Part I – The Lament
Regaining lost ground – Cricket ground in LA
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[A first hand account by our guest author Varun, on the pleasant surprise that US cricket leagues were]
Our fondest childhood memories often take us back to the playgrounds, when we did little but play cricket – without a care in the world. It hardly mattered if it was a scorching summer day, pouring monsoon evening or chilly winter morning. All you needed was a bat, tennis ball, and a few of your friends to transport you in another world; a world where homework could wait, and parents never got angry! A few us even gave it a serious shot – representing schools, clubs; equipped with proper cricketing gear, playing with the leather ball. Though, admittedly, even fewer amongst us were lucky enough to study in schools which had requisite infrastructure and equipments to support us serious lot – a surprise considering that cricket is just about the only sport that Indian kids play.
At that point of time, the only dream we had was to get a place in the Indian cricket team. Nothing else mattered.
Then we grew up. Words like ‘seriousness’, ‘career’, ‘future’ and the kind eclipsed our budding cricketing careers. Matches gave way to coaching classes, bats and balls to pens and notebook and evading bouncers were replaced by rotational dynamics problems as the toughest task of the day. Getting into IIT, we were convinced, was way bigger than making a name in cricket. Or maybe that was the easy way out.
College was no different. There were far too many things too keep up with, than the silly struggle of bat and ball. The little cricket that I got to play was limited to a couple of months of Inter Hostel and Inter IIT matches. Here also, I must admit that I was lucky enough to be in an institute with state-of-the-art facilities, which made playing proper leather ball cricket so much simpler.
The cricketer within died, in cold blood, the day we started our professional journey. Let me ask you a question – how many times have you played, or attempted to play cricket or any other sport after taking up a job? Or are you happy just lazing around, tweaking your fantasy teams and discussing it over weekend binges? Some of us gather the desire to join gyms, in order to ‘stay fit’ – an interest that wanes over time. The sports life takes its final breath the day we step out of college. I really wished I could get those playing days back again.
Part II – The Resurrection
So it came as a pleasant surprise, almost an unbelievable shock to see the level of organization and involvement when I signed up to play in a local league. It was an eye opener to see a country which did not even play the sport proper, where majority of people could only relate cricket to an unwanted insect, having such amazing infrastructure, organization and level of participation!
It all started when I was terribly bored during my 3 month business trip to Los Angeles this summer, and as a potential ennui-buster, looked up a local cricket club that played matches over the weekend. The website, with a list of Indian members, gave me an impression that it was a bunch of Indians gathering in a park over the weekend to have a round of picnic cricket. That doubt vanished when I got a call in return to my e-mail to the club head. He asked me to bring my own whites and an A-guard (a strict no-no share in cricket); a rude awakening that we were talking serious leather ball cricket here. Still the best I could manage was a black track pant (close, eh?), which earned me stern glares when the good blokes came to pick me over. Luckily one of them had spare whites, which I was duly asked to return when I planned to go back. (Small query from editor, and readers: What did you do for the A-guard, hope that wasn’t borrowed, was it? Or you decided to just bowl, and give up on batting?)
The biggest revelation was when we parked our car and marched towards the ground. It was mind blowing –3 full size cricket fields, proper cricket pitches, nets all over, numerous people in whites playing all around. Scenes that could have could have made the Kanga league players envious! I was awestruck.
Mumbai Express: The author in delivery stride (Ed: notice the blur, that's how fast our man is)
I, being a bowler, approached one of the nets to get some bowling practice. It turned out that a group of Pakistani club cricketers were practicing there, but they were more than happy to let me loosen up. They engaged in some friendly banter: “Are ye to Mumbai Express hai”, “Rawalpindi Express ke saamne kuch nahi hai”, “Chorna nahin iski balls ko”. It was all in good humor though, and they even took my contact number as they needed a bowler for the upcoming league matches.
Finally it was play time. We were up against a West Indian team which had a Pakistani and an Aussie player. Our team also had a player from the Windies. This was a 20 over a side game as a part of the ‘social’ league with 8 teams and relaxed rules. I will hold the suspense of the results of the match till later. Let me bore you with some league structure gyaan first.
The winter leagues had just ended, and summer leagues were round the corner. The leagues are a part of Southern Cricket California Cricket Association. There are 48 member teams, spread across 5 divisions with Division 1 being the best and Division 5 being the least best. Division 1 and 2 matches are 45 overs while Division 3, 4 and 5 are 40 overs each. You can find players from all cricketing nationalities playing the leagues: Indians, Aussies, Lankans, South Aricans, English, Windies, Banglas, Irish; you name it! What’s more, even some of the Americans played in these leagues. Almost all teams were pre-dominantly one nationality based, but they borrowed members from other teams and nationalities if their own players were injured or busy.
There are 9 proper cricket fields (yes, you read that right) and almost every weekend there is a match on each of the fields; twice each day. A visit there would help you relive all the sights and sounds cherished by a cricket fan – the aesthetic whites busy in cricketing battles, lovely sounds of ball hitting bat, players appealing for that prized wicket shouting ‘Howzzat??’ in unison. I have never come across such sights in India, where cricket is supposed to be a religion.
The best and most heartening part was the management of the leagues; something that is found wanting even at the highest levels in India. The leagues were professionally managed, in true sense of the word. There are proper schedules, which are adhered to; the matches start on time, there is dedicated staff to look after the ground and amenities, scoreboards and scorebooks, managers to plan the events and schedule the matches. Each team has their own schedule in advance, in addition to the overall schedules. Results and team standings are up to date on the website, with each and every playing record properly maintained. Sounds like IPL, doesn’t it? Sans the cheerleaders, sponsors and unnecessary drama, thankfully.
These guys were all working, but find the time to play on every weekend. In case there were no league matches, they just got together to play friendly matches. Matches, though played with an obvious desire to win, had a much higher purpose: being a part of a game they loved – CRICKET. As they say, you realize the importance of something when it is taken away from you.
I wonder with the all the passion we claim to have for cricket in India, why isn’t there a similar setup that allows us to play even after we start working? Or is playing considered something restricted only to children or professionals? Probably we just like to watch others play, and lament the demise of our playing days with the dawn of adulthood. Time to change, I say!
Coming back to the results, I played two matches – one against a Pakistani team that we won, and other against an Aussie team that we lost. But obviously!
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