“Like a religion,” Cricket Finds a Growing Fanbase in the Midsouth
This story was produced in partnership with WKNO-FM public radio.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon, players and umpires take their positions in an open field. There are balls, bats, and protective gear.
One player gets a hit. Others sprint to catch it. You’re probably thinking: baseball. Close. This is its close kin, cricket, as played in a recent match between the Jonesboro Wolfpack and the Memphis Indian Lions.
Just outside the Hickory Hill Community Center, the Memphis Minor League is hosting the final game of a large tournament. Sitting in the shade, players laugh, joke, and chat in their native tongues. Several are immigrants or the children of immigrants from India and other countries. There’s a bit of heckling as well.
For the Mid-South’s Indian community, cricket offers a sense of belonging. The sport is also growing, says Aditya Dash, one of the organizers and a former college cricket player.
“My main objective, along with [a] few others who have taken up this initiative, [is] to make sure that we pass along this game, which happens to be second-largest sport in the world after soccer,” Dash said.
How To Get Involved
To become part of a cricket team, or find out more about the game, check out these options.
Memphis Premier League: https://cricclubs.com/MemphisPremierLeague
Memphis Minor Cricket League: https://www.memphisminorleague.com/
For training, visit the Collierville Cricket Academy’s website: https://colliervillecricketacademy.org/
The sport is particularly popular among those who have fond memories of playing it as children or young adults, he said.
“It’s mind-boggling if you look at the progress which we have made in the last 18 years, where we started with just two teams,” Dash said. “And right now, our adult recreation league hosts more than 450 adults in this league.”
Organizer and player Vishal Chheda is from the Indian city of Mumbai. He’s lived in Memphis since the early 2000s.
“The game is considered like a religion in India, where I grew up,” Chheda said. For him, cricket offers a chance to reconnect with his roots.
“Whatever I’ve been missing from home, I find it right in here,” he said.
Manjit Kaur echoes those feelings. She’s a teacher in Germantown. In 2014, as president of the Indian Association of Memphis, she helped create another cricket league, the Memphis Premier League.
She said a passion for the sport binds her community.
“It’s very important because look at these people here now. You’ll see, they all come from different states, different parts of India. They speak different languages. They have different cultures,” she said. “But look … here. They are all together, right? There is nothing (separating them). They’re like one unit here. They play for their team. Whatever team they are representing here.”
Cricket is played on a large oval field with a pitch in the middle. There are three sites in Shelby County. Efforts to recruit new players are ongoing. The Collierville Cricket Academy now has about 40 youths, with aims to reach over 150, Dash said.
“Our efforts are entirely dedicated to those kids, and we want those kids to start showing up in sessions and start learning cricket.”
Dash invites anyone — children or adults — curious about the sport to give it a try.
“We can definitely make sure that we at least give you a taste of cricket and then leave it to your taste buds to decide if you want to go for it,” he said.
