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| Take
me to the Ballpark, Oya! Hoya |
By
Nisha Giri |
| ProCricket, in America,
of all places?. |
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Purple,
red, green and blue for the eyes, running
commentary and Punjabi rap for the ears,
nachos and cheese for the taste buds, the
pleasant smell of fresh cut grass and an
uncharacteristic Houston breeze on the skin.
I wouldn't be far off mark if I said that
the American ProCricket match at the University
of Houston Cougar Field on Saturday, July
17, was a treat for all the senses. Three
hours packed with a quick-fire century,
a couple of bouncers, two-thirds of a hat-trick,
a dropped catch, several bowled wickets
and innumerable fours and sixers. Purists
can take a hike. ProCricket is in!
American ProCricket is a bold attempt to
introduce cricket to mainstream America.
Modified to suit the American psyche, the
matches are played in the Twenty20 format
that was initially developed in England,
and include five-ball overs and the "designated
hitter" rule borrowed from baseball.
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| Kalpesh (Kal) Patel, the
chairman, commissioner and founder of
the American ProCricket League (www.procricket.com),
has succeeded in involving former Indian
test cricketer and Indian national team
ex-coach Anshuman Gaekwad as executive
director and Australian cricketer Robert
Smith as assistant commissioner in his
venture.
They have roped in about 40 international
cricketers, who will play alongside 120
local players from different cities. |
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The league
comprises of eight teams: New York Storm,
New Jersey Fire, Florida Thunder, DC Forward,
Texas Arrowheads, Chicago Tornadoes, Los
Angeles Unity and San Francisco Freedom.
Indian American businessman Kamal Verma
owns the operating rights to all the teams
in the league - Yankees owner George Steinbrenner
take note!
The league seeks to promote the game purely
as a form of entertainment and the matches
are played only over weekends. The aim
is to provide an ambience where grown-ups
as well as kids can have wholesome fun
at a reasonable price, presently $5. |
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| This was quite evident on
Saturday night. The atmosphere resembled
a baseball game, even if not the crowd.
There were only 200, not 20,000, fans.
But they weren't lacking for passion. "Take
me out to the ball game" was substituted
by Indian masala music and the action on
the field was more "fast n furious"
than a five home-run game. As the Texas
Arrowheads in red, white and blue took on
the Chicago Tornadoes in purple, green and
white, the crowd was kept entertained from
the first minute to the last.
By the end of July, the teams had played
12 matches in six U.S. cities in New Jersey,
New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Houston.
The regular season matches, played in minor
league and college baseball parks, are scheduled
to be completed by Aug. 21 and the play-offs
will be held between Aug. 27 and Sept. 4.
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| The international
cricketers who took the field in Houston
were Marlon Samuels, Franklyn Rose, Corey
Collymore from the West Indies, Colin Miller
and Richard Chee Quee from Australia and
Nadeem Unis from Pakistan.
The Chicago Tornadoes batted first and despite
an early hat-trick chase by Collymore, came
up with 157 runs in 20 overs. But it was
when the Texas Arrowheads took the crease
that the fireworks really began. Marlon
Samuels hit the helpless bowlers in all
directions to complete a century off just
40 balls. Then Franklyn Rose added more
excitement by bowling a couple of bouncers
and pretending to be turned-off by the batsman
(a local player). Nevertheless, the Arrowheads
reached the target easily in 15 overs, ending
a truly exciting game well before schedule.
The players definitely seemed to be enjoying
themselves. Rose, fielding near the stands,
obliged a number of fans with photos and
autographs between overs.
After the game he commented, "I'm loving
it! This is fun. I've never done anything
like this before in my life. It's totally
different from the Caribbean and England
and everywhere in the world. It's good to
see the kids come out and have fun too."
The international players rotate between
teams. Marlon Samuels played for the New
York Storm before changing colors and padding
up for Texas. He has just been named among
the West Indies probables for the ICC Champions
Trophy, after a six-month layoff due to
knee surgery, and appeared to be having
the time of his life too.
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| "I've got two centuries
(in ProCricket) already and am looking
for a third one. I'm leaving a statement.
Something for people to remember me by,"
he said with a smile.
For the local players it is a learning
experience playing with players of such
high caliber. Do they feel second class?
Says Ankit Mehta, a player in the Texas
squad, "They (the stars) are easy
to get along with. There is no pressure."
Texas captain Alpesh Patel, who has played
for the Kenya A team, as well as Kuldip
Patel, the Texas manager, concur. "They
are a bunch of nice guys and it's fun
playing with them. It doesn't feel like
they are on a different level."
Although the players and the fans that
show up are obviously having a lot of
fun, ProCricket has got off to a tepid
start. The response in New Jersey was
relatively good, according to Kal Patel,
with over 2,000 people turning up for
one of the matches.
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Marlon
Samuels of West Indies. |
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But the
other cities have yet to show as much
enthusiasm. Part of the blame is on the
marketing.
In Houston, few people were aware of the
match featuring international players.
Most heard of it through word of mouth
and many others by pure chance. A Britisher,
who had brought along three American friends,
all of them new to the game, had read
about ProCricket on the BBC website and
investigated further of his own accord.
But on the positive side, his American
companions to the game found this version
of cricket "more exciting and faster
than baseball."
ProCricket is a brave initiative. Patel,
Verma, Gaekwad and Smith all claim to
be focused full time on the project. The
league is fully owned by Patel, who claims
to have invested what he calls a "small
fortune" - in the millions he allows
when pressed. Local players typically
receive $150 for a game, apart from travel,
lodging and meal expenses. Some international
players receive "a few thousand dollars"
for 10 days; some volunteer. Patel says
he has enough financial backing for the
project to run the league for three years,
even without anyone showing up at the
ballpark. He has 3-, 5- and 10-year business
plans on the ready, but has enough business
savvy to know that the picture will not
be fuzzy in three years.
He also knows that he is pushing uphill
for ProCricket to reach out to a wide
audience. The matches are currently being
shown on DISH Network Pay Per View. The
organizers say they have plans to telecast
the games on American Desi, an upcoming
national network channel, which could
provide ProCricket with much needed publicity.
Then there is the issue of the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Ajay
Jadeja and some other Indian players withdrew
from ProCricket after BCCI barred players
from participating. Patel says he is puzzled
by BCCI's attitude as the International
Cricket Council is not opposed to ProCricket.
But it is a serious setback for the league,
which would benefit hugely from the presence
of Indian players to draw desi crowds.
Despite the hurdles, Patel is excited
about the future of the organization and
cricket in America. It's a hope shared
by thousands of cricket fans who miss
the action in America.
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