By THAYER EVANS CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
July 7, 2009, 2:43PM
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Jimmy Loyd For the Chronicle
With each towering shot, Jonathan Gibson smiled almost embarrassingly.
He was hitting shots that went well over the heads of those in a parking lot at the University of Houston-Clear Lake that was being used as a makeshift cricket field.
As he did, a man with a microphone announced, “Excellent shot!” and “That’s a gain of six.”
But after Gibson finished batting, he didn’t have the slightest notion of what he had just accomplished.
“I have no idea,” said Gibson, 27, a computer lab manager at UH-Clear Lake. “I actually got a little bit embarrassed and tried to hit it a little softer.”
Gibson was among 50 people who attended a recent cricket inauguration at the university. It was held to promote the sport and the Indian Students Association’s ninth annual cricket tournament at the school.
The event’s pool play started late last month and runs through July 17. The quarterfinals start July 18 and the finals are Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
“Back in India, cricket is more than a passion and less than a religion,” said Sai Krishna, 21, president of the Indian Students Association, who is from Andhra Pradesh, India. “We want to make all of the students at the (University of Houston-Clear Lake) feel back home.”
Cricket is perhaps the world’s second-most popular sport behind soccer, but it is not popular in the United States.
“This is easier than baseball,” Krishna said. “Just hit the ball and run. That’s it.”
Interest in the cricket tournament at UH-Clear Lake only continues to increase.
This year, 12 teams with names such as the Karachi Rockets, Mumbai Indians and Hell Boys are competing in the tournament, Krishna said. Last year, there were eight teams.
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That was excellent news!! Thank u
ReplyDeleteI didnt kno about this Cricket tournament before other wise I would have joined them :(
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