The Syracuse University Cricket team didn’t spend time partying on the beach with the other spring breakers when it traveled to Florida last week.

Instead, the team was all business when it played in the America Collegiate Cricket National Championship March 12–16 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Syracuse team brought 12 members to Florida for its first appearance in the national tournament. It won two out of three games and finished tied for third in its group, missing the next round by a single point.

“We did a really great job and the bowling was extremely impressive,” said team captain Ashish Mare.

In countries like India and Sri Lanka, cricket is king. The game is played with two teams of 11, which earn runs by hitting the ball and running from wicket to wicket — sets of posts.

Each side plays two innings, which consist of batting and fielding. An inning can end when a team makes 10 outs, which occurs when the ball is caught in the air, the bowler (think baseball pitcher) hits the wicket — much like a strikeout — and if the ball touches the wicket while one of the batters tries to advance.

Before competition, the team had to make special adjustments. As a result of the Syracuse weather and a lack of proper fields, the Florida championship was one of the first times the team played with a regulation cricket ball.

To prepare, the team resorted to renting out batting cages in the ShoppingTown Mall and Angie Petrie, associate director for programs at Recreation Services, helped the team arrange practice time in Manley Field House.

With limited amount of practice with a hardball, the club still managed to beat Emory- Riddle and Southern Alabama, but suffered a close loss to Central Florida — the defending regional champs — in its second game. At the end of the weekend, three Syracuse team members were ranked in the top ten players of the championship. Udaybir Dang, a graduate student in the iSchool who was also the leading wicket taker in the tournament, ranked No. 3 overall, freshman Thushanth Pillai ranked No. 5 and Avinash Gudapati, a graduate student studying engineering, ranked No. 6.

With the recent success at nationals, the team is looking to improve upon its performance in upcoming tournaments and officially put SU on the American cricket map.

“With some more effort, we can definitely get the trophy next year,” Mare said.

The SU Cricket club organized in the mid 1970s and has been active ever since, said Professor Bob Wilson, the team’s faculty adviser. In addition to the 12 players who played in the tournament, there are an extra 10–12 cricket enthusiasts that are almost exclusively international graduate students.

All have played cricket for most of their lives and some even came to Syracuse because they knew about the cricket club. When the weather permits, the club meets twice a week in places that range from the Women’s Building to the Quad for practices and games.

“It is an activity that can make international students feel the comforts of home in Syracuse and adds to their overall college experience,” Wilson said.

Thushanth Pillai, a chemical engineering major, is the only undergraduate on the team. He heard about the club during international student orientation.

“I went over to recreation services and asked them if they had cricket,” Pillai said. “They gave me the contact information of a couple of the players and I have been involved ever since.”

In Sri Lanka, Pillai played for a club team during high school. When the Australian national team toured the country, it practiced with a select group of clubs around the country and Pillai was selected to bowl against the Aussies. He even clean bowled Australian National Team great Brett Lee, who missed the ball during his swing and let the wicket stumps get knocked over.

“It is a team game. It is fun playing with others and at the same time focusing on your role,” Pillai said. “My favorite part is accomplishing things as a team though.”

Published on March 18, 2014 at 12:23 am