History of United States cricket
Encyclopedia
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
was as popular a bat and ball game as baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
. Though Americans generally never played cricket in great numbers, it did enjoy an initial period of sustained growth. Around the time of the United States Civil War, the game began competing with baseball for participants, and cricket slowly declined in popularity. This was followed again by a brief golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
with the Philadelphian cricket team
Philadelphian cricket team
The Philadelphian cricket team was a team that represented Philadelphia in first-class cricket between 1878 and 1913. Even with the United States having played the first ever international cricket match against Canada in 1844, the sport began a slow decline in the country. This decline was...
. This lasted until roughly the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, at this time cricket again became less popular. In the latter part of the 20th century immigrants from cricket playing nations in south Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
and the West Indies
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
helped spark a resurgence in the game's popularity. This led to participation and success in several International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
events. In 2007, the United States of America Cricket Association
United States of America Cricket Association
The United States of America Cricket Association is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in the United States. USACA sponsors the United States cricket team that is recognized by the International Cricket Council, and has been an associate member of that body since 1965.USACA...
was suspended by the ICC because of problems with its administration, but was again recognized beginning in 2008.
Early developments
Cricket was being played in British North AmericaBritish North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
by at least the beginning of the eighteenth century. The earliest definite reference to American cricket is in the 1709 diaries of William Byrd
William Byrd III
William Byrd III was the son of William Byrd II and the grandson of William Byrd I. He inherited his family's land in Virginia and continued their planter prestige as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.He chose to fight in the French and Indian War rather than spend much time in Richmond...
of Westover on his James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
estates in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. By the time of the American Revolution, the game was so popular that the troops at Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...
participated in matches among themselves. There is at least one instance recorded of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
himself joining in a game of "wicket." John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
was recorded as saying in Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
that if leaders of simple cricket clubs could be called "presidents," there was no reason why the leader of the new nation could not be called something more grand. Cricket continued to develop slowly as a recreational sport until the time of American independence in 1783
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
.
History following independence
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. A contemporary report notes that upwards of 5,000 people played the game in those cities. In 1833, students at Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
established what is generally accepted as the first cricket club exclusively for Americans. This club was short-lived, but helped to keep interest in the sport alive in Philadelphia leading to the foundation of the Philadelphia Cricket Club
Philadelphia Cricket Club
The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania.-History:...
in 1854 and the Germantown and Young America
Young America Cricket Club
The Young America Cricket Club was founded on 19 November 1855 at the house of William Wister after the Germantown Cricket Club team refused to allow young American players to gain cricket experience through match participation. Owen Wister, the nephew of William, wrote the Virginian-the protype...
clubs in 1855. By this time, Philadelphia had become the unofficial "Cricket Capital of America."
The United States holds the distinction of being a participant in the first international cricket match
United States v Canada (1844)
The Canadian cricket team in the United States in 1844 was the first international team to travel to another country and the match between the two national sides that year, billed as "United States of America versus the British Empire's Canadian Province", was the first official international...
. This match was first played against Canada on 24 September 1844 by the St George's Cricket Club at the former Bloomingdale Park
Bloomingdale Park
Bloomingdale Park is a park on the South Shore of Staten Island. It is located in the Prince's Bay neighborhood, and is bounded on the north by Ramona Avenue, on the west by Bloomingdale Road, on the east by Lenevar Avenue, and on the south by Drumgoole Road West and the Korean War Veterans Parkway...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The match was attended by some 10,000 spectators, and is today the world's oldest international sporting event. Wagers of around $120,000 were placed on the outcome of the match. This is equivalent to around $1.5 million in 2007.
As late as 1855, the New York press was still devoting more space to coverage of cricket than to baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
.
Sides from England toured North America (taking in both the USA and Canada) following the English cricket seasons of 1859, 1868 and 1872. These were organised as purely commercial ventures. The 1859 team
England cricket team in North America in 1859
The English cricket team in North America in 1859 was the first ever overseas cricket tour.-Organisation:The idea for the tour came from WP Pickering , who had been captain of cricket at Eton College in 1837 and 1838. He had emigrated to Canada in 1852 and played for Canada against the United...
comprised six players from the All-England Eleven
All-England Eleven
In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
and six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr
George Parr (cricketer)
George Parr was an English cricketer, whose first-class career lasted from 1844 to 1870....
. They played five matches, winning them all. There were no first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
fixtures. The match at New York attracted a crowd that was claimed to be 10,000, all that the ground would hold.
The 1868 tourists were led by Edgar Willsher
Edgar Willsher
Edgar "Ned" Willsher was an English cricketer who is famous for being the catalyst in the shift from roundarm to overarm bowling....
and those of 1872-3 by R.A. Fitzgerald. The latter side included W.G.Grace.
Most of the matches of these early English touring teams were played "against odds", that is to say the home team was permitted to have more than eleven players (usually twenty-two) in order to make a more even contest.
In spite of all this American growth in the game, it was slowly losing ground to a newcomer. In many cities, local cricket clubs were contributing to their own demise by encouraging crossover to the developing game of baseball. After the United States Civil War the Cincinnati Red Stockings
Cincinnati Red Stockings
The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...
brought a talented young bowler
Bowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
from the St. George's Cricket Club in New York to serve as a player and manager of the team. Harry Wright
Harry Wright
William Henry "Harry" Wright was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings...
applied the "scientific" batting and specialized placement of fielders that he had learned in cricket to his new sport. This development was instrumental in creating the Cincinnati team's undefeated 1869 season. It also helped to secure the place of baseball as one of the most popular sports in the country.
It may have been during the Civil War that baseball secured its place as America's game. An army making a brief stop at a location could easily organise a game of baseball on almost any clear patch of ground, whilst cricket required a carefully prepared pitch. Baseball began to poach players and administrators from the world of cricket. Nick Young
Nicholas Young (executive)
thumb|Nicholas Ephraim Young was an American executive, manager and umpire in professional baseball who served as president of the National League from 1885 to 1902. Born in Amsterdam, New York at Johnson Hall, the estate of Sir William Johnson, he served in the Union Army during the Civil War,...
, who served for 25 years as the president of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
, was originally a successful cricketer. It was not until the Civil War that he took up baseball because "it looked like cricket for which his soul thirsted." It has been suggested that the fast-paced quick play of baseball was more appealing to Americans than the technical slower game of cricket. This natural tendency toward baseball was compounded by terrible American defeats at the hands of a traveling English side in 1859, which may have caused Americans to think that they would never be successful at this English game. By the end of the Civil War, most cricket fans had given up their hopes of broad-based support for the game. Baseball filled the role of the "people's game" and cricket became an amateur game for gentlemen.
Rise of amateur cricket
Staten Island Cricket Club
The Staten Island Cricket Club is a cricket club on Staten Island, New York that was incorporated as the Staten Island Cricket and Base Ball Club on March 22, 1872. It became the first tennis venue in the United States.- History :...
. The club was to be based on "the broadest and most liberal interpretation of the terms 'gentlemen' and amateur." They were not that interested in playing baseball, but in founding a more responsive club in the area than the St George's Cricket Club. The members of the Seabright Lawn Tennis Club became so interested in cricket that they convinced club officials to sod their cricket ground with turf imported from England and had the name of the club changed to the Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club
Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club
The Seabright Lawn Tennis and Cricket Club is one of the oldest active tennis clubs in the United States. It was organized in 1877 and incorporated in 1886. The Seabright Invitational Tournament was a major tournament from 1884 through 1950. It was ended not because of funding, but because the...
in 1885.
Merion Cricket Club
Merion Cricket Club is a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, founded in 1865. The current clubhouse is its sixth, the last four having been designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and his partner, Allen Evans .-History:...
. They were very emphatic about the purity of the sport and thwarted early attempts by some to convert the club into baseball club. In the end, the club members passed a resolution that the remaining baseball equipment "be sold off as quickly as possible" to guarantee the purpose of the club. Following the lead of New York and Philadelphia, other cities saw new clubs form. These included St Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Boston, Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, and Baltimore.
These decades also saw an increase in cricket-playing at the intercollegiate level. Following the Civil War, it looked like cricket might expand beyond its strongholds at Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. Members of these schools joined together with delegates from other collegiate cricket clubs, including Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, to form the Intercollegiate Cricket Association in 1881. The group was plagued by troubles and withdrawals. Other schools, such as Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, joined the ICA, but Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
never got around to fielding a team. The ICA it lasted until 1924 when it crowned its last champion. These collegiate clubs generally drew their talent from pools at secondary schools which also fielded team and played in interscholastic competitions in this period.
Philadelphian cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
between 1878 and 1913. The team was composed of players from the four chief cricket clubs in Philadelphia–Germantown, Merion
Merion Cricket Club
Merion Cricket Club is a private club in Haverford, Pennsylvania, founded in 1865. The current clubhouse is its sixth, the last four having been designed by Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and his partner, Allen Evans .-History:...
, Belmont
Belmont Cricket Club
The Belmont Cricket Club was one of the four chief cricket clubs in Philadelphia that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I. It was founded in 1874 in west Philadelphia and was disbanded in 1914. Bart King, arguably America's greatest cricketer during its golden...
, and Philadelphia
Philadelphia Cricket Club
The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854, is the oldest country club in the United States. It has two locations: Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and Flourtown, Pennsylvania.-History:...
. Players from smaller clubs, such as Tioga
Tioga Cricket Club
The Tioga Cricket Club was a cricket club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The club was located at Westmoreland Station, and was one of the clubs contributing members to the famous Philadelphian cricket team. This was the first club team for which Bart King played after switching from...
and Moorestown, and local colleges, such as Haverford, also played for the Philadelphians. Over its 35 years, the team played in 88 first-class cricket matches. Of those, 29 were won, 45 were lost, 13 were drawn and one game was abandoned before completion. The "Gentlemen of Philadelphia" were able to win at least a match or two from all of the foreign sides that visited. They beat Australia's test team by an innings on two separate occasions, in 1893 and 1896 Throughout their first-class period of play, the Philadelphians produced such cricketers as Bart King
Bart King
John Barton "Bart" King was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King was one of the Philadelphian cricketers that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I...
, George Patterson
George Patterson (cricketer)
George Stuart Patterson was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th century. Patterson played most notably for the Philadelphians, which flourished from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I...
, and John Lester
John Lester
John Ashby Lester was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lester was one of the Philadelphian cricketers who played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I...
.
The success of the team and of the sport itself in Philadelphia was the result of broad support from the citizens of the city. Crowds of several thousand fans "ranging from millionaires, coaching parties, and box holders to newsboys" routinely filled the stands at the big four clubs during international matches. These matches were also widely reported in local newspapers. Unlike the other regional pockets of cricket enthusiasm across the country, the sport maintained is popularity for almost two decades into the twentieth century.
In 1897, the Gentlemen of Philadelphia were able to launch its first strictly first-class tour of England. This came about after many years of planning.This tour was a very ambitious one for the Americans. They had last toured the British Isles in 1889. Though the results may have been less satisfactory than hoped for by promoters, the tour was arranged mainly for educational purposes and few of those on the American side expected to win many matches. The 1897 schedule included all of the top county cricket
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
teams, the Oxford
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
and Cambridge University teams
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
, and two other sides, though only a few of the counties thought it worthwhile to put their best elevens onto the field. While it initially aroused some curiosity, many English fans lost interest until Bart King and the Philadelphians met the full Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
team at Brighton on 17 June. In the first innings, King proved his batting worth on a fourth-wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
stand of 107 runs with John Lester. He then took 7 wickets for 13 runs and the team dismissed Sussex for 46 in less than an hour. In the second innings, King took 6 for 102 and helped the Philadelphians to a victory by 8 wickets.
The Philadelphians again took King and his teammates to England in 1903. On this tour, the team rarely found itself outmatched. By the end of the tour, some English observers were comparing the Philadelphian team to some of the Australian sides that they had seen. One of the highlights of the tour was the win over Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
by an innings and 26 runs. This was the worst defeat ever by an American side over an English county side. The Americans back home believed that this was the country's chance to burst onto the world cricket stage. Unfortunately, this was followed by a relatively poor showing in 1908. The only bright spot of this tour was Bart King's capture of the season bowling record. His record of 11.01 was not bettered until 1958 when Les Jackson
Les Jackson
Les Jackson was an English cricketer. A fast or fast-medium bowler renowned for his accurate bowling and particular hostility on uncovered wickets, he played county cricket for Derbyshire from 1947 to 1963, and was regularly at, or near the top of, the English bowling averages...
of Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
posted an average of 10.99.
Decline of popularity
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
. Starting around 1905, the number of matches held in the city dropped off. Some of the great clubs of the city even began to close down due to lack of members. Bart King's own Belmont Cricket Club sold its grounds and disbanded in 1914. The sport slowly declined in Philadelphia and the last first-class match in the city was played in 1913. The game was still being played at Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
at least as late as 1925, when a team from the college visited England and played a number of English "public schools".
Another blow to cricket in the United States was the formation of the Imperial Cricket Conference
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
in 1909. As the name implied, this was meant to be an organization for cricketing nations in the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Countries such as Australia and South Africa were able to continue playing internationally, while the United States was left out. Although commentator Robert Waller predicted that cricket "had taken so deep a root in Philadelphia that it could never be uprooted," the lack of support and international apathy caused an irreversible decline.
Slow resurgence
In the second half of the twentieth century, immigrants to the United States from traditional cricket strongholds such as South Asia and the West Indies helped to stimulate the growth of the game. The first match televised in the United States was one between the Corinthians and HollywoodHollywood Cricket Club
The Hollywood Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club in Los Angeles, California. It is a member of the Southern California Cricket Association. The club was formed in 1932 by British actor and cricketer Aubrey Smith....
in 1958. Cricket received a boost in the United States in 1959 when President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
attended a cricket match at Karachi's
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
National Cricket Ground
National Stadium, Karachi
The National Stadium is a cricket stadium in Karachi, Pakistan. It is currently used for cricket matches, and is home to Karachi's domestic cricket teams. The stadium is able to hold 34,228 spectators, making it the second largest cricket stadium in Pakistan after Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore...
. In 1961, an expatriate Englishman, John Marder, helped to establish the United States of America Cricket Association
United States of America Cricket Association
The United States of America Cricket Association is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in the United States. USACA sponsors the United States cricket team that is recognized by the International Cricket Council, and has been an associate member of that body since 1965.USACA...
. He also helped to re-establish the series between the United States and Canada that began in 1844. Cricket also gained ground in American collegiate settings during this period. Again, most of the play was done by foreign students visiting the United States to study. This slow but steady resurgence in the game has not spread in great numbers to the mainstream American population.
Modern developments
The United States of American Cricket Association was admitted as an associate member of the International Cricket Conference in 1965. This was the same group that had been so integral in keeping the United States out of international cricket when formed in 1909. The United States was also able to participate in the ICC TrophyICC Trophy
The ICC World Cup Qualifier is an international one-day cricket tournament run under the auspices of the International Cricket Council. Any Associate or Affiliate member of the ICC may attempt to qualify for the ICC Trophy by means of a system of regional qualifying events. The test-playing Full...
when the tournament started in 1979. They have been successful and have continued to improve. Unfortunately, the administration of the USACA has proved unable to administer the sport in the United States effectively. This has led to suspensions from tournaments and ineligibilities. In May 2007 the USA were to visit Darwin, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to take part in Division Three
2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Three
The 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Three was a cricket tournament played in Darwin, Australia between 27 May and 2 June 2007. The tournament formed part of the qualification structure for the 2011 World Cup as well as part of the wider ICC World Cricket League.At the end of the tournament,...
of the ICC World Cricket League. A top two finish in this tournament would have qualified them for Division Two
2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Two
The 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Two is a tournament that forms part of the ICC World Cricket League. It was played in Windhoek, Namibia between 24 November and 1 December 2007, and forms part of the qualification structure for the 2011 Cricket World Cup.-Teams: The 2007 ICC World...
of the same tournament later in the year. Unfortunately, the USACA was suspended from the ICC and the team was pulled from this competition.
Compton Cricket Club
The Compton Cricket ClubCompton Cricket Club
The Compton Cricket Club , or the "Homies and the Popz", is a cricket club based in Compton, Los Angeles County, California, USA. The CCC is the only all American-born exhibition cricket team...
or CCC is a cricket club based in, Compton
Compton
-Canada:* Compton, Quebec* Compton County, Quebec* Compton , a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton* Compton , a former Quebec federal electoral district-England:...
, Los Angeles County, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA. The CCC is an all American-born disadvantaged exhibition cricket team. The team, which includes Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
and African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
ex-gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
members, was founded in 1995 by US homeless activist Ted Hayes and Hollywood movie Producer Katy Haber to combat the negative effect of poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, urban decay
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
and crime in Compton. The club uses the ideals of sportsmanship
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...
, and the particular importance of etiquette
Etiquette
Etiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
and fair play in cricket, to help players develop respect for authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
, a sense of self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
and self-discipline. Having toured England once as a homeless team and 3 times as the Compton Cricket Club - the Homies will tour Australia Jan 31 - feb 12, 2011 & become the first American born cricket club to tour to Australia.
Pro Cricket
In 2004 a professional cricket league called Pro CricketPro Cricket
Pro Cricket was a professional cricket league in the United States. It was operated by American Pro Cricket LLC , a private company independent of the ICC and the USACA. Kalpesh Patel served as Pro Cricket's chairman and commissioner....
was formed with eight geographically distributed teams organized in two divisions. Most teams used minor league baseball parks as home fields during that first and only year of league operation. However, with the absence of adequate revenue the league closed at the end of the 2004 season.
American-born Test cricketers
Although the United States is only an associate member of the ICC and has never played a TestTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
match, three Test cricketers have been born in the USA. Ken Weekes
Ken Weekes
Kenneth Hunnel Weekes was a West Indian cricketer who played in two Tests in 1939....
was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1912 and played in two of the Tests on the West Indies' tour of England in 1939. Weekes scored 137 at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in the last Test match before the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Weekes eventually returned to the United States from Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and died in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in 1998.http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/53220.html
Later, the Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-born Jehan Mubarak
Jehan Mubarak
Jehan Mubarak is an American-born Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler.-Early career:...
became an international Test player. He has played 8 Tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka.http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/49633.html
Clayton Lambert
Clayton Lambert
Clayton Benjamin Lambert is a cricketer for the West Indies and the United States.Lambert first appeared in the West Indies team for a One Day International against England in Georgetown, against whom he also made an unsuccessful Test match debut at The Oval in 1991...
, who played 5 Tests for the West Indies, reappeared for the USA in 2004 and played in the ICC trophy. http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/usa/content/player/25635.html