Cricket Is Topic of English-Speaking Union Meeting

Cricket Is Topic of English-Speaking Union Meeting

Have you ever wondered where the phrase “a sticky wicket” originated? Find out that and more about the history and practice of cricket at a meeting of the Princeton branch of the English-Speaking Union on January 11 at 3 pm at the Nancy S. Klath Center for Lifelong Learning, 101 Poor Farm Road, Princeton. Our speaker will be Clarence Modeste, who was inducted into the Cricket Hall of Fame in 2011. He has been a member of the Staten Island Cricket Club since 1961 and president since the 1990s. Many cricket clubs are organized by nationality, but SICC is open to all comers, and has hosted matches with local, national, and international teams. Among the accomplishments of which Modeste is most proud is the successful introduction of a program for organized youth cricket to Staten Island CC in 2010 at which boys and girls, aged 5-18 years, are taught the game.

Cricket has been played in England since at least the sixteenth century, and was spread via colonization to where it is probably more popular now, on the Indian subcontinent and in the Caribbean. Modeste himself is originally from Trinidad and Tobago and started playing around age 5. The game was played in the United States in George Washington’s time, but was eventually edged out by baseball after the Civil War. Immigration from former British possessions has brought it back strongly since the 1970s, and there are at least four leagues in New Jersey and dedicated grounds in West Windsor, Somerset, Cranbury, Edison, and elsewhere. Cricket will become an official Olympic sport in the 2028 Summer Games.

Modeste will talk about cricket: its genesis, its development as a top sport, how it reached many corners of the world and its place among the world’s sports. He will also address the matter of cricket in the United States: its place in the social order before the Civil War and after; its current status.

Questions and comments from the audience will be welcome and refreshments typical of a traditional cricket match will be served. Attendance is free for members of the branch and $10 for nonmembers.

Founded in 1920, The English-Speaking Union is a nonprofit, nonpolitical educational organization that employs English as a catalyst to foster global understanding and good will through educational and cultural exchange programs. The ESU carries out its work through a network of 58 branches nationwide along with affiliates in the United Kingdom and 60 other countries. New members are welcome.  In order to join, visit www.esuus.org/princeton. For additional information about the English-Speaking Union, please visit: www.esuus.org.