About the Project
My Cricket Journey and the Project.
Cricket has been an essential part of my life; it has always been something I enjoy. Whenever someone asked me what I wanted to become after growing up, my natural response was a cricketer. But where millions of people dream the same dream, making it big as a cricketer was no joke in India.
In middle school, I faced a tough choice between focusing on cricket or pursuing further education. It was not an easy decision, but with education being a less risky option, I let go of my dreams of playing cricket for India.
Fast forward a few years, and I was applying for colleges in America. Among the long list of colleges was Drexel, which had a very successful cricket club and was willing to admit me. After some consideration between colleges, Drexel seemed the right choice because it had a cricket team.
After coming to Drexel, I quickly joined the club and represented Drexel in various tournaments. However, all this while, I was oblivious to the rich history of cricket in Philadelphia.
It was not until much later that Germantown Cricket Club, a local cricket club founded in 1854, invited me to play a game when I first became aware of the rich cricket history in Philadelphia.
The part storyteller, the part journalist, and the part cricket enthusiast in me could not resist the opportunity to dig deeper into the vast history of Cricket in America that goes back almost 300 years, even before the establishment of The United States. From there onwards began a journey of uncovering cricket in America.
The project aims to bring some attention to cricket, which remains underground in America; it attempts to uncover cricket's rich history in the country, discussing its present-day situation; and speculating about its future in America. The project also attempts to educate people about how cricket operates in America and its significance in the immigrant community.
On a more personal level, there was also a desire to give back to cricket in some manner for all the good things and the good times it has brought me throughout the years, whether it was playing gully cricket in India with my cousins as a kid during the hot summer afternoons; or playing on local county grounds in London, just a few years ago; or fulfilling my lifelong dream of watching a cricket game at the Lord's stadium in London, regarded as the "Home of Cricket," or be it helping me rediscover myself as an adult living in a foreign country.
Cricket has always been an underlying force that gave meaning to my life, even when I was unaware that life had meaning. Looking back, I realize that cricket has always been a companion to me, no matter where I was. So, this project is almost like an appreciation post for a friend that has always been there for me but aimed at the newly discovered side of this friend that I did not know existed until now.
