DELAWARE, Ohio — More than 40 years after immigrating to the U.S. from Bangladesh, Delaware resident Shahed Zaman’s passion for cricket remains unmatched.
On this day, the former Cricket standout turned coach is practicing with his team, the Delaware United Cricket Club.
And although this group has been together for some time, Zaman has a bright vision for the future of the sport in central Ohio.
“There’s a lot of immigrants and South Asians in this area, so this would be very popular. Now that we have a pitch, all the neighborhoods, now the city has an official ground, now we can play,” said Zaman.
Cricket has some similarities to baseball, a team sport with a bat and ball, a goal of scoring more runs than the opponent and each match is divided into innings. However, a pitcher is called a bowler and games can last hours.
Zaman said there are currently 26 independent teams in and around Columbus, and the goal is to get them to play one another, in one league, opening it up for age 18-plus.
“Ten years, 15 years down the line, you’ll see competitive youth cricket is going to be happening, that’s Minor League Cricket is going to be happening in the United States, there’s Major League Cricket that’s going to be happening in the United States. And when it happens, my vision is I want to make sure that Delaware is representing in those tournaments,” said Zaman.
Akash Hossan has played on Delaware United for several years.
He’s embraced the team camaraderie and set personal goals for the future.
“For me, I love Cricket and the reason I want to continue to play is because of my satisfaction, my fitness level. I just want to enjoy myself so I can pass it to my kids,” said Hossan.
And with a new field in progress at Veterans Park in Delaware, Zaman said he remains enthusiastic about what lies ahead.
“I’m so excited. So excited about the future of this club, and the Delaware community and the city of Delaware,” said Zaman.
USA Cricket said there are more than 200,000 Cricket players throughout the country.
The 26 teams throughout central Ohio currently compete in the Midwest Cricket Tournament.
For more information on the Delaware United Cricket Club, click here.
