The cricket trailblazer is senior Adhithya “Audy” Anandaraj. “That was always our goal,” Audy said. “We started something for fun. Maybe in five years when we come back to Blaine we see it still being a club.” “I’ve been here since the start of the club,” said Aaron Anderson, who also goes to Blaine. “Before this, never heard of the sport.” Said Audy: “Everyone here basically never heard of cricket until I told them about it.” Currently cricket is a club sport that has a few prep teams in the Twin Cities. “Unofficial league,” Audy said. “It’s run by students from all over the state. We have an association, a non-profit, called Minnesota Cricket Association that organizes all the school games.” Cricket similar to baseball Cricket is primarily played in India, Southern Africa, South Asia, the UK and the West Indies. On a recent sun-drenched day in the Twin Cities, a group of students were playing this game that resembles a popular US sport. “Baseball was invented from cricket,” Audy said. “Basically it’s pretty similar so instead of four bases there’s two bases and a similar type of ball on the back end. There’s only two innings – one inning per side.” Said Anderson: “I think it’s a bit harder than baseball.” But there are some major differences between baseball and cricket. The backstop is a wicket. Players don’t use gloves – “a cricket ball is super hard” said Audy – and the bat is shaped like a paddle. “It’s a lot more easier to make contact on it,” Audy said.” “The ball tends to be quite quick because you do get a run up, even though in cricket you can’t bend your arm when you throw,” Anderson said. “You have to kind of stiff arm it like a windmill. You sense when you get that run up, you get quite a bit of speed on the ball.” Stamina required Cricket also requires endurance – play this sport and you will get plenty of cardio. “There’s quite a bit of running,” Anderson said. “As long as you can run you can definitely play cricket.” “Here you actually stay on the base until you’re out,” Audy said. “So a lot of people can bat for like hours on hours on end. If you’ve seen the game played you run between bases so it can be a lot of stamina. A lot of our guys get tired after five minutes of batting.” Bottom line is Audy and his pals have introduced this foreign sport to a group who now enjoys playing the game. “We just kind of talk around,” Anderson said. “People get interested, they check it out and usually they stick around for quite a bit.” “Basically the version we play is called T-20,” Audy said. “Basically has 20 overs and over six balls. You have 102 balls to hit, legal deliveries to hit. After that the inning is over. Whoever gets more runs in the game wins.” Audy became interested in cricket because his parents are from India and they watch a lot of matches on television.
TRAILBLAZER! VISIONARY STUDENT BRINGS CRICKET TO BLAINE HS
BLAINE, Minn. (4/18/2023) – Thanks to a very determined student, there is a grassroots effort going on at Blaine High School to make cricket a sport.
