If you happen to hear strange talk of ``wickets and overs,'' see teens dressed in full-length white slacks and polos, or wonder why someone is cheering on a friend by chanting: ``Bowling by bowling by bowling!'' -- don't fear. You haven't entered the Twilight Zone.
It's just that the first junior national cricket tournament to be played in the United States will debut Thursday in Silicon Valley -- home to a burgeoning population of South Asian immigrants who hold the British-born game of cricket as dear to their hearts as Americans cling to baseball.
A total of 200 cricket players, ages 6 to 15, from as far away as New York, Florida and Kansas will descend on cricket fields, called ``pitches,'' throughout the South Bay. They'll play 26 four-hour games at sites in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino and Stanford over four days.
"I have great, great pride. This is a great leap forward for us,'' said Hemant Buch of Cupertino, a co-organizer of the tournament who also founded the country's first youth cricket group, the California Cricket Academy, in 2003. ``When we started this, we never thought the community was so hungry for this game. When I see the parents so excited about it, I feel that they really must be missing it.''
They hope to attract 500 spectators to the games and have targeted city leaders and residents with their marketing.
Buch, a quality engineer for Harmonic in Sunnyvale, has two sons, Mohak, 7, and Arsh, 11, who play the game, which is part of the reason he is relentless about promoting cricket. He played, too, when he was growing up in Gujarat, India. He wants to push cricket into the mainstream, and hopes that cricket pitches will soon find permanent homes alongside soccer and baseball fields in the Bay Area.
Local fans
The game has a small but growing local following with about 20 cricket pitches scattered throughout the area. Buch's academy had 22 children three years ago, and has about 70 active players today. He figures that about 200 children have been trained at the academy through summer camps or after-school programs.
In addition, the Northern California Cricket Association has grown from about two dozen adult teams five years ago to nearly 40 teams, comprising 400 players, today.
The excitement -- and nervousness -- is building among the tournament's players and their families.
"I'm a little apprehensive, really,'' said Gita Krishnapriyan of Cupertino, whose daughter, Aditi, 13, is believed to be the only girl in the tournament. ``The teams are from all over, and some are very good.''
For her part, Aditi just wants to have fun.
"I saw it on TV with my grandpa,'' she said. ``The people looked fit and athletic. I was drawn to it.''
Cricket is the Old World forerunner of American baseball. It was introduced by British colonists in the 18th century -- the English elite would play as spectators sipped tea and ate sandwiches. The game has a reputation for fostering gentlemanly conduct. Cricket purists demand that the home team bring lunch for the away team, both sides dress in white, and the opposing team applaud the rival captain and say ``best of luck'' to the first batter.
Similar to baseball, there are fielders and batsmen. The goal is to protect your team's wickets, which are similar to bases, and score the most runs.
Cricket is wildly popular in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Caribbean Islands, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. In the Bay Area, the game is heavily dominated by players from India and Pakistan, as many of those immigrants have chosen Silicon Valley as their new home.
Buch said the cricket tournament cost about $60,000 to put on, which includes renting hotel rooms for the away teams and waiving entrance fees. All the money was donated by local companies and individuals.
Buch added that not only is it the hospitable thing to do, but that this year is special because organizers know it is expensive to come to California and they wanted an added incentive for people to come the first year and hopefully return on their own in following years.
Challenging game
Priya and Vijay Pradhyan -- who moved from India to Fremont -- have encouraged their 12-year-old son, Pranav, to try the game they grew up with, though they also are happy he plays sports that are more common in the United States. Pranav plays baseball and cricket, and had a hard time deciding which sport he would focus on when school started.
"I wanted to do both, but it was too much and I got overloaded,'' he said. ``I chose cricket because it's more challenging. You don't use a glove to catch the ball, and if you get out, you can't come back in the game. I had to choose one game, and cricket was more fun.''
Contact Lisa Fernandez at lfernandez@mercurynews.com or (510) 790-7313.
