Cricket by Robin Hartill

FOR BATTER OR WORSE ROBIN HARTILL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

efore we noshed on hot dogs in ballparks and watched ripped hitters in dirty jerseys crack 95 mph fastballs over the outfield, we had cricket. Before we had Barry Bonds, we had Bart King. Don’t know Bart King, the best American cricketer in the history of the sport? That’s OK. Cricket isn’t exactly my ball of whacks, either. To the average person with a basic understanding of sports, cricket is the more gentlemanly version of baseball; a ball and bat game defined by myriad rules, puzzling British terminology, two bases and starched white uniforms. To me, a sports neophyte with little interest in anything ever aired on ESPN, the game is as nebulous as Quidditch. Cricket originated during the Dark Ages in Northern Europe, and then popped up in Sarasota some five centuries later. According to local lore, the Sarasota International Cricket Club took root in 1983 in a bar on Siesta Key after a group of British friends bandied about which sport was better, baseball or cricket. “It might be an apocryphal story, but it probably has a grain of truth,” says Richard Lawrence, president of

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the Sarasota International Cricket Club (SICC). Cricket trumped baseball in that debate, and 32 years later I’m about to find out why.

THE SWING OF IT On a muggy day in late August, I pull up to the eight-acre cricket club at the end of University Parkway to participate in a casual SICC game. I’ve had no training, no coaching and no previous experience hitting a ball with a bat other than off a tee in my middle school gym class. I’m suited up in the standard cricket safety gear: bulky white leg pads and a carbon fiber helmet. I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the clubhouse window. I look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man crossed with a bobble-

head doll. SICC captain Chris Thakoopersad shows me how to hold the cricket bat, which is actually closer to the way you’d hold an ax, top hand resting on the inside of the front thigh and shoulders pointed down the pitch line. “Didn’t you ever play softball?” Thakoopersad asks when he spies my awkward stance. “No,” I say, flashing back to school PE. We step out onto a lush field, where two teams of men dressed head-to-toe in white patiently fold me into their game. Fabled players have trampled this Bermuda grass. Renowned Guyanese cricketer Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who captained the West Indies cricket team, is an honorary member of the club.

CRICKTIONARY

Bail: One of the two small pieces of wood that stand on top of the stumps Stumps: Three vertical posts, on which the two bails sit. Batsman: The batter Bowling: The act of pitching the cricket ball to the batter. Bunny: A player who bats at No. 11 and is usually considered an easy out. Duck: When a batsman scores zero points, also known as a “Blob.” Jaffa: A bafflingly perfect wicket pitch that should have gotten the batsman out. Slog: A shot that is so powerful and exceptional it defies technique. Wicket: This overworked cricket term has several meanings. It can refer to the 22 yards between stumps, the stumps collectively, the act of getting out a batsman or the cricket pitch. Zooter: A ball bowled with little or no spin in an effort to trick the batsman.

Author Robin Hartill takes a swing at the ball. “Cricket is a game that can be played by people of all skill levels,” says Richard Lawrence, president of the Sarasota International Cricket Club. “It’s not something you have to train excessively for. You don’t have to be really good at it to enjoy it.”

The late Richie Benaud, an Australian player who gained international fame in retirement as a commentator, was a patron of the club until his death last spring. Ties and caps of teams from across the globe litter the clubhouse, serving as tangible evidence of SICC’s ranking among U.S. cricket clubs. The place is legendary. The only legendary qualities I have to offer are a lack of athleticism and eye-hand coordination. I take my place in front of the wicket. Thakoopersad bowls the ball. I swing and miss twice. A trio of sandhill cranes wanders nearby, to heckle me, I presume. Thakoopersad bowls the ball again. Another whiff. The ball is harder and heavier than a baseball. At 5.5 ounces it feels more like a billiard ball than a baseball, which is why cricket players

wear pads, helmets and an abdominal guard, otherwise known as a cup in any other male-dominated sport. The bat — an expensive piece of equipment meticulously fashioned out of rare English willow wood — is wider and flatter than a baseball bat and resembles those old paddles wielded by teachers in the days of corporeal punishment. I’m getting my butt whooped. “Pretend that ball is the person you hate more than anyone in the world,” Thakoopersad says. The fielding team, bored at this point, begins to offer colorful words of encouragement. “That ball is your ex-boyfriend,” one of them quips. I make contact. The ball flies straight into the ungloved hands of a fielder, who congratulates me on the

hit. Even thought it’s an out, it feels like a victory. I can hit! Next, Thakoopersad surprises me by bowling to my left side. I swoop to the left, twist my bat and nail the ball with the reverse side of the paddle. The fielders erupt into cheers. One of them looks visibly dumbfounded. It turns out I unintentionally pulled off a skilled maneuver called a reverse sweep. I’m a natural! “It’s a complicated shot,” Thakoopersad tells me later. “Not everyone can execute it.” My masterful move gives me swagger. My fellow cricketers flash me approving grins. A few hits later, I score a single run. The gaggle of sandhill cranes disperses. Their heckling is wasted on me. I’m a slugger. Continued on Page 58

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A STEEP SWING

Cricket bats weigh 2.5 pounds and can cost cost as much as $700. Why the hefty price tag? Cricket bats are precision engineered and flawlessly constructed by a master craftsman. They’re made from a rare English willow wood that takes years to treat. The wood grain must be straight and evenly spaced with no blemishes or knots. The slightest change in the bat’s weight and shape can drastically alter a player’s game. Author Robin Hartill makes a run after crushing the ball down the pitch line.

Continued from Page 57 I move onto bowling, which in cricket-ese means pitching. I learn that my goal is to get the ball past the batter and knock over two wooden targets called bails. With Thakoopersad at my side, I take my position and let go of the ball. It wobbles in the air and loses momentum well before it reaches the wicket. I joke that I’m going easy on the batter. The batter politely chuckles. Then, just as I’m about to call it a day, I pull out another surprise power play. I hurl the ball with such intensity and purpose I knock over the wicket and break one of the bails. No one saw that coming, especially not me. Before I leave the club, one of the members hands me the broken wicket as a souvenir. “Do you feel like you’ve got a good understanding of cricket?” Thakoopersad asks. “Oh yeah,” I say. “Better than softball.”

FIELD OF DREAMS If I were learning cricket in any other part of the country, chances are I would have to go to a country club or public park. As far as Lawrence is

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When a player scores zero points, he’s coerced into wearing this Donald Duck hat (the cap of shame) out on the field.

aware, SICC is the only club in the nation that owns its own facility. In the beginning, the SICC played wherever it could, including the Lions Club, the Elks Club and a field off Wilkinson Road. In the early 1990s, it leased land from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch (SMR) bordering the Legacy Golf Club. Lakewood Ranch’s far-sighted developers knew that making permanent space for a cricket club in a burgeoning community would be a smart move. In 2002, SMR offered to lease the club 5.5 acres of cow pasture off University Parkway.

Four years later, SICC purchased the property, bonding money from deep-pocketed members, many of whom work in high-paying industries such as medicine, engineering and information technology. In 2014, the organization bought two more acres adjacent to the property to accommodate its growing rugby program. (SICC hosted the 2015 Florida Cup Rugby Tournament in November.) “Most clubs play on grounds they don’t own, so they don’t have the ability to put in things like clubhouses,” Lawrence says. “Other clubs know that we have something special. They come from far away because they know we have one of the better facilities, not just in Florida but in the entire United States.” Like me, the SICC might have also had a touch of beginner’s luck. Sarasota hotelier and SICC Chairman Laurence Parry, a South African native, developed a close bond with cricket legend Benaud and his Australian cricket team after they stayed in one of his hotels nearly four decades years ago. When Parry invited Benaud to become a patron of SICC, he obliged, casting a national spotlight on the club. Continued on Page 60

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Pretend that ball is the person you hate more than anyone in the world. That ball is your ex-boyfriend.â&#x20AC;? CHRIS THAKOOPERSAD, SICC CAPTAIN

Top: The SICC has about 40 playing members and 50 associate members, mostly hailing from Australia, India and South Africa. Middle: The author bowls the ball and successfully knocks down a bail. Right: Cricket balls are harder and heavier than baseballs.

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Continued from Page 58 With Benaud — then regarded as the doyen of cricket commentators — in their corner, the SICC was able to reach a global audience. “For many years Richie wore a cream jacket to cricket matches,” Parry recalls. “He was so loved and respected that fans bought similar outfits. When there were intervals in the game, the Cream Jacket Brigade would all disperse in different directions.” Without Parry and Benaud’s friendship, Lawrence says some of the club’s early star cricketers may not have landed in Lakewood Ranch. “Whenever Richie commentated at these big matches he’d mention Sarasota as one of his favorite places to go,” Lawrence says. “We’re a relatively small club, so that probably helped make us well known.” Yet the club still remains a mystery

to most young athletes. The SICC is hoping to change that. To help spread the word, club members are encouraging athletic directors to offer the sport in school. They’re traveling to football fields to perform demonstrations and forging a close relationship with the The industry’s most expensive cricket bats can cost as much as $700. Sarasota Surge Rugby Club, which plays on 2.5 acres of SICC property GAME CHANGER and offers youth rugby training. Although predominately played in England, Thakoopersad wants to relaunch Australia and India, cricket was once a popular the club’s defunct youth cricket league. pastime in the United States, particularly in the As with most sports, he says the best Northeast. That is, until baseball came along. place to start is in “the schoolyard.” Baseball, a derivative of cricket, gained a lot of Lawrence agrees. traction with turn-of-the-century fans for two sim“The United States is an anomaly,” ple reasons: it required less space and time (crickLawrence says. “Cricket is the second et matches can span several days). The formation most popular sport in the world. of the International Cricket Club in 1909 hastened “It’s played by billions of people, the decline of cricket in the U.S., for only counyet most Americans still do not untries that were part of the British Empire could derstand it. The people involved with participate. The sport has enjoyed an American the sport realize that if it’s to have renaissance over the last decade, however, thanks long-term prospects, we’ve got to get an influx of immigrants from former British terriyoung Americans to play it the same tories such as Pakistan, India and the West Indies. way they play baseball and football.”

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