Cricket fans hope World Cup on Long Island will help spread the sport's popularity
NEW YORK - The U.S. will host the Cricket World Cup for the first time ever on Long Island.
New York is in the grip of cricket fever. Saturday, the first World Cup Cricket game will kick off in the U.S., with the first game in New York on Long Island on Monday. The matchup is Sri Lanka versus South Africa
The sport has been thriving among immigrant communities for generations, with local leagues hosting competitions at neighborhood parks across New York City for decades.
Cricket as family tradition
"My dad was one of the first organizers of the Trinidad against Guyana game," Sunil Maharaj said. "Cricket came to me because we would always be with my dad when he was playing games."
Sunil's father Jimmy Maharaj started playing the centuries-old sport in the 1970s, both in Trinidad - his family's homeland - and at neighborhood parks around New York.
"Cricket was my dad's first love, then my mom came second," Sunil Maharaj said.
Sunil's father received local and international recognition, and had lots of local fans. Even when he became ill with cancer and was no longer able to compete, he still found joy in the game by watching his sons play.
"He would come and enjoy cricket, watching us. Sometimes he would give us little tips," Maharaj said.
In 2006, the family founded a windball cricket team. That's a form of cricket that uses a softball instead of a traditional hardball. They've been playing in weekly competitions in Brooklyn and Queens ever since.
In one word, how would he describe cricket?
"Exhilarating," he said. "Because at any moment the game could go either way."
The Maharaj family is just one of many families from South Asian and Caribbean communities proud to see the T20 World Cup matches being played in New York for the first time.
"I think he would be amazed at how far this game has come, and it's finally in the U.S.," Maharaj said.
They hope the competition at Eisenhower Park on Long Island will take the sports popularity to the next level in the U.S.
Some basic rules and terms of cricket
Cricket, a bat-and-ball game similar to baseball, is played on a 22-yard pitch, which is a rectangular area in the middle of the field. It is played with wickets - sets of three sticks - at each end that batters must defend during the game. Each tea takes turns batting and bowling, which is similar to pitching. The goal is to score the most runs.
"There's boundaries. Like baseball has a home run, we have fours and sixes. If you hit the ball and it bounces before it hits the rope, it's four runs. If it goes over the boundary rope, it's six runs," Maharaj said.