Gargi Bhogle put years of work into the game of cricket. Starting at 13, she and her father went to nearby fields at the crack of dawn, practicing for hours a day — it was far from easy, she said.
The only consistent aspect of her journey was her commitment to persevere through the obstacles. Her commitment that led to her represent her country as a member of the USA women’s national cricket team. It was an experience that required a lot of grit, but it was an inevitable road for cricket players who dedicate their lives to a sport still finding its foot in America.
“Cricket requires a lot of sacrifices in terms of traveling, the money involved and the time commitment,” Bhogle said. “A lot of it is just about finding a way.”
Cricket, recognized as the world’s second most popular sport with 2.5 billion fans globally, boasts a massive following in countries like India, Australia, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Although cricket was introduced to the United States hundreds of years ago, it’s only now experiencing significant growth in talent and recognition. Now, for the first time since 1900, cricket will be recognized as a sport during the LA Olympics in 2028.
But, despite the rise of the sport, there’s still a lot to overcome for American cricket players to pursue their passions, especially in Southern California.
Cricket requires a specific surface to be played on, called the pitch, and it needs to be completely separately maintained in its condition, soil composition and mowing. According to the Southern California Cricket Association, codes restricting artificial surfaces prevent pitches from being dug up in many public parks in the United States — one of the largest drawbacks to the game’s growth.
The best pitches in Southern California are in Woodley Park in Van Nuys, which is the main grounds for the SCCA. Unlike other sports, playing cricket directly depends on the quality of the field, with much of the strategy coming from adapting to the pitch.
Abhimanyu Rajp, former national team member and captain of the minor league cricket team the Los Angeles Lashings, said a player’s potential development can be stunted when they don’t have reliable access to a pitch.
“There is no way that a player can develop without practicing on a field or with the infrastructure provided for the sport,” Rajp said. “It’s not just about cricket. It’s impossible in any sport.”
After each game played at the renowned Woodley Park pitches in Van Nuys, a maintenance crew comes to roll the ground and get the field ready for another match. (Sohum Sarwate / High School Insider)
Southern California is often not seen as a pipeline for players to get recognized professionally due to the absence of quality pitches. According to Lashings player Daksh Prabhu, there are academies to involve players in cricket, but there are not many training facilities or professional coaches in the area like there are in Northern California.
Northern California has several indoor and outdoor facilities for players to schedule times to play and practice at a consistent location everyday, which is an opportunity most players in Southern California don’t have. Prabhu, like many, has to use online resources and self-made spots to train at parks and backyards.
Ultimately, there is only so much someone can do without practicing on an actual pitch. In turn, it’s challenging for those who want to reach the professional level to develop many aspects of their game.
“The hardest thing to do as an LA kid is to become a batsman,” Los Angeles local and major league player Ayan Desai said. “There are no training facilities in LA where you can really play everyday. The only real nets are in Woodley. For most people, it’s probably an hour to maybe two hours.”
Many of these challenges are unique to Southern California. SCCA President, Pradeep Patel, said there is not a cluster of the cricket community living in one area, making it nearly impossible for players to play cricket on the weekdays.
Playing solely on the weekends makes it hard for cricket players to envision it as anything more than a recreational activity.
“It’s not a conducive environment for the youth to develop their skills, their friendships, their camaraderie and their interest in the game,” Rajp said. “It only comes when they play with like-minded and like-aged individuals and then try to grow together.”
Despite these obstacles, cricket participation is growing among the youth. The Southern California Youth Cricket Academy, which began with an estimated 20 kids, now has more than 125 members. Even more so, new chapters are consistently opening up in different cities including Lake Forest, Tustin, Buena Park, Riverside County and Irvine.
Obtaining quality pitches has been one of the largest obstacles for the SCYCA. When the city does not allow the organization to build pitches, the SCYCA is forced to go to school fields and build their own cricket grounds. With permission, they attempt to cut the grass in the peak area for the pitch and roll it, but these still aren’t up to the quality of real pitches and can ultimately even be dangerous for players.
Fortunately for the SCYCA, they formed relationships with school district cities and recently obtained multiple cricket pitches built and maintained by the City of Irvine, along with more in other cities.
SCYCA President Shantha Suraweera said the changes with legitimate pitches being implemented have been noticeable.
“It’s a long process, but we can see the improvements,” Suraweera said. “I watched cricket in New Zealand and in Sri Lanka, and the difference for under 16-20 year players is the facilities, modern technology, coaches and support that they get to get to the international level.”
The rise in youth participation has been paired with a drastic shift in the landscape of professional American cricket. With Team USA’s Super 8 finish at the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, which included a historic upset win against Pakistan, and a new professional Major League Cricket that has attracted many of the world’s most prolific cricket stars in just its second season, American cricket is entering the main stage.
Yet, amid the game’s rising growth, structural challenges still persist. Even at the professional level, cricketers must balance their aspirations with their school or work to support themselves.
Since a stadium has yet to be built for players to play professional-level tournaments in Southern California, cricket athletes have had to travel over the country, such as Chicago, New York or Dallas in order to do so.
“Everything comes with a challenge, and managing school life with cricket is very hard, and it’s getting a lot tougher,” Desai, who is also a student at California State University, Northridge, said. “You’re gonna have to be okay with missing two or three days of school per month.”
Professional players in America cannot find stable salaries because they are only paid for the few months that they play, so the only way to create a career out of cricket is to play in high-profile leagues overseas. Many American players on the national level are forced to hold another job aside from cricket.
With unreliable pay from the sport, the pressure of juggling their responsibilities does mount. According to Rajp, many cricketers are still forced to sacrifice their jobs because of the effort they put towards cricket and the need to take days off for games or training camps.
“I’ve never gained monetary leave for my cricket passion, but the passion exists outside of financial gains because finances start meaning a lot more than just passion,” Rajp said. “Over here, if you are passionate about cricket, it can only take you so far, because there is no monetary gain from it after a certain point.”
With players from all over the country, it is also challenging for national team members to gel together and consistently practice as a group. Team members and facilities scattered, players often have to focus more on training individually without consistent support from their team.
“One of the things I’ve learned is how to be patient and understand our circumstances, just because we don’t get much financial support or support in terms of the same coaching for everyone,” Bhogle said. “Knowing that we might not be preparing the best or we might not be able to give 100%, you have to let it go because we’re not all together — we can’t all work together like other countries.”
Gargi Bhogle gets ready to score runs during a weekend SCCA tournament. Bhogle, who was the only girl on this team, plays at these games between major tournaments with the national team to continue playing with other competitive players and develop her skills. (Sohum Sarwate / High School Insider)
Based on the spreading attention cricket has since received, organizers hope that the game spreads even more within other communities. SCCA President Patel said it needs to become more mainstream for it to get the funding necessary to be accessible like other sports.
“I hope, once the younger folks come out and they start growing up and liking the game, they will share it with their friends,” Patel said. “If you have more facilities and grounds to play nearby all the communities, I think that’s going to be the game changer.”
Lots of progress needs to be made to minimize the challenges faced by female cricketers as well. Even with the rise of new leagues and academies, opportunities for girls to consistently play and develop are harder to come by.
“Being a girl makes it 10 times harder. I’ve always had to compete with men, which is fun, but hard, just because they don’t understand that you’re not as physically powerful or strong,” Bhogle said. “Having to meet those standards takes a lot more time and effort, which, if someone is not willing to put the time and effort, it’s hard to progress in the sport just because you’re playing against men most of the time.”
Patel says that one of his goals for the future of the SCCA is to ensure that women are included in the growth of the game. The recent rise of the sport is giving optimism that more opportunities will open up for girls aspiring to play cricket.
“If I look back a couple of years from now, there were barely any girls playing cricket, and now, if I go to my local club team, there’s like 10 or 11 girls in that one team, when, back then, there were four, including me and my sister,” Bhogle said. “To see that change is definitely good, because it tells me that USA is going in a better direction with cricket, and in the world, where we’re all just getting better women’s cricket happening.”
With the potential passing of Assembly Bill 211, cricket could be introduced as a school sanctioned sport for physical education and competitive athletic teams. The long term goal for the cricket community is for the sport to be implemented into school systems, and for colleges to start competing and playing cricket.
The hope is that cricket’s recognition during the LA Olympics in 2028 can jumpstart some of these developments.
“We are hoping that the kind of influx in the game that soccer received after LA84 — just 10% of that — falls towards cricket, so that the wider community and the youth who do follow the sport of cricket have accessible places to be able to train and play the game,” Rajp said.
Currently, uncertainties continue to prevail regarding cricket at the professional level, and specifically during the Olympics. With a real cricket stadium still not being built in LA, there is still a chance that the sport will not be played in the host city and taken elsewhere.
“I understand the fears of growing up and not knowing what your future looks like because you pursue cricket, and that journey is hard because it’s not certain that the sport will always work out in your life,” Bhogle said. “But, if you do choose to pursue cricket, you won’t regret it. Whether it works out or not, you might as well try and give it all you got.”
