In March 2009 the New York Times came to our first Championship – their article & video gave the CBRP Cricket Stadium worldwide attention.  Our story was carried by the International Herald Tribune, many Indian & Pakistani media, and Cricinfo.

 

Built in 2007, the Stadium was considered a white elephant,and in a financial negative. It was under threat of being converted to soccer or track & field, so we even showed up at political meetings, and I did an article called “Cricket’s Field of Dreams.”

 

American College Cricket returned in March 2010 and did a world wide webcast (the first ever broadcast of domestic cricket in the USA & Canada). Families and friends of students watched all over the world, and one of Canada’s largest malls showed the games on their Jumbotron.

 

The Sunday Washington Post carried a front page story . From the West Coast of Canada & the USA to the East and far South, American College Cricket made the Stadium famous. We also hosted the University of the West Indies, which spread the word in the Caribbean.

 

In March 2012, with TV Asia we televised 3 matches from the CBRP Stadium of our National Championship.

 

Whilst others criticized the pitch, the lights,dressing rooms etc we have believed in the Stadium and our college players have fulfilled dreams playing in a first-class facility. Their photos & comments on Facebook have told stories.

 

Now this past weekend our support has been vindicated – Chris Gayle came and struck 85* and 53, and Kieron Pollard 63*, as West Indies defeated New Zealand in 2 matches at the Stadium made famous by American College Cricket.

 

The lead up to the WI vs NZ matches over the weekend had the usual negative comments directed at the pitch. But having used the Stadium for 3 years I assured my Facebook friends the pitch was ok, and just needed proper preparation.

 

We had utilized curator Sam Plummer from 2010 to last March. Our college cricketers had put up scores over 140, despite long boundaries (in 2010 the Stadium set them at the longest) and energetic young players diving everywhere.

We even play without that silly “leg-side wide” rule which inflates scores with wides, gives batsmen do-overs, and tilts the advantage clearly in the batsmen’s favor.

 

What does the success of this event for cricket in the USA ? Nothing necessarily. There have been one-off successful matches by International teams in the NY and California before. What must be different this time is continuity – regular scheduling of matches at the Stadium, to build the audience.

 

Were there negatives ? Sure,if the audience continues to be mostly older, it won’t be a sustainable base. Despite the presence of Gayle and Pollard, the Stadium was not full on the 2nd day. Those dreaming of an American professional league have no reason to celebrate, if they were realistic. No one will pay to see local players – recreational cricket is not a foundation for a professional league.

 

However matches like these have great value for cricket fans in the USA who have for far too long been starved of opportunities like this. There is nothing wrong with playing the game for fans – who might have moved from the West Indies (& other places), but still care for the game & the team.

 

Ignoring cricket fans in the USA has been bad business by the West Indies Cricket Board, the ICC and the BCCI for decades. It has also effectively stopped the game from taking root here, as without this kind of visibility, it robs youth of an inspiration to play the game. The popular nonsensical talk of “grass roots” development is meaningless, and delusional……without high profile cricket the game has no chance here.

 

Another thing is, those who take what seems a prejudiced view that its not successful if what they call “mainstream Americans” don’t attend the matches are totally wrong. These matches are successful if enough fans (of any color)  show up to make the event profitable. You can’t expand, unless you have a base. 

 

However the event was not well-promoted. Though American College Cricket is the largest, and most high profile cricket organization in the USA, we were not asked by any of the principals in this event, to be involved. A dynamic star like Gayle in town & you can’t get a story in the media ? Contrast this with the fact that ESPN will partner with American College Cricket in the promotion of cricket. 

 

Nevertheless, we are enthusiastic in support of initiatives like this WI vs NZ series, and would like to see more – both NZ & WI Cricket Boards have a chance of building an ancillary revenue stream, which benefits cricket. 

 

Most importantly for the Stadium we’ve held the American College Cricket Spring Break Championship there even when we’ve had reasons & chances to go elsewhere. Big sports names like the Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans, UF Gators and students from 28 American & Canadian Universities converging on the Stadium annually has a value that’s priceless !

 

Young cricket stars like Adil Bhatti, Khushroo Wadia, Adrian Gordon, Jai Patel, Akeem Dodson, Kislaya Kanan, Abdullah Sheikh, Anurag Verma will continue to carve dreams in this Stadium, that will etch in their memories like a Neville Cardus piece. 

 

This Fall we’ll be there for the American College Cricket South East regional, then next March, for the American College Cricket National Championship to see who takes home the Shiv Chanderpaul Trophy !

 

Take a bow Chanderpaul & American College Cricket members !

 

by Lloyd Jodah

 

 

 

 

Photos by :

Amir Saddiqui