PSAL coordinator Lorna Austin had an idea a few years ago.
“We were sitting in the office. … I was discussing cricket because I’m of West Indian descent,” she said. “We said, ‘Why not? Why not make it a PSAL sport?’ That’s how it all started.”
Austin, with roots in Barbados, helped introduce cricket to the PSAL beginning in 2008, when 14 teams – six of them from Queens – took to the circular field. There had been a fleeting interest in adding the sport to the league roster a little over a decade ago, but a lack of funds prevented any real action.
On Sunday, June 14, at Canarsie Park in Brooklyn, Austin saw her vision come to fruition. Over 100 people were in attendance to watch the championship round of a 23-team season, and the winners from Newcomers High School leaped into each other’s arms on the pitch, carrying a select few on their shoulders as they ambled toward a straight line for handshakes and the trophy presentation.
“It’s exciting to watch a sport from my country develop here,” Austin said. “Many of these kids were not participating in any other sport.”
The Newcomers team, from a Queens school that introduces new immigrants to American language and culture, was joined by borough counterpart John Adams in the decisive contest for the second year in a row. Bryant and Hillcrest, two 2009 additions from Queens, have bolted from nonexistence to immediate competitive success – a reflection, perhaps, of the borough’s considerable South Asian and Caribbean population.
The events of June 14 were a four-hour advertisement for cricket. A pair of spirited announcers recounted the afternoon’s action, with giant speakers informing the audience – and, inevitably and awkwardly, those on the field – of their play-by-play perspective. Those sitting and chanting in the animated Newcomers bleacher section came equipped with a drummer.
The best advertisement of all, of course, was the 20-overs-per-side match itself, in which Newcomers, batting first, compensated for a slow start with an outburst of power in its final four turns. Two pairs of consecutive six-run blasts – the first by senior Mohammad Swapan (24 runs), the second by sophomore Mahbubul Chowdhury (30 runs) – exceeded the boundary en route to 111 runs.
John Adams made it close, staging its own late rally. But whereas Newcomers had been able to rely on power, Adams’ consistent, singles-oriented batting wasn’t enough to capitalize on its dwindling chances. The Spartans ended their charge with 105 runs, 30 coming off the bat of freshman Troy Mars.
“When we started [slowly] we thought we were done, but our guys fought back,” Newcomers head coach Samnarain Sooppersaud said. “I’m out of breath.”
“We were [worried],” Lions sophomore Amirul Islam agreed, “but now we are safe. We’re champions.”
