Alabama has been building a pretty impressive national power in ball and bat sports in recent years. The softball team was one out away from a trip to the Women’s Softball College World Series last season, and the baseball team has made the NCAA Regional stage five of the past six seasons.
But with the foreign community growing here at the Capstone, cricket has made its appearance at the University.
The cricket club has been on campus since about 1997, but had its first official scorecard from a meet in 2000. Since then, the club has been mostly made up of non-Americans, despite the sport’s many similarities to the national pastime.
In cricket, the bowler throws the ball to the batsman, who scores by running back and forth on the pitch in between two wickets after the ball is hit.
The bowler is very similar to a pitcher in baseball. The most notable differences are, in cricket, the bowler often runs forward to the wicket in order to pitch. Also, since the bat is much larger in cricket than in baseball, the bowler often bounces the ball off the ground to try to make it harder to hit.
The batsman differs from the baseball batter only in the fact that the batsman has to judge the ball’s bounce. Also, the bat is much longer and heavier than a traditional baseball bat, and is also slightly curved on one side and flat on the other.
The cricket team here at the Capstone has seen some success, including beating Ole Miss in a tournament on Oct. 9. The team then lost to Auburn, but was able to win against the Huntsville Cricket League on Oct. 2.
Club President Hareesh Gottipatti has always been a big cricket enthusiast.
“I’ve been playing cricket since I was about 10,” Gottipatti said. “When I came to Alabama, I did not want to stop.”
Gottipatti and his teammate, captain Koushik Kothapalli, played cricket together for the college they received their bachelor’s degree from in India.
“Playing cricket for the university in India is very similar to playing football for the university here,” Kothapalli said. “The players are like celebrities.”
Many of their teammates are in similar situations. They played cricket for the majority of their lives in their respective home countries, then decided to come to the Capstone to receive a master’s degree, and continued playing cricket here.
They practice on Saturdays at 3:30 or 4 p.m. at the Recreation Center Fields, when football gamedays are not in the way.
Since many are going to be graduating at the end of this semester or this academic year, the team is looking for new players to join the team. If interested, Gottipatti encourages you to contact him at [email protected].
Alabama will be holding a tournament here on Nov. 20 and 21 and hope to see some students come to watch some cricket. Teams attending include the Huntsville Cricket League, Jacksonville State, Mississippi State and Auburn.
If you have not been exposed to cricket and are simply interested to try it, feel free to go to one of the team’s open practices.
“We have had Americans come out for the team before,” Gottipatti said. “I think they feel lost in the sport, as if they don’t know what is going on. It is very similar to baseball, and we would love to have Americans come play with us.”
