A cricket club is being reinstated at the University of Rhode Island, which aims to introduce students to a sport that lacks popularity in the United States despite its popularity around the globe.
In many countries, the sport of cricket is a big part of the culture and for international students, it is a big setback that URI doesn’t have a club cricket team, according to the club’s founder Arpan Singh, a first-year economics major.
“It is a thing that grows with us,” first-year graduate student and club member Kartik Tomar said. “If you’re born in India, especially in North India, you have cricket with you your whole life. Cricket never leaves you.”
Cricket is a team sport involving a bat and a ball where the batting side tries to get as many runs as possible and the bowling side, or defense, tries to get people out.
“Americans love to play baseball, so they know how to hit a ball,” Singh said.
Singh is working on getting the club officially recognized by the student senate. While the experience has been tiring, he said it has also been an adventure.
Despite the struggle to get the club recognized, Singh said he has gotten support from the international office, has gained the support of 30 students and is expecting more as the club receives recognition. The club already has the space and equipment to play, according to Singh.
The group meets to play in the Plains Road Parking Lot. A large benefit to the sport is that it can be played in small spaces, according to Tomar.
“We grow, we play cricket in everything,” Tomar said. “We can play in a small street, or we can play cricket in a big stadium.”
The club practices playing in test matches of cricket, which are regarded as the sport’s most traditional form, and how it gained recognition as a gentleman’s sport, according to Singh.
Singh also aims to hold fundraisers to help introduce cricket to the URI community.
URI had cricket clubs back in 2012 and 2013 and the club hopes to rejuvenate it more fully, according to Singh.
While Singh wants to take things slow to build a strong foundation for the club, he has bigger goals planned, he said. Singh hopes to compete against other clubs at other universities and eventually, Singh hopes the club will be able to compete at a national level.
To students who are unfamiliar with the sport, Singh said it is as easy as learning what one plus one is. Students will also gain a new skill set, according to Singh.
“For me, American football is a new thing and I learned it,” Singh said.
Singh has only been in the U.S. for one month, and he said he was able to learn a large facet of American culture. He asked, why shouldn’t Americans be able to learn cricket?
“Introducing a new sport in this university will be a game-changing moment,” Singh said.
For students who are interested in joining, the club is planning to meet next on Nov. 15. They can be found on Instagram @uricricket for more information and updates on practice times and schedules.