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CuriosiD: Who plays cricket in Detroit?
In this episode of CuriosiD, listener Fatema Haque asks the question:
Who is playing cricket in Detroit?
The short answer
Cricket is a British sport that had a stint in Michigan in the 1800s and 1950s. It recently became popularized again in the early 2000s when Bangladeshi community members advocated for a cricket field in Detroit.
The Michigan Cricket Association began with 4 teams in 2001. It now has 106 teams and over 2,000 players. Matches are played in several cities, including Detroit at Belle Isle, Lasky Recreation’s Cricket Field and Jayne Field in the Banglatown neighborhood.
An international sport played in Detroit
Fatema Haque, a lecturer at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, wanted to know about people playing the sport of cricket in Detroit.
Haque grew up in Bangladesh, and later in Detroit, where her family still resides.
“One of the things that I’ve been noticing is over the last few years is that during the summer there’s these group of folks who are playing cricket at Jayne Field, they’re in the full cricket regalia, and I’m wondering how this got started and who all participates in this sports activity,” she asks.
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Haque says she’s surprised the sport has sprung up in popularity the U.S.
“I grew up in Bangladesh, and so I saw it everywhere, but while growing up in the US, I did not see it anywhere. So to suddenly see it emerge and have a piece of my culture just out and about made me really curious about who’s organizing, who’s playing, who all is supporting this,” she says.
Out on the field
A batsman hits the cricket ball as folks cheer on the field, kicking off the first practice of the season at the Lasky Cricket Field on Detroit’s east side.
Saiyed Ahmed works for the Michigan Youth Cricket Academy as a coach. He’s been playing cricket since he was a kid. Ahmed moved from Bangladesh to Detroit in 2002. He wanted to continue playing the sport.
“I always used to pass by the park and see these baseball fields just sitting empty, and no one utilizing them, then, but on the other hand, for us who come in from Bangladesh, and it’s a big crowd here. We want to play our sports, but we don’t have a field to play,” he shares.
He and his friends would play in the parking lot at the Detroit Library at Conant and Davison, scraping their knees during the games.
But one day he noticed city officials passing through the area and he approached them to open a cricket field. He was put in touch with Detroit City Councilmember Scott Benson who represents District 3.
Benson says he was on board.
“We had the old disc golf field, and no one was using it. And members of the cricket community approached me and said, “Well, what do you think about a cricket pitch? I said, “Well, why not? Let’s do it. So I approached the city, I advocated, talked to the Parks and Rec department at the time, talked to Mayor Duggan,” she says.
The city opened Lasky Cricket Field in 2017, after three years of community advocacy.
Just two years later, another cricket field was inaugurated at Jayne Park in Banglatown, as part of the city’s beautification and revitalization efforts. It also gave a nod to the growing presence of the city’s Bangladeshi community in the Detroit area.
A British sport, with international and local expansion
Cricket is a British sport that has been played in England since the 16th century. It was later organized with rules in the 18th century.
By the late 20th Century, the sport became popularized due to televised coverage and international matches, bringing more countries to the playing field, including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Back on the field, Ahmed describes how the sport works.
“So the two guys that start standing, that they’re called batters, so they will be two batters each time, and then the field, the fielding team has 11 players. So basically, just like baseball, baseball says catchers, but in cricket it says keepers; they will be behind the stump and behind that batsman, but depending on if it’s a fast bowler, he will stay back,” he explains.
Tayefur Rahman is an electrical engineer. He moved to Hamtramck in 2010. Like Ahmed, he was looking for a community of cricket players when he moved to Michigan. He now lives in Sterling Heights.
Rahman runs the Michigan Cricket Association, which began with 4 teams in 2001 and now has 106 teams.
“We have 2000 plus active players playing in that league as well,” he shares.
He also serves as the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Association, which was established in 2017.
“This is for our community base, because by the time we see our community, people are growing in Hamtramck, Warren, and Sterling Heights area, so they were thinking, why shouldn’t we do some community-based cricket, like Bangladesh cricket community,” he says.
Rahman says the international sport has expanded in Southeast Michigan.
Practices are held on weekdays, but games are played on the weekends.
“Sunday we play at least 27 to 33. (It) depends on how grounds availability,” he says.
Beyond the field
The games are now livestreamed in Michigan.
Rahman says cricket has become a way to connect beyond the field, creating friendships and even leading to job opportunities.
“Because of cricket, these communities are bonding really good,” he expresses.
Afser Hussain is a cricket bowler who plays for the Macomb Cricket Club.
“I led this team for seven years, you know, we have several championships,” he says.
Cricket had a stint in Michigan in the late 1800s, mid 1950s, and in the early 2000s in Detroit.
Hussain says cricket has come a long way since those days.
“You can take cricket as a profession in Michigan—you have the coaches, you have the infrastructure, you have indoor nets. So, yeah, it’s a different cricket than 2006,” he shares.
The excitement for cricket has also expanded to nearby cities like Warren, which recently allocated a cricket field at Shaw Park, and Troy, which opened a new cricket field at Boulan Park for $900,000 in May.
Many of the cricket games take place at fields across Southeast Michigan.
So next time you’re out and about in Detroit or nearby cities, you may just catch a glimpse of this international sport in your American backyard.
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The post CuriosiD: Who plays cricket in Detroit? appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
