The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 8/1/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Aaron Montoya

The hot July sun scorches the West Lawn as CSU takes the field in a match-up against its rivals to the south.

Emotions are clearly on the player's sleeves as on the first play, the home team screams in delight at the sight of the opposing player failing at his job.

And the joyous exuberance is not unfounded in this sport. A game of cricket at the local level can take a full day. When it comes down to it, one out in cricket is like a baseball team striking out six straight batters in baseball or a basketball team, shutting out its opponent for a full quarter.

For the majority of Americans, cricket is an enigma. A sort of baseball-like competition played with tea breaks in England, the game has never caught on in the U.S. despite its former ties to the British Isles.

And when CSU took on the Coal Creek Cricket Club's Gold team in an official Colorado Cricket League match on July 14, most casual passersby were struck by the same thought. What is this game and why are a group of men wearing white khakis playing it?

Dads stop with strollers in tow to watch the mysterious game trying to figure how one scores or gets out. Bicyclists whiz by the match only to notice a ball flying into the creek that is adjacent to the West Lawn. Surely thinking, what is the heck is going on here?

"The rules aren't too difficult, Americans are very smart, they could learn the rules quite easily," said Krishna Ivaturi, Vice Captain and President of CSU's cricket team.

For whatever the reason, cricket has not caught on in America. While theories abound why that is, Ivaturi believes there is one main factor.

"Americans are not used to playing all day," Ivaturi said. "They just want to play a quick game like baseball. I don't see a sport (in America) that takes all day."

The quote in itself seems to go against all fabrics of American sports fans. Baseball as a quick game? Most fans would consider the pastime the longest and most drawn out of all spectator sports.

The speed of the game has certainly made it hard for American audiences to comprehend. Selwyn Caesar, the treasurer for the United States of America Cricket Association, believes the pace of the game is definitely a factor in the lack of American interest.

"Cricket is an elongated game. It isn't like any American sports," Caesar said from his Yonkers, N.Y. office. "It's not like hockey, which has its fighting, and it isn't like basketball, which is so fast paced. It's a different game"

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools