Hometown SportS Cricket league launched in Brentwood

By Hemananthani Sivanandam Correspondent

On a sunny Saturday morning in early April, a group of men in their 30s and 40s were playing a sport at the Country Manor Park in Antioch that brought back childhood memories — cricket.

The men were part of the Brentwood Cricket Association (BCA), participating in the Association’s 2023 inaugural Spring League, which began in early March and will end in May.

There are 56 players from four teams participating in the League– the Brentwood Blasters, Brentwood Grenades, Brentwood Badshahs, and All Stars.

Manish Jain, 40, the BCA’s president, said the idea to have Brentwood’s league came after the teams won in the division C Mountain House Cricket League in the spring of last year. “It was a great moment, our family members attending a reception to celebrate our win there.

They would also accompany us almost every weekend to play in Mountain House.

“We traveled there every week, all 60 players and our family members, spending time and money in Tracy,” Jain said. “We wanted to bring all that to Brentwood and Antioch.”.

Cricket is “practically like a religion” in India, Jain said, and he wants the younger generation here to continue to play and watch the sport.

The popular sport originated in England and is now played in many countries, particularly in the British Commonwealth. It is a team sport played with a bat and a ball, with two teams of 11 players each.

Cricket has various formats, including Test cricket, One Day International (ODI) cricket, and Twenty20 (T20) cricket. Each format has its rules and strategies, and different skills and techniques are required to succeed.

Janardhan Shetty, 36, noted there were fewer than 10 people when he joined BCA last year. But very soon, the Association grew fourfold over the past six months.

There are almost 130 people in BCA, who meet every weekend to play, organizers said.

“I used to play competitive cricket in my younger days in India. So when I came to Brentwood, I was a little rusty, but I picked it up quickly,” Shetty said. “It just brings back all my childhood memories.”

Apart from reminiscing about the old days, cricket also helps him unwind from his daily routine and keeps him mentally engaged.

But apart from reliving childhood memories, and keeping mentally and physically fit, cricket also bonds the community together, Jain said.

“When we won the league in Mountain House, we saw the smiles of our family members. I would do anything to see that,” Jain said.

Brentwood Blasters team captain

Srinivasa Rao Mopuri, 45, said he was happy to see a league started in Brentwood.

“The excitement and interest people are showing here is good, plus the game itself is competitive in nature,” said Srinivasa, who has been playing cricket since he was 10 years old.

Mopuri’s teammate, Sanaullah Ansari, 35, started playing cricket in Pakistan in his childhood.

“I moved to the United States about 11 years ago and this is my first time playing since (my younger days),” Ansari said. “I never miss practice days because it’s very exciting to me, and it brings old memories.”

Jain and Shetty hope to organize more leagues with more teams in the future and attract players not just from Brentwood but also from the younger generation and other communities.

“We are trying to create educational videos to be uploaded on our website, so people, especially the young ones can understand the basics of cricket, and can reach out to come and train with us,” Jain said.

Reuters recently reported that the United States secured their place in the final qualifying tournament for this year’s 50-overs World Cup in India.

The United Arab Emirates, which finished runner-up to the U.S., will join former world champions West Indies and Sri Lanka as among the 10 teams in Zimbabwe competing for the last two places at the October-November World Cup.

For more information: www.brentwoodcricket.com

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