Although the dandelions were out in force in Washington Park, the weather was unseasonably cool. But the chill in the morning air didn’t discourage the players, who’d been waiting all winter long to take to the pitch and compete for runs and wickets. In their white shoes, shirts, pants, and V-neck sweaters, the all-male assembly looked more like caddies than athletes, but their careful stretching routines suggested that something seriously athletic was about to happen.
Members of the opposing United club were equally optimistic. “Today we are going to try the same tactics we tried against the Flames in the playoffs,” said president Akber Khan. “We are looking forward to that, and hopefully we will win.”
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Founded in 1965, the Midwest Cricket Conference now comprises 45 clubs, up from 27 just three years ago. Ahmad, who’s league president as well as the captain of the Flames, puts its current membership at 800 and says it’s the largest cricket body in the U.S. He attributes the growth spurt to a combination of improved communications and the snowball effect. According to Ahmad, league players are, without exception, immigrants, most of them white-collar workers. (Ahmad says about 70 percent of MCC players work in computer-related fields; others are engineers, businessmen, and doctors.) Many had lived in the midwest for years before hearing of the MCC. But lately the word has been spreading more rapidly: potential players stumble upon a match in a city park and sign up with a team. Others run across the league’s Web site and organize a new team. On any given weekend this summer, Ahmad says, there will be 20 league matches going on in Chicago, Evanston, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Peoria, Saint Louis, and Madison.
The fielding team tries to limit the batsmen’s runs by getting them out, or taking their wickets. There are many ways to do this. As in baseball, a struck ball caught before it touches the ground puts the striker out. And while a batsman is out of his crease, a fielder can take him out by throwing the ball at his wicket and knocking the bails off the stumps–knows as breaking the wicket. The bowler can also take the striker out by slipping a pitch past him and breaking his wicket. When this occurs the striker is said to have been bowled.
Some time later, the Flames got United’s tenth batter out in the 38th over, ending the game’s first innings. United had scored 143 runs.
