What do the greatest cricketing legends KS Ranjitsinhji, Don Bradman, Everton Weekes, Joel “Big Bird” Garner, Deryck Murray, Geoffrey Boycott and Garry Sobers have in common? They all played on an unassuming cricket field hidden in the suburbs of New York that is now over a century old!
The Staten Island Cricket Club, which maintains the hallowed Walker Park ground, is celebrating 150 years – a sesquicentennial - of existence this year, making it the oldest continuous club in the US, a country where cricket as a sport is starting to slowly emerge from the shadows.
The sport of cricket is still a rather private club affair in the US – played between some old British clubs and smaller new ones made up mostly of immigrants from the Caribbean and South Asia on pint-sized fields with matting wickets.
There was hope initially for something more when cricket first landed on this country’s very shores in the 1700s and the first international cricket match in the history of sport was played in 1844 between Canada and the United States, in the grounds of the St George's Cricket Club which was then located in Manhattan, New York.
But growth of the sport stunted over the years, thanks partly to some top cricket board administrative tussles, and broadly due to a lack of acceptance with a population that was more attracted to baseball – in some sense a version of cricket – American football, and, with the advent of European immigrants, soccer.
More Than An Insect!
Many local Americans still think of cricket – in jest as the name of an insect - and as a long-drawn affair with complicated rules that lasts several days. So while the rest of the world celebrates cricket and takes it to the next level through Twenty20 internationals like the Indian Premier League, where billions of dollars are exchanged in English soccer Premiership-style auctions for clubs and players, US cricket is making a fresh attempt to fit in with Major League Cricket and a host of tournaments that aim to attract international players.
Through all this top-level attempted rejuvenation, one constant has been Staten Island Cricket Club. The club has overcome numerous existential crises through its 150 years and kept the cricket flag flying high by hosting matches from international teams and locals - even through the COVID crisis – and through a concerted youth development program, and a mission to maintain diversity in its playing ranks.
“When I first joined in 1961, the club had over 65 members and this membership was predominantly White, most of whom were British. Now they probably constitute 10% of the overall pool and we have players who are from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, Ireland, Guyana and even Americans,” said Clarence Modeste, a 92-year old active cricketer who was recently re-elected as president of the club for the 31st year in succession.
It has been a hard-fought road to tread for the club which at its 150th anniversary is making yet another attempt to become a beacon of hope for young cricketers looking to find a meaningful sporting pursuit through an extensive youth development project – a gratis program for local boys and girls which along with cricket skills, “instills respect, cooperation, and self-belief”.
Battle Of The Sexes
The club is planning to set up its very own women’s cricket team and organising a women’s cricket tournament – a first for New York - as part of the 150-year celebrations. The club incidentally is the first in the US to host an all-men versus all-women cricket match in August 2021.
Cricket as such is also an escape for hard-working immigrants in the US who want to continue playing the sport on their weekends as a break from the rigmarole of working life and establish a network of friends and colleagues from different backgrounds and cultures.
One version of the typical working man looking to play cricket for a sense of purpose and relief was memorialised along with the Staten Island Cricket Club in an international best-seller “Netherland” written by Joseph O’Neill, these days a first vice-president of the club.
The book, which features a commendation from US ex-President Barack Obama on the cover, is a tale of a Dutch banker playing New York club cricket. The book talks about overgrown outfields that impede the course of any ball struck along the ground and why it necessitates slogging. It also mentions a disparate group of enthusiastic spectators out in the open and a basic lack of infrastructure that arguably should have been par for course for a club of such historic pedigree.
Revamp Plans
Staten Island Cricket Club has major plans this year to change all that. The construction of houses on the land surrounding Walker Park, in combination with the growing distances that batters strike the ball, has created safety hazards. The cricket club’s existence is now dependent on an overhaul that includes building a small but iconic pavilion for the players and a mile-high fence to prevent balls from raining onto the nearby houses. An extensive revamp of its Facebook page and website is now expected to lead into a widespread donation and recruitment campaign.
Interest is already building, and messages are pouring in from around the world from ex-Staten Island Cricket Club players. Then there are also those who know and respect its history like Ireland’s cricketing legend Ed Joyce, fastest World Cup century record-holder Kevin O’Brien and England international Ollie Robinson, all of whom have passed on video messages of support to this club.
The continuing growth of Cricket, which is said to have started as a kids’ game is and now the second most popular sports in the world with over 2.5 billion viewers creating some of the richest sports superstars, is in some ways dependent on the strength of its foundations and its widening reach into the 400-million sports audience in the US.
It only makes sense that institutions like the Staten Island Cricket Club that have stood the test of time to keep alive this sport over a century, and then look to evolve into a breeding ground for future superstars to thrive as cricket finds its way into Yankee land.
Public events are also being planned by the club which celebrated 150 years on March 22, the day it was founded in 1872. A dinner-and-dance evening in July attended by various state, city dignitaries and cricketers from around the country and abroad is in the works. This night of celebration is expected to be held around a cricket festival that will feature matches between Staten Island Cricket Club and club teams (both men and women) including the Gentlemen of Philadelphia, themselves an old club that once enjoyed first-class status.
Interest is already building, and messages are pouring in from around the world from ex-Staten Island Cricket Club players. Then there are also those who know and respect its history like West Indian cricketing legend Sir Curtly Ambrose, West Indian captain Kraigg Brathwaite, series winning century-scorer Joshua Da Silva, Ireland’s cricketing legend Ed Joyce, fastest World Cup century record-holder Kevin O’Brien and England legend David Gower and international Ollie Robinson, all of whom have passed on video messages of support to this club.
(The writer is a veteran financial journalist. Views are personal)
