A View From The Top

By James Persaud
Dec. 13th, 2008
The 2008 New York softball cricket season was a wonderful experience for me, my club and for the sport of cricket in general. Although, my club Canal did not perform to its capabilities, I am still proud of the excitement that the sport has generated this summer. It showed me once again that cricket is a sport that can create passionate interest among the fans.

This was evident by the large crowd that turned out to witness the final of the Independence Cup the Inter State softball tournament sponsored by the league. They came with great expectation and no one was left disappointed, because they were treated to a real gem of a ball game. It was a nail biter that gripped everyone’s attention. The game was a thriller and the outcome was not decided until the last over. The crowd began swarming around the boundary line, and they had to be ordered back over the line by the umpires on a few occasions. I could not determine who was rooting for whom because it seemed that everyone was screaming at one time or another. I personally was rooting for the game, and when it was finally over, most people said that the game won.

In the league Inter State Legends Cup (over 45 years) tournament which is played simultaneously with the Independence cup, produced greater interest in its second year. Newcomer Better Hope All-Star played for the first time; they emerged as the champions from another close encounter with the NYSCL XI.

It is very heartening to see the large number of fans that came out to watch the games and cheer for their teams; it is a picnic like atmosphere on Sundays. When I was at the game, I rooted enthusiastically for my team. This was all done in the spirit and competitiveness of the game. As an ardent cricket lover I like to inject good-humored excitement into the game. I like to see teams compete at the highest level, and not giving up for fear of the reputation of the opponent.

I do not want to justify the poor performance of some of the top teams this season, but on the other hand this causes new teams to emerge as serious competitors and who ultimately became champions. There are already talks from many teams who have started the rebuilding process saying that it would not be the same next season. The game has taken on a new trend as players that seem to no longer be loyal to a team for too long as they move from team to team as if they are looking for a winner. This has caused some problems for the league and is something that would be looked into very closely in the off season.

However, my congratulations go out to all the teams and individual players for your great accomplishments.