A few days ago, I opened up the Chicago Tribune to see this nice story about games of cricket taking place in the Chicago suburbs, which is not a rare occurrence in most South Asian communities. Yet, as I did some research, I found that cricket has an interesting history in the United States that extends far back before the South Asian diaspora. After all the United States was a British colony as well. A disclaimer here: I am proud to say I have a reasonable knowledge of cricket and am a devoted Cricinfo reader, but I can’t say I know cricket as well as, say, the NBA, and thus, I’m sure many of you will know more about cricket in America than I do – please do contribute your knowledge on the subject. Cricket in the United States extends back as far as the 18th century. This great Smithsonian article speaks of some of the earliest recorded history of cricket in the states:
In a diary he kept between 1709 and 1712, William Byrd, owner of the Virginia plantation Westover, noted, “I rose at 6 o’clock and read a chapter in Hebrew. About 10 o’clock Dr. Blair, and Major and Captain Harrison came to see us. After I had given them a glass of sack we played cricket. I ate boiled beef for my dinner. Then we played at shooting with arrows…and went to cricket again till dark.”
Evidently, spending large portions of the day playing and following cricket is a practice as old as the British Empire itself. Not only that, but the Smithsonian has uncovered some Revolutionary Hero interest in cricket:
The rules of the game on this side of the Atlantic were formalized in 1754, when Benjamin Franklin brought back from England a copy of the 1744 Laws, cricket’s official rule book. There is anecdotal evidence that George Washington’s troops played what they called “wickets” at Valley Forge in the summer of 1778. After the Revolution, a 1786 advertisement for cricket equipment appeared in the New York Independent Journal, and newspaper reports of that time frequently mention “young gentlemen” and “men of fashion” taking up the sport. Indeed, the game came up in the debate over what to call the new nation’s head of state: John Adams noted disapprovingly—and futilely—that “there are presidents of fire companies and cricket clubs.”
Disregarding John Adams’ chronic moodiness, cricket continued to have a strong presence in the U.S. throughout the 19th century. The first ever international cricket match was held in the U.S., a match between the U.S. and Canada in 1844, in Bloomingdale, New York. The considerable national interest in this game was evident, as 20,000 spectators attended and the equivalent of 1.5 million 2007 dollars were wagered on the match. The United States set a telling precedent in the match, however, losing by 23 runs.
As the 19th century neared its end, baseball began to take precedence, and with that, the primacy of cricket in America’s sporting interests neared its end. One place, however, where cricket was still going strong was in the city of Philadelphia. The Philadelphian Cricket Team carried the mantle as the last remaining bastion of professional cricketing in the U.S., and frequently toured England and Australia, playing against some of the best cricketers in the world. A sign of the declining influence of the sport in America was that the American team consisted of “gentleman” players that had sources of wealth that allowed them to play cricket at no salary. 
The team had on it the best American cricket player in our national history, Bart King. King was quite the guy:
King was a skilled batsman, but proved his worth as a bowler. During his career, he set numerous records in North America and led the first-class bowling averages in England in 1908. He successfully competed against the best cricketers from England and Australia. King was the dominant bowler on his team when it toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908. He dismissed batsmen with his unique delivery, which he called the “angler,” and helped develop the art of swing bowling in the sport. Many of the great bowlers of today still use the strategies and techniques that he developed. Sir Pelham Warner described Bart King as one of the finest bowlers of all time, and Donald Bradman called him “America’s greatest cricketing son.”
Bart King and his generation of extraordinary American cricketers could not live forever, though, and baseball only continued to gain in popularity throughout the country. As the 1910’s came to a close, the Philadelphian cricket team played its last game. Cricket in the U.S. became increasingly harder to sustain when the Imperial Cricket Conference was created, excluding non-British Empire members.5 decades later, the Imperial Cricket Conference became the International Cricket Council (Conference), as we currently know it. The U.S. was admitted to the ICC as an associate member, and the wave of South Asian and West Indian immigrants throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s contributed to a resurgence in the game throughout the states. According to the Smithsonian, 30,000 people now currently play or watch cricket in the U.S. each year.
Despite an influx of cricket-loving immigrants and acceptance as an associate member to the ICC, the United States has had a rough time creating a cricket infrastructure and competing on an international stage. The U.S. team has never qualified for the World Cup, though it has done reasonably well in the ICC America’s Competition, winning once in 2002. The one time it seemed to be doing quite well in international competition against respectable foes, in the 1994 ICC Trophy competition, the U.S. flew home early because they thought they would lose, and thus could never have known how far they would have advanced.
This loss is symbolic of the troubles organized cricket in the U.S. has faced in modern times. The United States Cricket Association (USACA) recently faced a constitutional crisis that showcased “considerable strain” between cricketers from the West Indies and those from South Asia. This oft-mismanaged organization has at times fiercely opposed programs such as Major League Cricket (MLC). Ambitious ventures to introduce professional cricket to the United States, including Pro Cricket and the MLC, have unceremoniously disappeared.
There are more than a few bright spots, however, in the modern American cricket universe. The American youth teams, filled with desi players, have been very successful as of late, and help in developing youth cricket throughout the U.S. has come from some unlikely sources. The New York City Public Schools and the New York Police Department have both recently created popular and well-run initiatives that have increased cricket’s visibility in NYC and across the country. Haverford College in Philadelphia, has continued playing cricket from the glory days of Philadelphia cricket up to this day. (They currently have the only varsity cricket team in the U.S.) The C.C. Morris Cricket Library at Haverford is said to be largest collection of cricket-related literature and materials in the Western Hemisphere.
For all its highs and lows, an interesting question to consider is whether cricket is destined to be a sport forever played in the United States by those from the British Colonial diaspora, or one with wide-reaching national appeal. Personally, as an enthusiastic cricket fan, I’ve often tried to share the joys of cricket with my many non-desi friends and have met with limited success. The long pace of cricket (and the inevitable comparison to that fast-paced game of instant gratification, baseball), do not hold the same tantalizing appeal for youth who have not grown up in a culture in which cricket is the preeminent sport. The shorter format of twenty20 could possibly change these circumstances, as might the eventual rise to international prominence of our current impressive youth teams. What do you feel the future potential for cricket is in the United States? Seeing just about everyone in the country (including this blog) gripped with Olympics fever, I know that Cricket as an Olympic Sport in a future Olympics, possibly this one, could certainly help with the sport’s rise in America.
Have people read Netherland? Cricket in New York, played by Caribbean expats among others, plays a central role in the book, which is expected to be a strong contender for the Booker this year.
As for more widespread adoption, the US Cricket Association is completely dysfunctional, with factional wars causing it to become ineligible to host (or maybe even play some exhibition style games) during the Cricket World Cup hosted in the West Indies (and people were hoping for a game or two in Florida)last year. Of course, this might have ended up being a good thing given that the WC was a huge flop – going on far too long, and with too many meaningless matches. And the ICC is heading towards a huge split – with England/South Africa/Australia on one side of the divide, and India/Zimbabwe/Pakistan/Sri Lanka on the other. It is going to be interesting days ahead for cricket even in the established countries, let alone any potential new adopters.
Ravi, excellent posts so far, btw. Good luck at Haahvahd!
I don’t claim to understand any of the rules of cricket, but if you’re calling baseball fast-paced compared to it, it’ll never catch on big in the U.S. Lots of people I know think baseball is way too slow and boring to watch 😉
However, where I live (in Redmond, WA, home to a particular software company that shall remain nameless), I can’t walk past a park or athletic field without seeing a game of cricket going on. Rumor has it that some of the rec leagues around here even have non-desi players. Pretty cool, huh?
“Have people read Netherland? Cricket in New York, played by Caribbean expats among others, plays a central role in the book, which is expected to be a strong contender for the Booker this year.”
Rajesh, interesting you bring up Netherland – I was trying to incorporate it in the post, but was unsure where it would fit. I am in the process of reading it and would say it certainly deserves the widespread critical acclaim it has received. The author, Joseph O’Neill, and his interest in cricket are profiled here, and you can read the first chapter of the book here. The book is reminiscent of the Great Gatsby in tone and style, and a great book for anyone who appreciates cricket and/or NYC.
3 · anandi said
There’s tons of non-desi players in several leagues, usually from the Caribbean. The number of Australian and English players is comparatively insignificant.
Most players there are Indians or Pakistanis working for that nameless company, and other companies. The few non-Desis who participate are British or Australian.
It’s not surprising that cricket is so widely played around here. Bellevue, Redmond & Kirkland are infested with Desis.
Rajesh@1:
The 2007 World Cup was a total farce, but Florida may have been able to save it a little. I’m thinking of the tickets that priced out the local Caribbean population from the stadium, which led to very media-friendly empty stadiums being shown on TV for weeks. WTF?! At least the curious folk from Florida may have been able to pay for the tickets and provided seats on the seats. Of course, these were the same people who didn’t know how to handle a butterfly ballot, but still…
But I’d be really interested in learning more about the ICC split you mentioned. Is it over political control or is it driven by finance issues?
6 · VK said
“infested”? 😉
That’s putting it mildly.
7 · pingpong said
Well, the key issue is that a disproportionate amount of the money in cricket is from India, which also means that the BCCI is now wielding a lot of the power – something that the old guard – England,Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, are not happy about. This has manifested itself in several conflicts: for example, – the Indian board pulling its weight on the Harbhajan-Symonds issue in Australia; – ICL players being banned from tournaments organized by the BCCI, which pretty much means that English counties cannot play in the 20-20 champions league (because English counties cannot bar ICL players, due to EU regulations), and hence the league will not be hosted in England as originally planed; – most of the teams from the other faction pulling out of the Champions trophy currently scheduled to be played in Pakistan, citing security issues; – the champions league being held within a couple of days of the champions trophy – as that is the only spot available, which violates ICC regulations, but the BCCI claims this is ok since this is a private tournament, not one run by the ICC or individual countries – the Zimbabwe issue. Most of the other faction (rightly) wants to expel Zimbabwe, but India supports it, essentially in exchange for its rubber-stamp vote. As a result, Zimbabwe enjoys full membership privileges at the ICC, including huge annual payments, which are clearly being embezzled in Zimbabwe and so on.
A huge issue that is waiting to blow up, after the success of the IPL, is how the other boards will want to cash in on it – already many players are clamoring for a unified 20-20 championship. Of course, this would mean that the BCCI would not be able to milk as much money from it, so Lalit Modi will probably fight it, but it is unclear how this will play out.
Basically, all over the world, cricket is run by ineffective, or political, administrators, who don’t have the farsightedness to come up with solutions that will sustain cricket, let alone grow it. The ICC is cricket’s UN. I genuinely fear for cricket’s long term health. (I, for one, would like to see a healthy share of test cricket, not just the wham bam thank you ma’am stuff, but notwithstanding that, the balkanization of 20-20 administration could be a disaster.)
independent of infestation or otherwise, does anybody know good south indian restaurants in the seattle area?
I know of one, Udupi Palace in Crossroads Mall, Bellevue.
12 · VK said
I tried it, and didn’t think it was that good. It’s been a few years since I last ate there, though, so maybe it’s improved.
13· rajesh said
Now that I think of it, that’s the only SI place I know of. Most Indian restaurants in and around Seattle are Punjabi/ Mughalai.
10 · rajesh said
Out of curiosity, how would the South African squad be part of the old guard? Weren’t they banned from international play for most of the apartheid years like their rugby counterparts were?
15 · Johnny Valker said
I don’t have a good sense of why South Africa aligns with the other countries. My best guess is to act as some sort of counterbalance against the Asian bloc, or greater cultural closeness with England.
Also, the picture is not as black and white (pun intended) as I make it out to be. For example, Cricket Australia is quite pragmatic, and aligns with the BCCI, for example in the 20-20 champions league, so it can get its share of the profits from the game. Again, painting very coarsely, in today’s game: Australia provides the talent, and India the money (and the IPL sort of showcased that), so it is in each others’ best interests to cooperate.
Watch as in? If it includes TV audiences this number might be an underestimation.
Quite an informative piece Ravi.The reasons for decline of cricket (vs baseball) in the States has never been very clear to me.I mean ,what happened…did people associate the game with ‘the Crown’ and rebelled against it?Was the willow hard to find!?
One theory I read somewhere is that baseball became the favourite pastime of the soldiers during the Civil War (relatively easy to arrange a game vs cricket sinc there is no pitch preparation reqd) and once the soldiers went back to their homes,it was more of a story of the rise and the rise of baseball and a slow fading out for the game of ‘glorious uncertanities'(a horribly overused cliche used by the commentators in India).
Cricket lost out to baseball because it simply took too much time and is more complicated. Also the action in cricket isat the centre of the field, while in baseball it is at the edge close to the stands. Dismissals are more frequent, ince the catches are ridiculously easy with those baskets the catcherts carry – I mean mitts. Even Twenty20 might not be such a hit because it doesn’t have a multiple inning format. All that talk about cricket being long and boring is hard to believe. I haven’t found anyone complain about the glacial pace of golf – chasing around that tiny white ball all over.
I went to India as a kid and took an instant liking to cricket. I liked the fact that you can hit the ball in any direction. THere is a wider range of strokes. I think when non Desis look at cricket, they see visualize what they see in movies set in 1800s England where people play cricket with the same urgency of croquet. You put a bunch of English ladies sipping tea in a real cricket field, thney will have their heads knocked off. THey dont know limited overs cricket exists.
Anyway, the ICC does an awful job promoting cricket in the US. They only show the world cup on satellite instead of looking for deals to broadcast on niche PPV channels on cable which more people have. Their production values on the US feed are atrocious. It makes the game seem even duller. The stadiums during the last World Cup were empty and seemed to lack any passionate fans. No half time shows broadcast giving the casual viewers an opportunity to catch up to the players in the game.
And don’t get me started on some ridiculous formula they use to decide rain shortened games. You put in stat formulas in games, you might as well just watch a computer simulation of the players battle it out. You will probably get a fairer result. Tennis has no problem starting a game the next day from w3here they left off. I dont see why they can’t do it in cricket during the important matches.
15 · Johnny Valker said
yes, but they were certainly active in county cricket.
Out of curiosity, how would the South African squad be part of the old guard?
Not only were they very prominent in English County Cricket, they played in Australian cricket too.
They all played for Kerry Packer.
** To the level, they were instances a few South African cricketer would take Australian citizenship, and cause controversy.
20 · Nayagan said
Tony Greig (he of the oft-creepy love of all things Lankan and melodramatic commentary)captained England in the late 70s, no? And now we have Pietersen, another dual-citizen, taking the mantle.
22 · Nayagan said
Kepler Wessels went to Australia and returned to South Africa after the Liberation. Tony Greig never played for South Africa. But for reasons best known to them Barry Richards and a few others chose to remain in S.Africa rather than move to another cricketing country, where they would have been surely welcomed – or so we think? Hasn’t Australia afforded asylum to Tatienda Taibu and a couple of other Zimbabweans?
23 · jyotsana said
I think the US needs a couple of genuinely talented overseas players to put together a national side that’s competitive even at the associate level. Surely Stanford can afford putting a few also-rans from the rest of the world on his payroll.
thanks
T20 is perfect for TV,and the number of people from cricket playing backgrounds at an optimum point for the development of the game in the USA and Canada. However,not the dysfunctional cricket authorites,but initiatives like the NYPD’s at one end, and STanford’s at another,will develop the game here. At Cricket2012Games.com we feel the most important motivator will be if Cricket is a part of the 2012Olympics in England -look at the worldwide attention paid to the world’s biggest (positive) spectacle.The best athletes in the USA will look at cricket as an option if its an Olympic sport.
While I never say never, I think in genealogy (despite claims of “invention) and similaries, baseball is essentially the American adaptation of cricket, so I doubt there’s much space for cricket. Football (soccer) has more of a chance, I think, both because it’s more established and because the teams that dominate it are European / Latin American. A lot of this will depend on demographics.
Great post Ravi. Never knew America had a cricketing past..though I often wondered if it did, given the British historical connections.
As a lifelong cricket fanatic, I will never understand why there is this need to shorten or change the game so that it can been more accessible to a wider audience. More than that, why does there need to be any change to otherwise perfect game to appeal to American audiences? There are millions (maybe even a billion?) fans worldwide, and that is enough for me.
That said, ODIs seemed to be a horrifying abomination, but they turned out to actually be really quite good because there are just enough overs to still allow teams to combine various bowling and batting styles to maintain the intricate game that is cricket. These revisionists are ignoring what we love about cricket: watching, say, a left-hand all-rounder like Bevan attacked with medium, fast, slow, left spin, off spin, etc., deliveries until he is vanquished. It is not at all about speed of a game!
The people who do and will enjoy cricket will be the ones who hold their breath for every pitch and who can see the beauty of a ball spinning with seemingly a mind of its own and who scream out LBW! in their living rooms seconds before the ball hits the pad. That is a cricket fan for you.
A shoutout to DishNetwork for carrying PPV cricket matches. WC 2007 coverage on Dish was fantastic.
About cricket matches here: There are great teams that play regularly in Cali, and have been for over 10 years. We have representatives from all the cricket playing nations, by the way, and Saturday matches also bring out the wives and children (and good food). All are welcome.
cricket has a strong presence in china as vell and is adored by many.
you’re very velcome old mangoe.
Interesting cricket history, I used to play alot of cricket before I arrived here in California, I miss cricket, I used to play for AP state in Hyderabad it was awesome.
Now when I ask my friends about cricket, they are like whats dat ? kind of sucks, but its all cool, gr8 blog.
Very nice article. I did know that the first international Cricket match was between US and Canada but the rest is new (and informative) to me! Couple of my rellies who are in Amrika do play cricket quite regularly (although I don’t know if it’s with a 2 or 4 piecer or a taped up tennis ball version)
Speaking of cricket…anyone been watching the latest cricket games? RSA’s done well matching Pietersen’s century with Amla’s. Also, anyone who’s been watching SL v IND….can Mendis be picked? If you were facing him, do you think you’d be able to pick him?
I don’t understand your question about Mendis.
Regardless, Mendis is yet another talented addition to the SL team. I need to watch him in more matches, especially ODIs, to see how consistent he can be. He does complement Murali well, very much like Vassy.
A lot of pressure on Dravid and Laxman to save the day for IN.
10 · rajesh said
I only know cricket in what I read from the News. But, didn’t the Delhi court rule against the BCCI’s banning ICL players?
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-29170020070827
Or does that not apply to BCCI but only companies and state governments?
Which brings up my next question. Why don’t the ICL further fight back against the BCCI’s practice of barring ICL players? After all, the IPL was created in response to the threat ICL posed.
Hi, First of all, an Olympic gold for India- woo hoo. But more interestingly, I just discovered that the Netherlands has a fencer called Indra Angad-Gaur. Clearly desi no? Anyone know anything more about her. I’m quite interested in desi athletes competing for non subcontinental nations. There’s of course Raj Bhavsar. Anyone else that people know about?
nice find antara. went to her veb site. looks desi except she’s sporting a bikini in one pic and that’s so not desi – especially since she doesnt have any chest hair. more interestingly her broer is a musician by the name of radjinder. lol. mos def’ly desi.
@ Nesha, By my question about Mendis being picked, what I meant was, with Murali’s doosra, when he first started it was impossible for the batsman to pick the doosra up from his stock delivery. I was wondering if Mendis’s “carrom ball” is pretty much the same. From the reports I’ve read on cricinfo and news papers, this guy is quite lethal.
India does have a lot of work to do, and unless something short of a miracle happens, they’ve lost the 3rd test. Laxman ran out of partners in the end, or so I am led to believe….
@ de-lurker, the judgement only applies to State run organisations. Since the BCCI is a privately run monopoly, it doesn’t apply. However I did read somewhere that they could be liable for misusing their monopoly, by banning ICL players thereby depriving them of a living….it’s against the Monopolistic Trade Practices Act or something like that
Congrats to both Abhinav and Sri Lanka!
Great article, but without a reference to Joseph O’Neill’s novel ‘Netherland’, about cricket in New York, amongst the Desi diaspora of New York, just longlisted for the Booker Prize? Give it a read, it’s worth your time.
19 · Pravin said
The Times of India ran an article a day or so ago about how Jesus played cricket as a little boy. Some Aramaic manuscripts describe him playing a game very similar to cricket. Now the ICC should seriously consider that as their marketing strategy for the US. It’s brilliant, keep the bible thumpers busy with cricket, and let the real thinkers do politics. They can call it Christlike Cricket, and wear loose robes and sandals or something. I can totally envision a sports commentary segment called ‘What would Jesus do?’ Appeal vociferously, or wait for the next opportunity to take the batsman out? And of COURSE Jesus would play at Lord’s!
Ah, should read the comments before posting ^^^^
Will be interesting to see if in the long term 20/20 gives cricket a higher profile in the USA, outside the desi / Carribean diaspora.
My little 15 yo brother just finished his local Junior cricket league with a championship trophy that too in a small town in North Carolina. His team and the three other teams in his league had quite a few non-desis from the US and not from the cricket loving nations. The interest in cricket peaked so much that the small town of morrisville decided to sponsor a league for both the young kids and the teenagers. I definitely think it is slowly catching on – most of it is just plain ignorance about the game and ofcourse the slow pace. The 20-20 format should certainly help and like you said Cricket as an olympic sport will only make it better for the game!
My grandfather got a degree in Electrical Engineering from Union College (Schenectady, NY) circa 1905. Somewhere in our family album there is a photo of him standing with his mates of the College Cricket team, the sole black figure in a sea of white.
I’m in agreement with those who thought of “Netherland” when they read this post. I’m only about forty or so pages into it, but it is a very well-written book so far. Hope it gets a little more press.
24 · Nayagan said
The tri-state area, Pennsylvania and Delaware has a strong network of cricket-playing communities. A number of leagues operate in this geography, one of them being the Millennium Cricket League (http://www.millenniumcricketleague.com). If you look at the League rankings, you will see that the team leading currently is called Global CC. Their opening batsman and wicket keeper is Vishal Nagamootoo, who used to play at the first class & international level for Guyana. His brother (Mahesh, I think) has played Test cricket for the West Indian team. they are the nephews of the West Indian legends Rohan Kanhai & Alvin Kallicharran.
In fact on one of India’s tours to the WI (I forget the year), the tour opener warm-up was against Guyana. The Indian bowling machine was in great form and they eventually won the series that year. I belive Vishal scored a 98 not-out agianst the likes of Kumble and company. He moved to the US leaving behind a very short and eventful first-class career behind.
Anyway, the ICC does an awful job promoting cricket in the US. They only show the world cup on satellite instead of looking for deals to broadcast on niche PPV channels on cable which more people have. Their production values on the US feed are atrocious. It makes the game seem even duller. The stadiums during the last World Cup were empty and seemed to lack any passionate fans. No half time shows broadcast giving the casual viewers an opportunity to catch up to the players in the game.
The contents of the article drew my attention and so I wanted to thank you for enlighten me with an expression so well. I wish you continued sharing. Good work
First of all, thank you, your page are that everything be written about this topic. Gave a very great pleasure to read.
First of all, thank you, your page are that everything be written about this topic. Gave a very great pleasure to read.
Thannks alot for the article.. Ä° agree with you