PBS News Hour

JOHN YANG: Cricket was once one of this country's most popular sports until baseball became entrenched as America's game during the Civil War.

Now the sport that was first played in England is seeing a resurgence here, thanks in part to thriving South Asian immigrant communities who revere the game.

Amna Nawaz takes us inside the world of wickets, stumps, batters and bowlers.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's game day in Germantown, Maryland.

Players warming up, parents settling in on the sidelines and the unmistakable sound of summer in America the crack of bet against ball.

But it's not baseball that brought these crowds out today.

It's cricket.

On this Sunday, two local youth cricket academies are squaring off.

Those are the Mavericks in red and the Jaguars and blue.

One of the first batters up for the Jaguars is 12 year old Aakash Venkatesh, whose journey to Cricket was a long one.

What was your first sport?

AAKASH VENKATESH, Local Youth Cricket Player: Soccer.

AMNA NAWAZ: And then after that?

AAKASH VENKATESH: Tennis.

AMNA NAWAZ: Then after that?

AAKASH VENKATESH: (Inaudible) AMNA NAWAZ: Was there any sport you didn't try ?

AAKASH VENKATESH: Football because too much contact.

AMNA NAWAZ: I hear that with other sports.

I'd like played it.

I had fun but then it got boring after a couple of weeks.

With cricket I just like felt that spark.

AMNA NAWAZ: A spark fanned into an all-consuming main passion by his parents including mom's Sunita who dutifully drives Aakash and big brother Adithya to dozens of matches every year across Maryland and Virginia.

SUNITHA VENKATESH, Mother of Aakash Venkatesh: We just love it.

I see the games going on.

I see parents cheering supporting the kids.

The loud keeps going on.

AMNA NAWAZ: Cricket keeps this family close.

It also filled every corner of their home from trophies lining the shelves.

ADITHYA VENKATESH: One of these ones I had 100 and this one here.

Not this one.

This one.

This one here was -- AMNA NAWAZ: So many you get them confused.

To a makeshift practice pitch in the basement.

Much of that enthusiasm comes from dad, Venky, who grew up loving the game in India.

VENKATESH KUMAR, Father of Adithya Venkatesh: I started playing cricket right when I was probably eight or nine years old, and had a dream built around cricket.

One day one wanted to be a cricket player.

AMNA NAWAZ: When the couple moved to America, more American sports took center stage.

VENKATESH KUMAR: We introduced them to all American sports initially.

They try tennis, soccer, basketball, swimming, but after a couple of weeks, the energy died down, and cricket was the last sport that was introduced to them.

AMNA NAWAZ: And this time it stuck.

AAKASH VENKATESH: We all played at some point or watched it sometimes we'd like put it on the TV, and then watch it all together.

It's just a fun thing to do together.

AMNA NAWAZ: The family trains together honing the boy skills in a game that's now catching on across the country.

And it's not as easy as it looks.

Cricket was invented in 17th century England and spread across the globe with the British Empire arriving in Australia, the West Indies and India by the 18th century.

The game is played on a 360 degree field with batters on one team trying to score runs by hitting the ball past fielders and a pitcher known as a bowler on the opposing team, all while protecting their wickets from the ball.

It remains most popular in former British colonies like India, Pakistan, South Africa and Australia.

So why is this old British game taking off in the United States?

AISHWARYA KUMAR, ESPN: A confluence of things is happening.

AMNA NAWAZ: Aishwarya Kuma of ESPN says immigration to the U.S. from Cricket obsessed nations is one reason.

AISHWARYA KUMAR: The South Asian American population is exponentially increasing.

It was 3.4 million back in 2010.

And it's 5.4 million now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Another is live streaming cricket, keeping fans connected to the highest level of play like the Indian Premier League, no matter where they live.

AISHWARYA KUMAR: There is a global movement around okay, we can stay in India and Australia and still watch cricket that's happening in the US.

AMNA NAWAZ: Another reason money, as the audience has grown here so has the financial investment.

AISHWARYA KUMAR: A lot of resources being poured into building stadiums and actually like making sure that there is infrastructure in place and resources in place to develop something from scratch and get people excited here.

AMNA NAWAZ: That something Major League Cricket or MLC launched this summer and American competition hoping to win viewers around the world.

VIJAY SRINIVASAN, Founder, Major League Cricket: We think for the casual American sports fan who's never seen a game should come and take a look at one and I think there'll be AMNA NAWAZ: Vijay Srinivasan is co-founder of the league.

VIJAY SRINIVASAN: It's not the traditional image of cricket had many people in America, which lasts several days.

And you know, there's people dressed in white clothes and sit down for a cup of tea and wait for lunch and so on.

AMNA NAWAZ: The league featuring six teams from across the country was a passion project for Srinivasan.

e founded a live streaming cricket channel in the early 2000s, which showed him there was a viewer base in the U.S. hungry for elite competition.

This season sold out most games and Srinivasan says there are plans to build more stadiums and infrastructure.

VIJAY SRINIVASAN: That's going to change the landscape for cricket, usually in this country.

And also me with the Cricket World Cup coming to the U.S. next year.

It's going to be a very different picture a few years from now.

AMNA NAWAZ: A picture that may feed your future pros like Aakash and Adithya who is now trying out for the under 19 Team USA.

So I'm going to ask you both a question and I want you to both answer at the same time on the count of three ready?

Who's the better player?

One, two, three go.

ADITHYA VENKATESH: At the moment.

I'm excited you know because I mean now like the cricket here is getting a lot better.

So at the end of the day if we become like a like a great nation and cricket, we might be rivaling up against India, Pakistan, those kinds of teams that it's going to be fun.

AMNA NAWAZ: What's it like for you as a parents to watch your children succeed in this sport that clearly means so much to you?

VENKATESH KUMAR: It's kind of a dream come true.

Nothing else apart from that, and I can say I'm living my dream through them.

AMNA NAWAZ: A dream carried across an ocean and a generation that found new life here in the US.

For PBS News Weekend, I'm Amna Nawaz in Maryland.