Cricketers Compere in Florida for College Trophy
An inter-college cricket contest in America? Seems unlikely. Isn’t cricket in America considered as exotic as baseball in India? That could slowly change, however, because of the first-ever American College Cricket (ACC) tournament, which was held in Florida last month. To be sure, it was a low-key and low-budget affair, with only five colleges participating in the championship. Montgomery College from Maryland claimed the inaugural Chanderpaul Trophy. The other teams were Boston University, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Florida and the University of Miami.
Incidentally, the only custom-built cricket stadium in this country is also in Florida. Though it was too expensive for the tournament, these mostly foreign-born students did make good use of the sprawling Central Broward Regional Park, where the cricket stadium is located. Appropriately, for this twenty-something crowd, they played the fast-paced Twenty20 version. There were no sponsorships, but that could also change over time as more and more college teams join the ACC.
Who knows, in the not-too-distant future, we may even see cheerleaders waving pom-poms in the stadium, although that’s bound to horrify some die-hard cricket fans.
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
