The ball zooms ferociously towards the batter, hitting the ground before the commentator screams sixer! Screams roar through the stadium, celebrating the winning country. The same screams echo through the houses of millions of fans, some of which are from Claremont High School. It must be the 2022 Asia Cup cricket season.
Some may be wondering what cricket is and why they have barely heard of it. Cricket is a team sport where one team takes a turn to bat a ball and then scores runs. The other team will bowl and field the ball to limit the opposing team from scoring. The primary aim in cricket is to score the most runs possible against the opposing team.
Many may not have heard of this sport as much because it is most often played in South Asia. A cultural component is associated with this sport as demonstrated by the few students at CHS who watch the sport because cricket is important culturally to their families. As a result, many students at Claremont High School are fans of the sport but have also acknowledged that their sport is not as widespread and popular throughout America and CHS. This minimal popularity of cricket means different things for different students. Aastha Baral, a Nepali CHS senior and long-time fan of cricket has a unique perspective on the sport pertaining to her culture.
“I’ve been watching cricket for about seven years now and I do think watching cricket has made me closer to my heritage,” Baral said. “I actually think that cricket being less popular in the U.S. and CHS has made me want to watch the sport and embrace my culture even more.”
However, some students have differing perspectives on the popularity of cricket in the U.S. Students like Arya Patel, an Indian CHS junior, feel as though the minimal popularity of cricket has allowed them to feel disjointed from this sport and their culture.
“The lack of popularity has definitely affected my enthusiasm for the sport because I feel like no one really understands how big cricket is in my culture,” Patel said. “I watch it, and to see so many people in CHS and the U.S. have barely any idea what the sport is has definitely lessened my passion for cricket. I don’t feel the sense of community that I think I should be feeling when the Indian cricket team plays.”
The underrated sport of cricket has played a huge role in the lives of many CHS students where cricket is culturally significant to them. Some students who watch the sport have different perspectives on the sport’s relation to their culture from other students. While cricket may be one of the less popular sports in the U.S and CHS, it still should not be surprising if one of your friends tells you that they are going to go watch a cricket game on ESPN. Perhaps, you could watch it with them.