Our new cricket club

English poet Lord Alfred Tennyson is quoted as saying that the sport of cricket transcends mere efficiency. “There is something called the spirit of cricket, which cannot be defined,” he said.

Cricket, often referred to as the gentlemen’s game, is the second most played game in the world after soccer, and it is now going to be played at Portland State. Last month, the Rec Clubs Council officially added Cricket to its arsenal of clubs.

First originating in England, cricket is wildly popular in parts of the globe ranging from Australia and New Zealand to the Caribbean Islands. Baseball, America’s pastime, was even based on cricket.

“I was surprised to see that there was no cricket club at Portland State,” club president and graduate student Kashyap Nutulapati said. “It is such a popular global sport. It is an interesting fact that many universities have cricket as a part of their recreation program, and many students are interested in playing the sport. That was the driving force that led us to form a club and familiarize the sport to the Portland State community.”

There are various forms of cricket ranging from test matches that are played for up to five days, to 50-over and 20-over versions, which do not last for more than a day.

“Initially, we will be playing 20-over matches at the Stott Field,” said club treasurer Rajeev Indiranagaraju. “Longer versions of the game are out of the question right now due to technical and logistical problems.”

Unlike baseball, runs are much easier to score in cricket. The average score for one inning of a test match is about 320 runs because in cricket, batsmen are much harder to get out. In six hours of play one can expect to see an average of roughly eight batsmen get out. Batsmen are not obligated to hit the ball if they don’t want to, and there is no penalty if they swing and miss.

In cricket, the batsmen can choose when to run, and usually only do so when they are certain they can complete the run safely. There is no foul territory, so batsmen can hit the ball in any direction, which means the fielders have a much wider area to cover. Again, this makes it easier to score runs and harder to get batsmen out.

In cricket, bowlers—the equivalent to pitchers—usually bounce the ball on the pitch before it reaches the batsman. This gives them a lot more variety in attacking the batsman and trying to either stop him from scoring runs or to get him out. Unlike baseball, the bowlers in cricket aren’t allowed to bend their elbows when releasing the ball and the fielders make their catches without gloves.

“After we have practice sessions going on in full swing, we would like to concentrate on building a cricket team to represent Portland State in collegiate cricket tournaments and also participate in the Northwest Cricket League, Oregon Cricket League and other regional cricket leagues.” Nutulapati said.

The Oregon Cricket League organizes three types of tournaments every season, each based on a different style of play. Once interest, enrollment and resources begin coming into the PSU Cricket Club, Nutulapati said there are plans to encourage players to learn the different formats of the game to field specific teams for each.

 “Having three teams that are [each] specialized in one specific format brings in a professional approach to the club and we are looking forward for that,” Nutulapati said.

The Cricket Club is open to all PSU students, and the club’s organizers welcome interest and inquiries. A club fee of $10 is required to utilize the club accessories and gear. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.pdx.edu/recreation/rec-clubs.