Cricket on Campus

The college basketball season wrapped up last month with Florida taking home the national title and we've just had the NFL Draft, where the top college football players make the jump from the collegiate game to the pro game. Americans love sports and, for most fans, that love extends down to the game played at the college level. March Madness and the Draft were watched by millions of Americans -- and, heck, the draft isn't even a sporting event; it's three days of guys in nice suits getting their names called.

Cricket has definitely made a lot of inroads into the mainstream here in the US in the past few years. Major League Cricket has attracted some of the biggest names in the world to come here and showcase their skills. And this past summer, not only were the eyes of the cricketing world on the US for the World Cup matches being played here, but the fact that the US team made it all the way to the Super Eight round -- and thus automatically qualifying for the 2026 World Cup -- showed fans that the US could compete at the international level.

I sat down with some members of the Boston University Cricket Club to get their views of the growing popularity of the sport in this country and what the game is like at the college level. The team just got back from the National College Cricket Championship in Texas, where they went 2-1.

"A lot of people know about cricket now. People I don't expect -- they also follow cricket. They are regularly watching matches," says Bhavya Surana. "People from different countries -- when I told them that I'm going to play Cricket Nationals -- they were like, 'Oh, I'm following cricket. I followed the last World Cup and I also went to the match between India versus US.'"

Sophomore Rishi Kapoor, an international student from the UAE, has also noticed an uptick in awareness. "Compared to last year, it's been going back up in popularity as of recently -- especially due to our national tournament."

And freshman Shrey Sethi -- also from the UAE -- has seen the game grow on campus in just the few short months he's been at BU. "Even from last semester, I can feel a difference as to how many more people know about the club. A lot of my friends last semester didn't know there was a BU cricket club. And now some of them are attending practice sessions or just going to the one-off practice session to see what it's about. And so, all of a sudden, you're having more people joining the club and interacting with each other. You're able to just have a fun environment."

But it's not just those from cricketing countries that are finding college cricket.

"I'm originally from the San Francisco Bay area and I was exposed to the game a few times in elementary school," says Cooper McCreary. "I always just thought it looked really fun. And when I saw BU had a club, I took the opportunity to join. People are very shocked when I tell them that I am part of the cricket club at BU. And when I tell them a bit more, they're like, 'Oh yeah, that's actually really cool.' I think it's more just building the idea that cricket is one of the world's games. I mean it's played in so many countries on a level that only soccer really exists on throughout the world."

The growth of the game on college campuses is a good sign for the sport but, of course, cricket in this country isn't basketball or football. (It's not even lacrosse or volleyball.) While it's one thing to be playing for a club team, it would be quite another to be playing for a team in an NCAA-sanctioned sport.

"If it becomes an NCAA sport, that's only going to make more people want to take up the sport because they can see themselves getting scholarships at universities for playing cricket," says Shrey. "I think that should definitely be the next step."

NCAA-accreditation would not only get more kids playing at younger ages in hopes of earning scholarships or money for college, it would also make it easier for foreign players to qualify for the USA team. Currently, international rules require foreign players to live in a new country for at least three years before being able to represent that country in international play. By that math, any four-year college student would be able to play full seasons of quality cricket at a national collegiate level and then qualify to play for the US by the time they've earned their degree.

"I think for me it's always been to try and play at the international level," according to Shrey. "I was fortunate enough to do that with UAE Under-19 team and play the Asia Cup, but obviously I want to do it at the men's level. That's definitely the end goal -- try and get through Minor League, get through Major League, and hopefully in the next two to three years be able to play at the international level for the US team."

It wasn't a plan he and his family took lightly. "You get a feeling that cricket is taking off over here and people are putting more resources into the game, and they're starting to really try and build infrastructure for cricket. For me and for my family, knowing that I've played cricket since I was like three or four years old, they were like, 'Okay, we can take the risk and go to the US and see how cricket goes over here.'"

No everyone on the team has such lofty goals. "I'm not so sure about the international team," says Bhavya. "I have been playing for so long that it's been like a routine for me. So, right now in the summer I will be playing for the Cavaliers Club in the MSCL (Massachusetts State Cricket League). Even after starting to work, I will keep on playing these leagues."

Cooper concurs: "I would say I'm definitely a bit past the point of having any sort of national aspirations just because I got into the game very late and I wouldn't have as much time to develop as other people coming up in the country. But I think just playing around and just picking it up with friends is something easily done and it's just a great way to spend time with people, even if I am not going to be able to really have a chance to go pro."

Rishi Kapoor puts things into even greater perspective. "I'm similar with Bhavya. I'm probably playing for the Cavaliers in the summer and, I mean, the most I could see myself is probably playing in the Minor League." He smiles. "I'm trying to become a doctor, so that's like my priority at the moment."