A game of cricket between The College of Wooster and the Wooster Community team was a feature event held during homecoming weekend. It was held the afternoon of Sept. 23 at the Andrew Turf Field. Last year the event was held during the evening and attracted 937 attendees to the game.
Last year we set a record for a collegiate cricket match in the United States, said Nicola Kille, one of the organizers of the event and the advisor for the cricket club at The College of Wooster.
Cricket is the second most popular game in the world after soccer, she said.
The game is fast becoming a favorite sport in the area, including a favorite of one of the players, Grant Cornwell, president of The College of Wooster.
This game has become one of my favorite annual events. Its a great time for the community team and the college team to get together for some great sporting fun, Cornwell said.
Im more a fan than a player. I go where Im told and play where Im told, he said.
Laks Venkataraman, spokesperson for the community team, said that Cornwell was being modest about his playing skill. He also said that the community team did have a strategy to get the presidents wicket out.
According to an instruction sheet handed out at the game, titled Cricket 101, the game is played by two teams of 11 players each. Games can last from an afternoon to several days. The rules are similar to baseball, where teams bat in successive innings and try to score runs. The team with the most runs after each team has batted an equal number of innings is declared the winner.
While the college team won last year, the community team won the cricket match on Sunday by six wickets. Kille said that everyone in the stands seemed to enjoy the game and seemed to be having a lot of fun.
The college team is open to anyone joining. The president of the college is an honorary member of the team. We play other cricket college teams around Ohio and play an annual tournament in Florida, Kille said.
Expert commentators for the game included Ashi Uppal for the community team and Anan Sadick and Shiv Choudhury for the college team. The commentators helped guide the attendees through the rules of the game. The umpire was Graham Ford.
