Cricket Club Brings 'Wonderful Sport' To Wesley Chapel

WESLEY CHAPEL - Clad in white, the man sprinted forward, a hard, leather-covered ball in his right hand. In a windmill motion, he hurled the ball toward a heavily-padded, bat-wielding opponent.

Moving at 80 mph, the ball skipped off the ground and the batsman swung. Leather met wood, and the red ball shot toward an empty patch of grass.

There was a chorus of yelling men as two runners tried to score.

Aamer Nawaz knows the scene well.

He has played cricket since he was a child in Pakistan. Now 47, he is president of the recently-formed Wesley Chapel Cricket Club, which practices and plays home games at the new Wesley Chapel District Park. This month, the club defeated a team from Fort Myers to capture the Florida West Coast Winter League championship.

While the popularity of cricket is rivaled only by soccer in some parts of the world, the sport is a mystery to many Americans. The Wesley Chapel Cricket Club's 42 members, who range in age from 15 to 52, would like to change that.

"It's a wonderful sport," said Nawaz, a doctor of internal medicine. "Anyone can play."

Most of the club's members are foreign-born and have been playing cricket most of their lives. For many of them, it was difficult to find a cricket league when they moved to the area.

"I used to play with the Sarasota Cricket Club, then in Manatee County," said Nawaz, who moved to the area in 1996. "We used to play around with different teams, but it was a big commute."

Eventually, Nawaz met Domal Patran, a cricket player in Wesley Chapel. Both men wanted a closer place to play, but didn't know where to start.

Fortunately, Nawaz heard from friends who work with Pasco County that a sports complex was to be built near Boyette and Overpass roads, north of State Road 54. He said he immediately started speaking with county Parks and Recreation Department officials about establishing a field there.

After several years of dialogue, the team, boasting players from Guyana, Jamaica, Pakistan, South Africa, Trinidad and other countries, started practicing at the new park in November.

"We installed a cricket pitch for them," said park operator Jim Harrelson, referring to the area where a bowler pitches the ball to a batsman.

"They supplied the materials and we supplied the labor," he said. "It wasn't that difficult, about 9 feet by 65 feet. We dug 6 inches deep, removed the sod and soil, and added clay."

He said cricket doesn't cause much wear and tear on the park's multipurpose fields.

"Here recently, they've been drawing more" spectators, Harrelson said. "They're starting to get more and more people interested in their game."

'It's A Very Strenuous Game'

If the team's recent Winter League championship is any indication, experience is as crucial to success in cricket as it is in other facets of life.

But experience isn't everything. Players on the Wesley Chapel team say good reflexes, the endurance to constantly sprint between creases - like bases - more than 60 feet apart and the skills to dependably play all positions are also key.

"It's a very strenuous game, but I've built my stamina pretty good," said Patran, 52, from Guyana, who is also the team's treasurer. "It's a very fast-paced game."

And very competitive.

Although 42 people are registered with the Wesley Chapel club, only 11 players can compete in each game. A players' committee decides who plays.

Somewhat Similar To Baseball

"The closest thing to cricket is baseball," Nawaz said. "They're both bat-and-ball games, but in cricket you run between two bases" instead of four.

That's not the only difference.

In cricket, for instance, there is no such thing as a foul ball. Cricket players also catch the ball with their bare hands and batsmen carry their bats as they run between creases.

A batsman must prevent the roughly 51/2-ounce ball from hitting wickets that he stands near. If a bowled ball hits the wickets, the batsman is out. Batsmen also are out if they hit a fly ball that is caught in the air or if their leg prevents the bowled ball from striking the wickets, among other ways.

Teams score by getting runs, which happen when a batsman hits the ball and then runs to the other end of the cricket pitch and into the crease. While the batsman is running, a non-striking batsman must also successfully run to a crease on the opposite end of the pitch.

Runs also can be scored if a batsman whacks the ball past the boundary, or outer edge of the field. Four runs are awarded when a batted ball crosses the boundary on the ground. Six runs score when a batted ball flies over the boundary.

Scoring runs hasn't been a problem for the Wesley Chapel team, which won its recent championship 182-108.

Laying a 31/2-pound, oar-like bat on the ball isn't easy, though. Often, the ball skips off the turf before getting to the batter.

The direction the ball goes depends on the bowler's spin, the ball's velocity and other factors. In recreational leagues, some bowlers can whip the ball 85 mph.

"Think of a fastball hitting the dirt and the catcher tries to catch it," said Wesley Chapel player Raymond Khan, also the team's secretary. "How many times does he actually catch it?"

'Consumed By The Excitement'

In cricket, the most valuable players are known as all-arounders, who can effectively bowl, field and hit. Khan, from Guyana and now living in New Tampa, is considered one of several all-arounders on Wesley Chapel's team.

On a recent weekday, he bore the battle wounds of the game. Only a couple of players, known as wicket keepers, wear gloves. The ball jammed into Khan's finger while he made a catch, leaving the digit swollen and bruised.

Only batters and wicket-keepers wear protective gear, so more serious injuries, such as broken jaws, can happen.

Perhaps the risk of injury only adds to the game's adrenaline-based appeal.

"You get consumed by the excitement," Nawaz said. "Within 10 or 15 bowls, the game, the whole game, can change."

Although the winter league is over, the Central Florida Cricket League season opens next month.

The local players can't wait.

"It'll be an exciting time at Wesley Chapel," Khan said. "We'll have teams from as far away as Sanford coming to compete."

LEARN MORE

For information about the Wesley Chapel Cricket Club, call Aamer Nawaz at (813) 293-5516. A Web site, www.wesleychapelcricket .com, is under construction.