Everywhere in the world is playing cricket except the U.S.”

And the kids who do play are hopeful that their classmates and friends, to whom cricket remains a mystery for now, will also take up the challenge. “That's what I've always wanted,” says Ranganath's son, Veer, 9. “So that we can play cricket during our free time and have fun because I'm one of the few kids who know how to play.”

1 million players by 2028

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is cricket's governing body and shares Veer's dream. “We hope that by the time of Los Angeles 2028, one million American kids will be playing cricket in school,” said ICC Americas development manager Farah Ghorshi, referring to the 2028 Olympics to be held in Los Angeles. Cricket will become an Olympic sport for the first time in 2028 and the ICC's cricket growth slogan is “From the playing field to the podium.”

To that end, ICC offers the Criiio program, an entry-level program aimed at teaching the sport to elementary, middle, and high school students through a curriculum that supports physical education teachers. Gorsi said Criiio will donate 100 cricket kits, including beginner plastic cricket bats (rather than wood), lightweight balls and wickets, to be distributed to school districts in Nassau County.

On a recent Friday night, Criiiio hosted a free meet-and-greet for families to give kids a taste of cricket. Most of the attendees were families with parents who emigrated from countries where cricket is played. Adults who play in local cricket leagues coached the kids and explained the rules.

“My favorite thing is batting. Hitting the ball is fun,” said Dua Ali, 9, of East Meadow, whose father is from Pakistan. Dua was playing with her cousins ​​Sifat, 10, Zahwa, 8, and Anaya Ali, 4, also from East Meadow.

Danika Gowda, 13, of Levittown, had never played before, and her father, Keshav Shyamsundar, 44, a project manager in the construction industry who immigrated from India, said he wanted his daughter to try the sport. “As a parent, you can throw stuff at it and see what sticks,” her father said.

Amanda Jacobina, 49, of Massapequa, was one of the few parents from outside the country where cricket is played. She was born and raised on Long Island. She saw a flyer for the event and brought her two teenage sons, Roan, 13, and Aidan, 16, because she thought it would be fun for two boys to play on a Friday night.

“I think it's really cool,” Aidan says. “It's kind of like baseball.”

Jacobina says she would like to see cricket become a more mainstream sport for kids. “Anytime we can broaden access to activities for kids, that's a good thing,” she says.

Quaid Riaz, 32, a scientist of Pakistani origin from Bayshore, is one of the league players who coaches kids, and he says free events like this are a way to popularize the sport among Americans. “I think organizing activities like this is the best way,” Riaz said.

Time to strengthen family ties

For now, cricket is mostly a bonding experience for a family already familiar with the sport, playing in the backyard or in local kids' leagues. “Our backyard is a cricket stadium,” jokes Veer's father, Raghunath Ranganath. Veer has been playing in the backyard with his parents since he was 5; his mother, Ramya, 42, plays on two girls' teams.

Veer's brother, Vijay, 3, is learning batting. The family will travel to Florida in 2022 to watch a cricket match, and Ramya says he was “really excited” to see the players in action. “It feels like quality family time,” Ramya says of cricket.

Ranganath said parents like cricket because it's a non-contact sport: “People aren't touching each other, jumping on each other, hurting each other,” he said.

Rawat's son, Armaan, now 19, said that when he was growing up on Long Island, he was intrigued by the way his parents, uncles and other Indian friends would gather together to watch the games on TV. “Everybody was really into it. There was so much energy,” the Bharuch College freshman said.

He started playing with his dad in the backyard when he was about 13. “I'd play for an hour or two while I did my homework,” he says. “At first I was playing with some middle-aged guys.” He soon got serious about the sport, participating in programs like the Long Island Youth Cricket Academy and competing each spring and summer on Long Island and in Queens. “I got really into it,” he says, and even dreamed of playing professionally.

Dilip was ecstatic. “The bond between father and son has become stronger.” He bought tickets for himself and Armaan to two World Cup matches in Long Island – India vs USA and India vs Ireland.

Naeem Butt, 51, a business consultant from West Babylon who took up cricket as soon as he could hold a bat in Pakistan, also bought World Cup tickets for his family in the hope that his sons, Aleem, 11, a sixth-grader, and Kamran, 9, a fourth-grader, would get hooked on the sport. Butt still plays in the adult league on Sundays.

“When you add in baseball, soccer, basketball and ice hockey, you get an idea of ​​how crazy cricket is in Pakistan and India,” Bhatt said. “India and Pakistan have a rivalry like the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Half the world watches the games.” India and Pakistan are scheduled to play each other on June 9 in Long Island.

But for now, the boys just play in the backyard with their dad, with no organised play. Aleem is into another sport. “Aleem's best friend plays baseball. He's just joined the baseball team now, as is my younger son,” Butt says. “When you go in the stands and see the excitement, you realise you're missing out on something. When you play cricket, baseball becomes very boring. It hasn't worked out yet. I hope one day they'll take up baseball.”