Cricket, a popular pastime in European and Eastern-asian countries, has caught on at BVNW this year. Boasting 40 members, the cricket club focuses on athletics and also serves as a way to promote diversity and balance in the clubs the school has, club sponsor Ian Frazier said. 

“[The cricket club] really exemplifies the balance that a lot of our student athletes have,” Frazier said. “Activity clubs are obviously very important and they definitely have a place, but I like how they’re taking sports and exercise into their own hands. I wish we’d see more of that out there.”

Similar to baseball, in cricket, senior player Zaki Mansoor said, the position most similar to the pitcher is called the bowler in cricket and the players at bat are called batsmen. The objective of the game is to hit the ball to score runs, by running between two sets of wickets, and the team of the bowler is on defense. 

After clubs were formed at two of the five Blue Valley high schools within the past year, senior and president of the cricket club Samanyu Pusuluri said he was approached by some of his friends to start a club here at BVNW. Pusuluri, who has played cricket since he was around five to six years old, said people felt inclined to get a club started due to a large turnout of members at BVW’s club.

“So West had the idea originally and they wanted to make a club with all the schools in Blue Valley,” Pusuluri said. “I think they had 80 total kids show up to their meeting and that was pretty impressive. So we were like, hey, maybe we can do that too.”

The team tries to meet for practice once a week normally on a Friday or Saturday and they have been able to hold practices and games often, Pusuluri said, but once the weather becomes too cold they will not play again until the spring. Along with weekly practice, the team then coordinates with the other BV schools to schedule matches that normally occur on the weekends.

Mansoor said, the best part of playing for the cricket club is the practices as well as being around his friends and the competitiveness of matches, especially when they face rival BVN. 

“Practices have been really fun, because I think the last time I actually played cricket was in India,” Mansoor said. “It’s especially fun when your friends are with you and it’s a fun environment.”

Having played cricket prior to joining the club, freshman Quasim Qureshi said he has been able to further his skills even more by playing with the team.

“We’re playing against more schools and the events are getting bigger and more organized,” Qureshi said. “It’s just making me better at cricket because lots of other schools have good cricket people, I know West has a lot. So going against them will make me a better cricket player.”

While playing with his friends and getting closer with them, Mansoor said he has also enjoyed the flexibility of the team, like the no tryout policy and being able to meet lots of underclassmen. 

 Pusuluri said he does not know where he is going to college next year, he said that he definitely either wants to form a cricket club or join an existing club if his school already has one.

“Wherever I go, I’m definitely starting a cricket club,” Pusuluri said. “That was one of the things I knew I wanted to [in high school] and after witnessing what has happened this year, and how fun it is, there’s no reason not to.”

The club is open to anyone, Pusuluri said, and wants to add more people to the club so  they can eventually form a second team.

“People should join cricket club because it’s a really fun sport that not many people know about,” Pusuluri said. “Feel free to bring anybody that you want to.”