Cricket in the Country

I spent part of the day Sunday shooting a sport I have heard about all of my life but have never had the opportunity to see played in person. I wasn't on a trip to Great Britain or one of the former Commonwealth countries where the sport is so popular that it ranks number two in the world behind soccer with the most fans. Rather, I saw cricket played for the first time in rural North Carolina, just 5 miles from my home. An English businessman with a love for the game has built an extremely fine cricket facility in Climax, North Carolina, and each weekend  from April to October, local teams from the Carolina Cricket League play games there. Like I said, I don't know a lot about cricket, but I do recognize athletic ability, and the guys playing this game are very serious about what they do. Very serious and just as friendly, as many of the players took time to answer my questions and help me understand the rules. I plan to stop by again and learn more. For more info on cricket in the Triad, go to http://www.carolinacricketleague.org/ccl/index.jsp.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)