By Nick Said
HOUSTON, June 27 (Reuters) – World Cup fever has gripped Houston but across the city the unmistakable sound of leather ball on willow bat can be heard as baseball mounds give way to cricket pitches and the gentleman’s game begins to take hold in Texas.
The growth of the sport in Houston is driven by communities from traditional cricket-playing nations, immigrants and their sons and daughters from India, England, West Indies, Australia and South Africa.
But there is a real hope the game can spread into the city’s diverse communities where it has not yet taken hold, and against the backdrop of the World Cup, soccer provides the blueprint.
Surya Saladi started what is today the Triggers Cricket Consortium (TCC) in 2004, and it has been a driving force behind growing the game in Harris County and beyond.
Initially a club for adults, 12 years ago Saladi created youth teams and has seen a big swing in popularity for the sport.
“We started with 30 kids but now have over 1,000 players between the ages of seven and 17 playing youth cricket in Houston,” he told Reuters.
“We have adult teams that compete in the Houston Cricket League, our own tapedball league with around 45 youth teams and we also run high-performance courses for youth cricketers.”
Tapedball is a modified form of cricket played with a tennis ball wrapped in tape, creating a smooth, heavier ball that can be used on any surface.
TCC has access to 35 cricket grounds in the Houston area, a mixture between traditional grass wickets and astroturf. But Saladi believes there is potential to do a lot more.
“Cricket is a foreign sport in this country and getting the community backing is very important,” he said. “Slowly we are building an eco-system where cricket will be an affordable sport (to play) and gets the attention it deserves.
“For us to make this a mainstream sport, getting into schools is important. If you go back to the 1980s, soccer was in a similar situation, it never got the attention it deserved.
“But what worked for soccer was that at a grassroots level it grew, even if the commercial appeal wasn’t there at the time.”
Dutch coach Job van Bunge brings his Atlanta-based academy side to Houston from time to time for tournaments.
“There is so much cricket being played (in the United States), it is unreal,” he said. “When I came out here for the first time it was all baseball diamonds and now it is cricket pitches and indoor centres with 10 lanes.
“The participation rates are growing and I don’t think it is stopping anytime soon.”
Gholam Nousher, a former Bangladesh international, believes times are changing too.
“The standard is growing. Players are starting to understand the game because professional coaches are here,” he said. “Even with women’s cricket. We have a girls’ team starting from the age of seven. Houston’s cricket is growing.”
Cricket is now also a viable, well-paid career for players in the United States who can turn professional.
Ishaan Malpani, 15, an all-rounder in the youth club system in Houston, believes there is a pathway to international cricket for him.
“I have been playing for almost 10 years,” he said. “My Dad introduced me to the game and I loved it. My ambition is to play all over the world.
“I play games on Saturday and Sunday and train almost every day of the week.”
Dipak Singh, who is a committee member for Houston Youth Cricket Consortium, says those ambitions are within reach.
“Five kids out of Houston have recently made the United States Under-19 team,” Singh said. “One of the biggest tournaments in the country happens in Houston each year, the National Youth Cricket Tournament. Fifty-six teams come and play over four days.
“Parents and kids are now thinking about professional cricket, so the mindset is changing.”
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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