LONGMONT, Colo.—Often known as the Gentleman’s Game, cricket is a contest of strategy and tradition.
Many players in the Longmont-based Boulder Cricket Club grew up watching and playing the game in the streets where they lived.
Original club member Sudhanshu Bhargava, who grew up in India, said it was natural to play cricket with his friends. And it is a tradition that is difficult to break.
“Once you get into this game, it’s hard to get out of,” he said.
Cricket is similar to baseball in its naming conventions and because it is a bat-and-ball sport, but the similarities end there.
A game of cricket consists of two teams with 11 players apiece. A 12th player is used as a substitute. The objective is to get all players on the rival team out with the fewest runs possible, and then to score at least as many runs as the opponent. To win, a team must score more runs than the target set by its rivals in a stipulated number of overs, which is six legal deliveries bowled or pitched.
The Boulder Cricket Club, which is in its second season in the Colorado Cricket League, plays a form of cricket called Twenty20, a spectator-friendly game that lasts about as long as a normal baseball game.
The concept of Twenty20 cricket is fairly new; it was first played in England in 2003.
Twenty20 cricket consists of 20 overs or 120 pitches per team, unless the batting team is bowled out first. Once each team’s batsmen have had their 20 overs and scored as many runs as possible while protecting the wicket—or the batsmen—from getting out, the two teams switch from batting to bowling and fielding.
Deep Maini, a member of the Boulder Cricket Club, knows the importance of being a batsman. He is as an opening batsman, which he refers to as an anchor role.
“I consume the best bowlers (pitchers) without losing wicket,” he said. “I try and make it easy for my team. We don’t want to lose wicket.”
While scoring is important, it is better to stay ahead of the other team and protect your team’s wicket.
“As a batter, your goal is not to score runs, but protect the wicket,” said Ethan Hart, the only American-born member of the Boulder Cricket Club. “A lot of the game is based on the bowler—there is a lot of strategy in bowling and field placement.”
In cricket, each player has certain positions in which they excel; not all players bowl, and not all are batsmen, although everyone on the team does field.
Amit Gandhi is an all-around player for the Boulder Cricket Club. He does what is best for his team.
Sharoon Swing’s main role is batsman, a job for which he was specifically recruited.
“I just like to get maximum runs with the least outs,” he said.
While Swing played cricket growing up in Pakistan, he has further experience in the No. 2 sport in the world: He played on the International League in Dubai before coming to the United States.
While members of the Boulder Cricket Club enjoy the sport’s competitiveness and camaraderie, they’re proud to carry on its long-running tradition.
Cricket, which is thought to have originated in England, can be traced to the 13th century. Though solid documentation discusses the popularity of the sport in the 1700s, it first found its place in the Rocky Mountain region in 1869, according to the Colorado Cricket League.
Maini does his part to keep the sport here alive by playing with his two sons.
“On Sundays, as a family we play cricket,” he said. “It is tradition.”
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