Little-known league hopes to snag fans
By William Hageman
Tribune staff reporter
May 3, 2002
The sun is shining, the sky is cloudless, a warm breeze is blowing. The playing field, dark green, soft and lush, beckons. Players sit on the sidelines amid equipment bags holding bats and balls, basking in the spring sun or making notations in scorebooks. Ernie Banks would be shouting, “Let’s play two!”
All in all, it’s a beautiful day to watch . . . a cricket match?
The sport, which got its start in 14th Century Britain, is becoming an increasingly common sight in the Chicago area as immigrants primarily from India, Pakistan and the Caribbean return to the game they were brought up with. Now organizers want to bring Americans to the game, first as spectators, then later perhaps as players.
“We want to make it more available to the masses,” says Tariq Ahmad, president of the 33-team Midwest Cricket Conference, which features all-male teams from Chicago, Evanston, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Peoria. It’s one of the three largest leagues in the United States and has doubled in size since 1998. (That’s largely a reflection of the influx of information-technology professionals into the U.S. from South Asia.)
Snaring spectators shouldn’t be difficult: Come out to a cricket match and chances are you’ll get hooked – or at least intrigued enough to come back a second time.
Cricket has more action than baseball and just as much strategy, and there’s very little down time (the batters don’t step out of the box and wander around). And because there are so many nuances to the game, you’ll probably learn something new every time you attend a match.
Of course, it helps to have a little background on the game. On its Web site (www.midwestcricket.org), the league is selling a tape that offers a basic explanation of cricket. Or poke around on the Internet for some general information. Thus prepared, you’ll be ready for your first match.
Well, sort of. Learning about cricket secondhand and experiencing it in person are two different things. When you see it in person, there’s a lot going on, and it can be confusing: guys taking a running start before they fire the ball, batters wearing pads and wielding paddles, batters running back and forth after hitting the ball . . . and what’s that little structure of sticks behind the hitter?
The terminology can be baffling: cover, gully, French cut, top-spinners, overs, yorkers.
But again, you don’t have to be an expert in the rules or lingo to enjoy a match. A little knowledge will often suffice. Here’s a quick primer:
The game is played by two teams of 11 players each on a large, circular field. There is a rectangular batting area in the center (the pitch), with wickets (those aforementioned sticks) at each end. Batters stand in front of the wickets and try to hit the 5 1/2-ounce leather ball thrown by the hurler. The hurler tries to hit the wicket. The batter tries to hit the ball before it hits the wicket. There’s no foul territory, so everything is in play.
When a batter hits the ball, he can run to the wicket at the other end of the pitch (or he can stay put if he thinks he’d be out . . . trying to run with leg pads is no easy task). If you reach the opposite wicket, you get a run. And the team with the most runs wins. Simple, no?
“Once you start understanding the rules, you see it’s similar to baseball,” Ahmad says.
Batsmen can work wonders with those paddle-like bats, sending the ball straight ahead, to the left, the right, even behind them. Opposing captains will position fielders where they think the batters will hit the ball. The hurlers not only get the running start, they make the ball bounce as it approaches the hitter, and can put different spins on the ball to make it even more difficult to hit and, in some cases, to avoid – hence the necessity of those leg pads.
That, in a nutshell, should be enough for novice spectators. If you have questions, ask other spectators; they’re eager to explain the game.
One other thing to remember: Matches take time.
“There are two kinds of cricket,” says Krishna Kurup, a member of the conference champion Chicago Wildcats. “One is a test match. That goes on for five days. We don’t have that luxury; we play a one-day match.”
And don’t expect a snappy, two-hour contest. Matches usually last from four to six hours and can sometimes go a little longer.
But consider it time well-spent.
About that sticky wicket . . .
Here are details to put would-be cricket fans in the know:
How similar is cricket to baseball?
The idea is the same: Score runs and don’t make outs. Batters hit the ball and run between bases. And after games, players go out and have a few beers like a park softball game.
Baseball players hit a round object with the round surface of the bat, which is difficult. Cricket players’ bats are flat on one side. Does that make iteasier?
Maybe a little. But cricket hurlers take a running start before they throw, and they bounce the ball – and put different spins on it – before it reaches the hitter, making the batter’s life harder.
How fast do the hurlers throw?
In top-flight competition, the ball can come in at more than 100 m.p.h. But even amateurs throwing at 80 can be imposing.
What are the bats made of?
English willow. They’re produced in India and run about $150 apiece. If you attend a match, ask to hold one. They’re pretty cool.
What’s a sticky wicket?
The wickets are the sticks sitting at each end of the pitch in the middle of the field. Running back and forth between the two wickets can make that area muddy and slow, or “sticky.” So, a sticky wicket has come to mean a difficult situation.
I’d like to watch something about cricket before I head out to a match. Any good movies specifically about cricket?
Sure. Check out these two movies on video: “Lagaan,” a 2001 Indian film that was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar, and “Playing Away,” a 1986 movie directed by Horace Ove, which depicts an interracial cricket match.
Tips for neophyte cricket spectators
THE BASICS
Some knowledge of cricket would help if you’re going to attend a match, but you don’t have to be an expert. Go to the Midwest Cricket Conference Web site, or try www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm for very detailed explanations of the playing field, rules, equipment, strategy and terminology.
SPECTATOR ETIQUETTE
And as a fan, you don’t have to worry about such participatory stunts as The Wave. Just watch and enjoy. Bring a picnic basket. Bring a blanket (but watch out for goose poop at Chicago’s Washington Park). Find a nice spot and stretch out and relax. And sit next to someone who seems to know what’s going on. You’ll pick up even more knowledge. And bring sunscreen. The match could go for six hours.
UNIFORMS
If it’s like a park district softball league, why are the players dressed so nicely?
The dress whites are the traditional uniform. It’s a very proper, very British sport, old chum.
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune