Cricket Takes Hold In City Schools
Timothy Petropoulos
When Moiz Sheikh moved to the United States as a little skinny kid from Pakistan, he had a hard time adjusting to the new culture. His story is hardly a unique one, many immigrants who make their way over to the U. S., especially teenagers, have a hard time leaving their countries behind and accepting the American way.
For Sheikh, he found refuge in a sport he played back home.
“When I was in fifth grade I started playing cricket, I was captain of my team in my school in Pakistan and when I came here I found out about the cricket team and started playing here,” said Sheikh, who plays all-rounder, the most skilled and difficult position in cricket, for the Long Island City High School cricket team.
“All the people [on the team] were from my country and it made me feel more, good […] I love playing cricket.”
Still a little nervous to be on camera for an interview and with a heavy accent surrounding his words, Sheikh now appears very comfortable in his new home, joking and playing around with his peers after his practice, and cricket is a major reason why.
The rapid growth of cricket in the United States over the past few years, especially in New York, has allowed young men and women like Sheikh from the Middle East, South Asia and the Caribbean, where the sport is extremely popular, to feel more comfortable in their new surroundings.
“The sports brings so many things all together,” said Dharmvir Gehlaut, former cricket player and current coach of the cricket team at Long Island City. “The sportsmanship itself, the South Asian population, the Caribbean kids, and kids from all over other parts of the world. It brings them together.”
Widely considered a Middle Eastern and Asian sport, although the presence of the game is also heavy in the Caribbean Islands and Jamaica, the growing number of immigrants who have moved to New York have brought the game of their ancestors with them, and it is spreading across the city.
“The continuous flow of immigrants bringing this game to the U.S. [is a major reason for the popularity of cricket],” said Shiek Mohammed, a major contributor to the web site newyorkcricket.com, which is devoted to cricket in the tri-state area. “Which allows more games, more competition, and [the creation] of different leagues.”
Originally played in England during the 16th century, cricket is a ball and bat team sports that bears a striking resemblance to baseball. A cricket match is a contest between two teams facing off against each other, 11 on 11, trying to score as many “runs,” or points, as possible before getting “dismissed,” or retired to defense. When a team is dismissed, much like baseball, the opponents switch roles, with the team that was on offense switching to defense, and vice-versa.
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Nowhere is the spread of immigration and culture more prevalent then the New York City public school system, in fact, according to the Home Language Identification Survey, about 42 percent of New York City public school students speak a language other then English at home, and after years of rumors and proposals, the New York City Public School Athletic League, or PSAL, finally adopted cricket as an official sport in the spring semester of 2007.
“Oh, it has helped tremendously,” said Mohammed when asked about the impact that the addition of cricket in the PSAL has had on the sports popularity. “From a publicity standpoint, it allows us to be in all the local newspapers, different television networks, and it allows us to reach out to other ethnic groups. It is a great boost for cricket.”
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According to PSAL.org, at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year, there were 24 different schools, spreading across the five boroughs, that have added cricket to their sports programs, and the results have been outstanding.
“The PSAL is doing a tremendously great job, although it is still in the infancy stages,” said Gehlaut. “The PSAL is helping all these young athletes to come together and work together. They only see one thing and that is sportsmanship, it doesn’t matter where you come from, it is one team, and the PSAL is doing a good job supporting this [idea].”
Although it is new to the public school system in New York City, it is hardly new to people who have been following cricket in New York for years. The city is home to some of the most talented and game tested cricket players in the United States and even the world, and they proved it by winning the most recent 19 and under National Cricket Championship.
“The New York team was very, very strong. The had a lot of fantastic cricketers,” said Mohammed. “For newyorkcricket.com, there was a drastic increase [in the popularity of the site] after the event, there were so many positives that came out of that event.”
There are now seven public cricket leagues in New York, as well as 18 fields around the five boroughs. In addition, Division 1 schools Stonybrook College of the State University of New York and Columbia University currently have operating cricket programs amongst their roster of sports.
From college campus’ to high school ballfields to local parks around the five boroughs, the spread of cricket is becoming more and more evident and seems to have a chance at becoming a staple in the American sports landscape for years to come.
“We should all give different sports an opportunity, especially if you are a sports fan,” said Mohammed. “The immigrants who migrated here were never huge baseball or football fans, but we came here and we adopted the sports and showed our appreciation by supporting them and I think Americans are doing the same with cricket.”