Atlanta Cricket League popularises cricket in Gwinett, USA

Cricket is getting popular among people of Asian descent in Gwinnett, USA.

Gwinett is a county in the US state of Georgia. Cricket is rapidly getting popular in this constituency which has population of eight lakhs. It is getting following among Asian-Americans. Some leagues have also sprung up. Saad Arij (a previous resident of Gwinnett), a Pakistani American took to the sport when he was only four. It was a time when most children from his community, Indian-Americans and South African-Americans were more interested in playing baseball. Arij now plays cricket in Atlanta Cricket League. He has been playing for Cridepot Stallions since the last six years. Atlanta Cricket League was formed in 2007. Players from all nearby cities play for the league. From Gwinnett itself there are 100 cricketers. READ: Muhammad Asad Ghous: USA cricket has always managed to pull through hard times

In a conversation with gwinnettdailypost.com Arij said, “It’s such a big sport in Pakistan — it’s like in little league when you want to get your kid involved in a sport outside of school, parents put their kids into cricket. You start off at a very young age back in the home country and just try to grow it from there… In the simplest terms, it all boils down to hand-eye coordination on batting and then, when it comes to pitching, the only real difference [from baseball] is rather than a direct throw, you’re bouncing it and there are a few different variations with the spin. I think it’s very easy to switch over to the game. I mean, there is definitely a learning curve, but if you’re a good baseball player and you have the basics with the hand-eye coordination, the speed, the athleticism — being a natural athlete, it’s not hard to switch over to the game. It’s [cricket] different and they are much more relaxed than a lot of the softball players are. ” Cricket in USA: ICC develops a blueprint to popularise the sport in the country.

According to Jomy Davis [team manager of USC rockets], an Indian-American, “Most of the grounds that we play on are in the northern suburbs, so it kind of ranges from around Marietta to Lawrenceville. Most of the colonies play cricket — the ex-colonies rather — so it’s most popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K. [and] the West Indies.” Arij feels cricket, baseball and softball are different sports but have some similarities and there is a good chance that if you have talent for one sport you can excel in others too. Aakash Chopra: T20 cricket killing the classical spinners