Move over Brewers! Milwaukee cricket league brings camaraderie and joy

Cricket is a worldwide sport, one that's very popular in southeast Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Milwaukeeans from those communities, and others like the West Indies, have been playing it around the city for decades.

So cricket is one ball-and-bat sport in Milwaukee that doesn't have the limitations of a diamond, like that at the Brewers' American Family Field. Nikhil Chand explains the rules of the game at a practice at Meaux Park cricket fields, near Milwaukee's Lincoln Park neighborhood, while balls whiz past that he and others are trying to field.

He's standing in what would be a baseball outfield, except cricket doesn't have those limitations. You can hit the ball anywhere, and it's in play. "So, in baseball, it's just the front V, right?" says Chand. "But in cricket, it's just all around and the pitch."

The pitch is a large strip at the center of the field that looks like a track lane. That's where the bowler runs down the track and lobs the ball at two batters on either end of the track lane. The bowler is like a pitcher in baseball.

"So there are going to be two batters who are going to be running back and forth," says Chand. He says you can throw the ball to either batter. "You can throw the ball wherever you want. Typically, you're gonna throw the ball to the person who you think wouldn't make it to the other end. So that's how it is. So you gotta communicate well with the team. It's like a team game where you communicate."

How do you communicate? "You just yell it out, I guess," Chand laughs.

When the batters hit the ball, they score points by running back and forth to the two stumps at opposite ends of the pitch. The stumps are called wickets. And there's a catcher too.

"So the catcher is called the wicket keeper by the way," explains Chand.

"The stumps [where the batters stand] are can also be called wickets, so wicket keeper."

There are several ways to get out. One is if the bowler hits your wicket when you’re batting, another is if a fielder catches your fly ball. A third is if the opposing team gets to a wicket with the ball before the batter gets inside the "crease" which are lines around the wickets. Except for the wicket keeper, Nikhil and the other players are not wearing gloves.

"It's just like bare hands and you got to be careful," warns Chand. "Personally, I've had like four or five fractures on my fingers. So yeah, you got, I mean once your fingers get injured you learn to you know catch the ball even better. So that's how I learned my lessons."

As mentioned above, this team is called the Milwaukee Cricket Club. They’re part of an 11-team cricket tournament in Milwaukee called Regal T20. For most of the men in the league, like Nikhil, cricket is a cultural touchstone.

"Yeah, it's like home, basically, cricket is," he says.

And how does it connect him to home? "Yeah, I just feel like, so in my workplace, I’m the only Indian in my workplace. And it's great to be explaining this game to others so that they know what it is about, they know where we’re coming from, and they know what we play."

Nikhil feels fortunate to have found cricket in the U.S. "I'm really happy to be playing cricket even after I came to the to the U.S. so it's like a happy thing for us," he says. The guys also socialize outside of the games. "Yep yeah, as a team, we go out for dinner and we… I think of us as a family. You know, that's how we could communicate better. We could have like a better understanding. At the end of the day, it's a team sport, right? So, you need that understanding within each other."

Players come from all different cultures and religions, and speak different languages, including the team's bowler who's from Afghanistan. That's of no matter. "The first year he couldn't speak a lot of English. But the thing that united us is going to be cricket," says Chand. "We spoke through cricket. So it's like, I think it's much more than a sport. It's a language, it's an emotion. It's everything."

Mohammad Shaker Naeem is the gregarious captain of the team. He goes by the nickname Shaq — like Shaquille O’Neill, he mentions with glee. Shaq has been playing cricket in Milwaukee since 1996, but like many Pakistanis, he started when he was small — playing in streets or alleyways with makeshift wicket stumps.

"And I remember we stayed all night almost like three in the morning on the weekends just to play cricket because no traffic was there. So they gave us permission to have three little holes so we could put the stumps in," says Shaq.

Shaq marvels that the city gave them permission to make actual holes in the road. He recalls that parents then parked their cars on only one side of the street so that the kids could play in the other section.

"So parents and families they sit on the buildings and watch the kids playing. That is something amazing. And we still, now when I’m talking to you, I’m getting goosebumps by thinking of that time. You know I’m 44 now, when I was 9, 8-years-old, I think 9-years-old, when we started that. So that was awesome, that was an awesome memory to have," he reflects.

Shaq explains that cricket goes way back in southeast Asia — originally because of British colonialism. "It was before in 1940s, they were, you know, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and they were all one country. So when English were ruling there, they were there. And they introduced that game and it it's called ‘gentlemans game’ so you wear white pants and white shirt and white shoes."

Shaq says that's how the game started, but then India was partitioned in 1947. "The English people left, but the game stayed there, and that was the first sports were introduced to, you know, when new countries were made."

Cricket is now a gigantic sport in places like India and Pakistan. And Shaq notes that gone are the days of all-white uniforms. They’re now of all colors and styles. At this afternoon's cricket practice, for instance, Sidd Sinha had a very localized dress code. "I'm wearing a Packers hat," chuckles Sinha.

A Packers hat even though he's playing cricket? "Of course, it's Wisconsin, you're not allowed to choose any other team," he confirms.

The Super Bowl of cricket, the International Cricket World Cup, happens every four years. It's coming up this October and November — with three games in the U.S. Shaq — and likely all players in Milwaukee's Cricket League are thrilled.